US History

Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)

World History

Arts

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Victorian era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901 during the reign of Queen Victoria of England.

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Victorian Era

A photograph of a Victorian home interior in Kenosha, Wisconsin, ca. 1890.

A tortoiseshell calling card case from the mid-nineteenth century.

A chromolithograph print called “Making the Scrap Book,” 1868.

An African American family record chart, 1880.

An excerpt from *The Lady’s Guide to Perfect Gentility*, 1859.

A print depicting a Victorian couple in love, 1850s.

A photographic portrait of Queen Victoria.

A commemorative hair and yarn wreath from Wisconsin, ca. 1879.

A post-mortem photograph of Samuel Charles Stowe, son of Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1849.

A photograph of Victoria Terminus Railway Station in Mumbai (Bombay), India.

An excerpt from the London Exhibition’s “New Crystal Palace Polka,” 1851.

A dedication and poem from *Victoria Regia: a Volume of Original Contributions in Poetry and Prose*, 1861. 

A photograph of the University of Pennsylvania cricket team, 1887.

An advertisement for Dr. Scott’s Electric Corset, 1883.

Resources

1. [Victorian Britain](https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain), British Library. 
2. [British Empire](http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/), UK National Archives. 
3. [The Victorian Period](https://faculty.unlv.edu/kirschen/handouts/victorian.html), University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

Overview

Queen Victoria of England reigned over a vast British empire from 1837 until her death in 1901. During her rule, England rapidly transformed into a modern, technologically-based economy exercising global military and cultural power, roiling with class and racial conflict. Victorianism extended far beyond the boundaries of Britain and informed international movements of the same period, including in the United States. 

Queen Victoria’s name signifies not only her era as a distinct time period in world history, but also a particular aesthetic sensibility in design, literature, manners, and morals. Victorian-era objects and buildings were often highly decorated and ornate. Victorian writers and intellectuals celebrated “sentiment”—feeling, emotion, affection, and passion—that found diverse expression in abolitionism, paternalistic colonialism, social reform, and celebrations of romantic love or mourning. Values defined as “Victorian” included moral responsibility and restraint as well as domestic propriety and gentility. At the same time, the Victorian era was marked by rigid gender and class hierarchies seen in elaborate codes of conduct, etiquette, and social rituals. Anxieties about science, religion, and race undermined many Victorians’ prosperity and moral certainty. 

The material objects, buildings, and texts arranged in this primary source set illustrate the variety of Victorian design while revealing some of the unique cultural characteristics of the period. 

English

Victorian Era

victorian-era_07_81b5d64c47ea624f5e50d46a40db73ba.jpg

Courtesy of University of Minnesota Libraries via Minnesota Digital Library.

Lafayette, Lauder, and James Stack, “Queen Victoria,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/e764a3ce8dbf6f1bf05edb0ede459f7e.

This commercial photographic card of Queen Victoria displays the portrait artist’s many awards and commendations on the reverse side. Although undated, this photograph shows the queen wearing a black lace-trimmed dress in mourning for her husband, Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Queen Victoria had set the fashion in England and America for white wedding dresses when she and Albert married in 1840, and she also set the standard as a widow by remaining in mourning for the rest of her life. Especially during and after the Civil War, many Americans looked to Victoria as an example for proper mourning practices, and an entire industry grew to accommodate the rituals and special clothing associated with mourning the loss of a loved one. 

A photographic portrait of Queen Victoria.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 7 of 14 in the Primary Source Set Victorian Era