On Exhibit: Fairfield 100 Years Ago — the Hand-Colored Lantern Slides of Mabel Osgood Wright

This exhibit features Mabel Osgood Wright’s original hand-colored lantern slides—glass plates with transparent images that were projected onto a wall or screen by a device called a magic lantern. The slides reveal how much Fairfield has changed from the more rural, pastoral landscape it was in her time. The hand-coloring gives a dreamy, ethereal quality to the images which capture scenes of Wright's favorite subjects including the shoreline, flower gardens, and the people of Fairfield.

Thank you to the Fairfield Museum and History Center for preserving Wright’s original lantern slides and generously providing the scans that make this exhibit possible.