Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Heather Hollingsworth at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.
Leila’s Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri, which housed more than 3,000 pieces of Victorian-era hair art collected over 30 years by the late hairdresser Leila Cohoon, is being dismantled as her granddaughter rehomes the collection to major museums across the country.
Some key facts:
• Leila Cohoon, who died in November at age 92, spent decades collecting hair art that was primarily created by women in the mid-1800s as memorial pieces for deceased loved ones.
• The collection of more than 3,000 pieces is being distributed to prestigious institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington.
• Cohoon’s collection began in 1956 when she discovered a gold frame filled with hair twisted into flower shapes while shopping for Easter shoes.
• The museum attracted celebrity visitors over the years, including heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and comedian Phyllis Diller, who donated a family heirloom wreath.
• Hair art fell out of favor by the 1940s as photography became the preferred way to preserve memories, and the art form was largely dismissed because it was created primarily by women.
• The collection’s estimated worth may exceed $1 million, though Cohoon kept her spending over the years private.
• Granddaughter Lindsay Evans is keeping the original piece that started the collection and says the process of rehoming has helped her grieve her grandmother’s death.
• The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston recently acquired approximately 30 pieces from the collection, including jewelry memorializing the dead.
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