Corowa identity Shirley Nolan OAM is delighted to be donating her dress from her first wedding, handmade by her mother, to Corowa Historical Society for display in their Celebration of Weddings exhibition.
Federation Museum is celebrating that special day, that’s all about the dress, paying homage to the weddings of Corowa over the ages.
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The exhibition is part of the National Trust Heritage Festival for 2026, where the museum will open its doors for free on Thursday, April 23.
A range of paraphernalia, carefully collected over many years, will be on display on this very special open day.
Corowa District Historical Society secretary Heather Hall said the event shared a similar focus to the fashion exhibition held earlier this year at the Federation Art Space.
The star of this display is a handmade wedding dress donated by well-known Corowa identity Shirley Nolan OAM.
“The focus of that last exhibition was a wedding dress from the 1930s, which was pretty spectacular,” Heather said.
“Shirley Nolan was kind enough to donate her wedding gown to us for the display.
“She was president of the Federation Festival from 1988-94.
“In 1998 she was awarded the OAM in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for service to the community of Corowa, in particular through organisations involved in commemorating historic events and to the welfare of aged people.”
The dress, worn by Shirley in her first wedding, was made by her mother in 1937.
Shirley visited the museum to see the dress being displayed in preparation for the exhibition and said it made her proud that her mother’s work would be on display.
“It made me pleased that local people had done so much for local identities,” Shirley said.
“My mother was never one to go and be in the community and look for pats on the back.
“She'd always been one all her life to just do what she could, and the children were not going to benefit by us going out there making a thing of ourselves, my mother included.”
Corowa Historical Society secretary Heather Hall with Shirley Nolan’s handmade wedding dress (far left) which was made by Shirley’s mother in 1937.
Also on display are the many thousands of wedding photos from the Gerry Brown Photographic Collection.
Gerry Brown was a prominent wedding photographer in Corowa throughout the mid-1900s.
His work spanned from the 1930s to the 1980s before selling his business and captured over 20,000 wedding photos during that time.
“These albums have been compiled and catalogued by two of our volunteers, Val Mitchell and Heather Johnston over many years,” Heather said.
“They’ve been put together from the photos which we acquired from Gerry's family when the business was sold.
“We also hold thousands of photos which volunteers Paul Gardener and Janet Willett-Gardener have catalogued from the negatives from the Gerry Brown Collection.”
Heather said there will be about 10 mannequins displaying wedding dresses throughout the museum, as well as those in the display cabinet, to go with the photographic exhibitions and other wedding paraphernalia.
Doors open from 10am to 4pm, and you can enjoy your tour with a complimentary cuppa and an ANZAC bikky.
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