Veil
- Object Name:
- Veil
- Object ID:
- 2025.070.02
- Place of Origin:
- Dover, NH
- Date:
- 1947
- Description:
- Veil for a wedding dress made out of WWII parachute silk worn by Ruth Blaisdell of Somersworth, NH at her marriage to Wallace Irving Akerman of Dover on April 6, 1947 at St. John's Methodist Church in Dover, NH.
- Material:
- Fabric
- Dimensions:
- H-32 W-35 inches
- Provenance:
- Wallace Akerman was born in Rollinsford, NH, on July 27, 1921 as the first of two sons of Frances Forbush Rush Akerman and Walter U. Akerman. When he registered for the draft in February 1942 he worked for the Kidder Press Company in Dover. Akerman enlisted as a pilot trainee in the Army Air Corp in September 1942. He attended Primary, Basic, and Advanced Pilot training for the B-24 and served in the China, Burma, India Theater. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal, Asiatic-Pacific and Philippine Liberation Medal. He transitioned from active duty to the reserve in August 1945 after which he met Ruth Blaisdell.
Back in Dover, New Hampshire, Akerman was working as a contractor and Ruth as a typist when they married on April 6, 1947. The couple had three children: Twila Elaine Akerman Anderson (1948-2025), Wallace Irving Akerman Jr. (1951-1994), and Walter Harland Akerman (1958-1988). Ruth died of cancer in 1970. Wallace subsequently remarried twice, first to Ruth Arlene Woods Butt (1908-1977) in 1972 and then following her death to Marguerite Harriman (1920-1998) in 1987. Wallace Akerman died on January 2, 2000, and is buried in Ipswich, MA. - Credit Line:
- Gift of Amy Tenney Corcoran - Granddaughter
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