Ellen G. White and Her Critics

The Second Visit to Dansville, 1865

In September, 1865, Elder and Mrs. White went the second time to Dansville, he suffering from a “stroke.” Regarding this visit she wrote two years later: EGWC 146.3

“I put on the reformed dress September 8, 1865, when I visited Dansville with my sick husband. It was the same length I now wear, and I was distinctly given to understand that it was not the ‘American Costume.’”—The Review and Herald, October 8, 1867, p. 260. EGWC 146.4

It was about this time that Mrs. White had called upon the sisters in the church to take a positive step in the way of dress reform, thus to break the domination of fashion and to secure better health. It was therefore very natural that she should make the transition to a reform dress at the time she went with her husband to an institution where a variety of reforms were under way. She made sure, however, in putting on the reform dress, that she was not adopting anything that could be described as the American costume. EGWC 147.1