21-year-old who publicly dressed down Abraham Lincoln in 1864

[David Lockmiller]

I read the New York Times online each morning. I also get a separate email from the New York Times called "Your Morning Briefing." Again, I came across a Lincoln story that was factually wrong and misleading. Accordingly, I sent the following email to these people in order to correct their factually wrong and misleading Lincoln characterization.

What we’re reading: The Daily Suffragist on Twitter. Our reporter Jennifer Schuessler says: “Love this account, which gives a concise daily snapshot from the history of the women’s suffrage movement.” And of notable women, too, like a 21-year-old who publicly dressed down Abraham Lincoln in 1864 for inadequately protecting former slaves.

I would suggest that you consider the other side of the story.

Notable Visitors to White House: Anna Dickinson

On January 16, 1864, the President received Dickinson at the White House. Congressman William D. Kelley arranged for her to speak in the House of Representatives and meet the president. Later that Saturday, Lincoln attended her speech at the Capitol. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin and House Speaker Schuyler Colfax escorted Dickinson to the dais. Historian Young wrote: “Anna was in the midst of a violent attack on Lincoln’s amnesty proclamation and his lenient plan of reconstruction announced the previous month, when the President and his wife entered the hall. Lincoln sat with bowed head as the self-possessed oratress finished her criticisms: ‘Let no man prate of compromise. Defeated by ballots, the South had appealed to bullet. Let it stand by the appeal. There was no arm of compromise long enough to stretch over the sea of blood, and the mound of fallen heroes, to shake hands with their murderers.’ The audience applauded Anna’s sentiment and the courage she exhibited in proclaiming it, while an enthusiast in the balcony wildly waved a flag over her head.” But Anna quickly went on to advocate Lincoln’s reelection: “Granted that we had much yet to do, we had to complete the grand and glorious work, and that work was left for his second term in office.” Again, the audience cheered.7

The anti-slavery, pro-Dickinson newspaper, the Independent, reported:

“Mr. Lincoln sat with his head bowed, rarely looking Miss Dickinson in the face, but evidently catching every word, and, I have not a doubt, admiring her courage and honesty. When she had criticized the terms of the last proclamation, Miss Dickinson as boldly avowed her belief that the people would insist that Mr. Lincoln should retain his office for another term.”8

Mr. Lincoln’s White House
Notable Visitors: Anna Dickinson
A Lehrman Institute Website