News From The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

[RJNorton]

Emancipation Proclamation
On display September 5 through January 21, 2013

One hundred fifty years ago, on September 22, 1862, buoyed by the recent Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln announced his intention to issue an Emancipation Proclamation, which he did on New Year’s Day 1863. To commemorate this momentous anniversary, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is putting its signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, plus two new artifacts, on display in the Museum’s Treasures Gallery starting Wednesday, September 5. The items will remain on display through January 21, 2013.

“Every year in our country, the legal and social equality of all races continues to come closer to our ideal,” said James M. Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection at the Presidential Library and Museum. “The great break with the past, the seminal event, the leap forward, began with Lincoln's pen in September 1862. People at the time - black or white, American or European, North or South - knew this, and their experience tells us to celebrate this document and its anniversary.”

The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the officially printed commemorative copies that Lincoln signed in full, along with Secretary of State William Seward and Lincoln’s private secretary, John G. Nicolay. The President signed the original Emancipation Proclamation in private with only a few witnesses at his side – no “photo opportunity” as we like to say today.

It is fortunate that the commemorative printing was ordered, because Lincoln’s original manuscript was lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871. The Proclamation measures approximately 27 by 20 inches. It was most recently displayed during a five-day special viewing around his birthday in 2012, and during the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial.

Next to it will be two artifacts never before displayed. One, created in the 1870s, is a bronze statue of Lincoln breaking the shackles of a slave. The sculptor was probably a Frenchman, Léon Falconnier. It was inspired by a giant Washington, D.C., statue by Thomas Ball for which Frederick Douglass gave the dedication speech in 1876. In that speech Douglass declared Lincoln “the white man’s president,” though he had earlier deemed him “the black man's president.” Falconnier may have wanted to capitalize on Ball's work, which, though less popular today, was commissioned and paid for by freedmen and helped solidify the image of Lincoln as the liberator of a race. Lincoln in fact had urged freedmen to show their gratitude to God and not to him, since freedom is a human right.

Visitors will be asked to give their thoughts about the sculpture as part of an “interactive experience” about this trio of historic objects.

The other item on view for the first time will be an 1864 notice of a slave sale in Louisville, Kentucky. This sale, held nearly two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, shows that the Proclamation did not apply to the border states during the Civil War, thus keeping these slave-holding states in the Union. The next year, Lincoln and Congress voted to change the U.S. Constitution with the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the entire United States.

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The Extravagances of Mary Lincoln
On display now through November

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was a woman of contrasts. Her embarrassed husband had to bail her out when she overspent the White House budget; she bought entire supplies of cloth so no one could have a dress made like hers; and she spent her later years keeping persistent creditors at bay. Yet, when it came to hiring the African American seamstress who would later become one of her closest confidantes, Mrs. Lincoln was very frugal, as she was with other important things in her life.

An exhibit of original items relating to one side of Mary Todd Lincoln, her extravagances, may be seen now through November here at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. The exhibit includes the first public display of the original jury verdict form declaring her insane. Paid museum admission is required to see the exhibit.

All of the original items in the exhibit come from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum's collections, and many have never been publicly displayed. They include diamond, red coral and black onyx jewelry; a parasol and a fan; a plaid lap rug; pieces of three custom-made dresses; ivory desk items and a letter seal; a music portfolio; and a mahogany vanity with mirror.

[LincolnMan]

Roger: things for posting this. I found it very interesting-and wish I could go in time for the viewing. I viewed one of the copies of the EP signed by Lincoln at the Henry Ford Museum-and it was very moving to see his signature with that full name.

[JB Banning]

Roger,

Was the EP really distroyed in the Chicago Fire? It is displayed very rarely, but I happpened to be in Washington about 5 years ago when it was displayed for two days only. Or did I only view a copy?

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/feature...clamation/

By the way, the line to see the EP was longer than the line to see the Declaration of independence.

Joe

One more thing. Lincoln wrote on both sides of the paper so I could only read pages 1,3,and 5 thru the glass case.

[RJNorton]

Joe, I think the original draft was on display at the Soldiers' Home in Chicago and was subsequently destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871.

[Joe Di Cola]

(09-06-2012 12:14 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Joe, I think the original draft was on display at the Soldiers' Home in Chicago and was subsequently destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871.

It was part of the collection of the Chicago Historical Society (then located on the NW corner of Dearborn & Ontario Sts.), whose building was destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire. Ironically, The CHS building was deemed the safest in terms of fire-resistance.

Lincoln had donated the original to be sold for the benefit of Chicago's 1st Sanitary Fair in 1863. The person who purchased it donated it to the Soldiers' Home, whose managers then gave it to the CHS when its new building was opened in 1868.

[Joe Di Cola]

(09-06-2012 05:43 PM)Joe Di Cola Wrote:  

(09-06-2012 12:14 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Joe, I think the original draft was on display at the Soldiers' Home in Chicago and was subsequently destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871.

It was part of the collection of the Chicago Historical Society (then located on the NW corner of Dearborn & Ontario Sts.), whose building was destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire. Ironically, The CHS building was deemed the safest in terms of fire-resistance.

Lincoln had donated the original to be sold for the benefit of Chicago's 1st Sanitary Fair in 1863. The person who purchased it donated it to the Soldiers' Home, whose managers then gave it to the CHS when its new building was opened in 1868.

One other thought...in The Great Chicago Fire (introduced and with notes by Paul M. Angle, 1971), there is reproduced a poignant letter from assistant librarian, Samuel Stone, describing his escape from the burning CHS building and his valiant but unsuccessful attempt to save the original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

[JB Banning]

Thank you Roger and Joe. I think any day you learn something new is a good day. Today was a good day.

Joe

[RJNorton]

I am not sure if this is the same letter Joe D. mentioned above, but I came across this descrption of Stone's valiant effort to save the document:

"At this moment a terrible blast of wind, fire and smoke
filled the entire Ontario Street in front. The entire casement of
the front window was in a blaze, hanging like feathers on every
inch of the window. I immediately hurried down into the
reception room to get the record book and Lincoln Proclama-
tion. Not finding the record book I attempted to break the
frame containing the Proclamation to take from it the Procla-
mation and fold it under my coat, it being in a stout frame.
Not a moment more to stop. Abandoned the frame. At this
moment again the wind and fire filled the whole heavens
frightfully, dashing fire brands against the reception room
windows. A chinking I heard seemed from above, probably
from the upper window or roofing broke in. Believing a minute
more to try to save the Proclamation would be too late for my
escape, I next made for the basement door, stamped fire out of
two bundles and canted back the trunk to escape. The strong
suffocation from smoking bundles outside of basement door
prevented. I then tore open the third bundle (smoking),
snatched from it a shawl, covered my head and sprang out with
[as] much speed as possible, leaving the door little open. I
could not shut it."

[LincolnMan]

A copy of the EP that was owned by Robert Kennedy was sold for millions a year or so ago. Robert Kennedy had delivered a speech on the occasion of the centennial of the EP in which he said about it, in part, the following:

"in the long course of the American commitment to freedom and dignity of the individual, no single deed has done more than Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to redeem the pledge upon which this republic was founded--the pledge that all men are created equal, are endowed equally with unalienable rights and are entitled equally to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

[RJNorton]

Emancipation Proclamation

Currently on display through January 21, 2013

One hundred fifty years ago, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the issued the Emancipation Proclamation. To commemorate this momentous anniversary, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is reminding you of your chance to view our signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, plus two new artifacts, currently on display in the Museum’s Treasures Gallery. These artifacts are on display through January 21, 2013.

“Every year in our country, the legal and social equality of all races continues to come closer to our ideal,” said James M. Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection here at the Presidential Library and Museum. “The great break with the past, the seminal event, the leap forward, began with Lincoln's pen...People at the time - black or white, American or European, North or South - knew this, and their experience tells us to celebrate this document and its anniversary.”

The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the officially printed commemorative copies that Lincoln signed in full, along with Secretary of State William Seward and Lincoln’s private secretary, John G. Nicolay. The President signed the original Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, in private with only a few witnesses at his side – no “photo opportunity” as we like to say today.

It is fortunate that the commemorative printing was ordered, because Lincoln’s original manuscript was lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871. The Proclamation measures approximately 27 by 20 inches. It was most recently displayed during a five-day special viewing around his birthday in 2012, and during the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial.

Next to it are two artifacts never before displayed. One, created in the 1870s, is a bronze statue of Lincoln breaking the shackles of a slave. The sculptor was probably a Frenchman, Léon Falconnier. It was inspired by a giant Washington, D.C., statue by Thomas Ball for which Frederick Douglass gave the dedication speech in 1876. In that speech Douglass declared Lincoln “the white man’s president,” though he had earlier deemed him “the black man's president.” Falconnier may have wanted to capitalize on Ball's work, which, though less popular today, was commissioned and paid for by freedmen and helped solidify the image of Lincoln as the liberator of a race. Lincoln in fact had urged freedmen to show their gratitude to God and not to him, since freedom is a human right.

The other item on view for the first time is an 1864 notice of a slave sale in Louisville, Kentucky. This sale, held nearly two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, shows that the Proclamation did not apply to the border states during the Civil War, thus keeping these slave-holding states in the Union. The next year, Lincoln and Congress voted to change the U.S. Constitution with the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the entire United States.

[Mark MacKenzie]

Fascinating read, thank you, Roger.

[RJNorton]

From the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum:

Abraham Lincoln's Stovepipe Hat
Currently on Display

Nothing brings the image of Abraham Lincoln to mind better than his iconic stovepipe hat. And nothing sums up Lincoln’s beliefs better than a scrap of paper he may have stored in that battered hat. “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy,” the piece of paper says.

Now, just in time for Lincoln’s birthday, both the hat and the note on democracy are on display in the Treasures Gallery here at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and will remain on display about six months.

The two new items join a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s order freeing slaves in rebel states during the Civil War. The proclamation turned 150 years old on Jan. 1.

The beaver-fur hat has two bare patches on its brim where Lincoln’s fingers wore it out as he continually doffed it to passersby.

As he traveled from courthouse to courthouse on the Illinois prairie, Lincoln needed to stay warm and protect his legal papers. “Solving both problems, Lincoln kept his head warm and dry under this beaver-fur stovepipe hat, and he tucked his letters inside the hatband. It was his ‘office in his hat,’ according to a fellow attorney, and everyone on the circuit knew this amusing characteristic of Lincoln,” said ALPLM Lincoln Curator James Cornelius.

***********************************************

Mary and Myra

Thursday, January 31, 6:00 p.m.
The Casino, 195 E. Delaware, Chicago , IL

One was the most famous widows in America. The other was a woman who battled discrimination to become a lawyer. They made history when former first lady Mary Lincoln was committed to an asylum and Myra Bradwell worked tirelessly to get her out.

The incident comes to life Thursday, Jan. 31, when scenes from the play “Mary and Myra” will be read at The Casino, 195 E. Delaware, Chicago. The event begins with a reception at 5 p.m. The reading of the play starts at 6 o’clock.

Tickets are $50. They can be obtained in advance by contacting Monique Austin at wbai@wbaillinois.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the door with a check or cash.

“This was a fascinating moment in American history, revolving around two complex women and a host of legal and social issues,” said Eileen Mackevich, director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is co-sponsoring the event. “We’re proud to help put it back in the public spotlight.”

“The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois is honored to partner with the Chicago Bar Association Alliance For Women, the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to present ‘Mary and Myra,’ a play which involves issues such as the power of the media, mental health and the justice system and challenges faced by female lawyers, all of which remain relevant in today’s society,” said Deane B. Brown, immediate past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois and chair of the Mary and Myra event.

The reading features Susan Jeffers, a veteran of productions such as “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “The Lion in Winter,” as Mary Lincoln. Myra Bradwell is portrayed by Aasne Vigesaa, who has appeared in “As You Like It,” “A Doll’s House” and her own one-woman show “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

“Mary and Myra” was written by Catherine Filloux, author of more than 20 plays.

[LincolnMan]

Roger: I've heard it before but don't remember at the moment-how many of Lincoln's hats are there out there?

[J. Beckert]

Unless Roger knows differently, there's 3. The Smithsonian's hat, which he had at Ford's, the ALPM hat from the Taper collection and one that was saved by RTL. It's at his home Hildene, which I'm still mad I didn't get to see when I was there last weekend. It was in a room that was being worked on. The folks there say he had 7 hats, but these 3 are all that's accounted for.

[LincolnMan]

And actually the number three was what I thought. Thanks for the information on their whereabouts. Too bad you didn't get to see the one at Hildene!