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u CONTACT
Heidi Wirth
New-York Historical Society Director of Museum Administration
[email protected] or 212-485-9271
Lincoln and New York, a traveling panel version
of the New-York Historical Society’s 2009–10
exhibition.
Description
Display Configuration
Lincoln and New York probes the myths and contro-
The exhibition takes shape as a 10-section Vista Panel
Display System. Each section, measuring approximately
24” wide by 80” high, includes two panels and a panel
header. The lightweight, stackable panels are easy to install and allow for flexible configuration in a range of public
spaces. The size of the exhibition when it is installed onesided is approximately 20 feet wide by 80” high. It can
also be installed two-sided to measure approximately 10
feet wide by 80” high.
versies surrounding Abraham Lincoln. Starting with the
iconic Mathew Brady image of Lincoln without his beard,
the exhibition follows his earliest efforts to gain the
blessing of the political and journalistic leaders of New
York for a presidential run. Reproductions of rare period
artifacts and caricatures show the political passions of
the day, depicting the rising impact of the media and
the first racial scare tactics used in a national political
campaign. Original research explores New York’s influence on the Civil War, the impact of emancipation, and
the promotion of Lincoln’s persona as he evolved from
an obscure Illinois politician to a national martyr. Visitors who think they know everything about Lincoln will
be startled to see so much that is new.
Accompanying Materials
Curriculum resources and other information can be
downloaded from www.lincolnandnewyork.org. A catalogue is available for sale at venues. Host venues are
encouraged to create related public programs and arrange events of local interest. The New-York Historical
Society can work with venues to suggest speakers and
will supply a bibliography.
Shipping
The N-YHS will arrange a mutually convenient delivery
time for the exhibition based on the display dates. Unpacking, installation, and repacking is the responsibility
of the venue.
Cost
There is no venue fee. Venues are responsible for the
costs of round trip shipping (varies based on location)
and local costs incurred in presenting the exhibition.
The traveling exhibition is made possible
by a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
Traveling Exhibition
Lincoln and New York
THE SPEECH AND THE IMAGE
THE FACE OF POLITICS
Let us have faith that
right makes might,
and in that faith, let
us, to the end, dare
to do our duty as we
understand it.
P
Abraham Lincoln, February 27, 1860
O
Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States, the
log-cabin born prairie lawyer, orator, emancipator, and eventual
martyr, is one of the most celebrated figures in American history.
In 1860 he emerged as a contender for the Republican presidential
nomination. At that time, New York was the nation’s wealthiest
city, mightiest port, and media center. It was also both a center
of abolitionist agitation and a Democratic stronghold, sympathetic
to the slaveholding South. As a Republican who resisted the
radicalism of abolitionism, Lincoln faced a steep challenge in his
appeal to New York’s voters.
Nevertheless, Lincoln could not have attained the presidency nor
won the Civil War without New York City or New York State, though
he visited only five times. New York gave Lincoln votes and supplied
the Union with the troops, equipment, and financing necessary to
win the war. At the same time, New York’s editors, reporters, artists,
and publishers helped shape the nation’s perception of Lincoln,
and the president’s distinctive likeness became a powerful weapon
in the political battles of the Civil War era.
top left: Mathew B. Brady (ca. 1823–
1896). Abraham Lincoln (detail), New
York, February 27, 1860. Albumen
print, carte-de-visite. New-York
Historical Society, PR 231.
top right: Unidentified artist. “The
Cooper Union for the Advancement
of Science and Art.” Wood engraving,
published in Harper’s Weekly, March
30, 1861. New-York Historical Society.
bottom left: Abraham Lincoln, The
Address of the Hon. Abraham Lincoln.
New York: George F. Nesbitt & Co.,
Printers and Stationers, 1860. New-York
Historical Society, CT.L7, Box L.
left: Unidentified artist. “Uncle Sam”
Making New Arrangements, 1860.
Lithograph. Currier & Ives, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of
Daniel Parish Jr., PR 010.
This image depicts growing confidence
among Republican leaders that Lincoln
would win the election of 1860. Uncle
Sam is shown in front of the White
House, removing a sign that reads
“Wanted: An honest, upright and capable
man to take charge of this house for four
years,” and handing Lincoln a notice that
he has been hired as president. Lincoln
appears in rustic attire, holding an axe, in
contrast to the more formal dress of John
Bell, John C. Breckenridge, and Stephen
Douglas, who are spurned by Uncle Sam.
Lincoln’s standing as someone who Uncle
Sam feels he can “safely trust in the
management of my affairs,” is tied to his
characterization as a humble rail-splitter.
right: Unidentified artist. Storming
the Castle “Old Abe” on Guard, 1860.
Lithograph. Currier & Ives, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of
Daniel Parish Jr., PR 010.
With a distinctive hat and cape, Lincoln
appears dressed as a member of the
“Wide-Awakes.” He has foiled the
fumbling attempts of the other
candidates to break into the White
House, particularly those of Vice
President John C. Breckenridge, a
Southern Democrat who the incumbent
James Buchanan tries to pull through the
window, thus implying Buchanan’s
sympathy for the secessionist South.
Here, Lincoln is a watchman, blocking
the inept efforts of the other candidates
and the split rail he carries is a source of
strength and authority over his opponents.
background: Unidentified artist. “Grand
Procession of Wide-Awakes at New
York on the Evening of October 3, 1860.”
Wood engraving, published in Harper’s
Weekly, Oct. 13, 1860. New-York
Historical Society.
n February 27, 1860 at Cooper Union
in New York, Abraham Lincoln won
national fame with a speech that argued that the founding fathers had intended
for slavery to end in the United States. Moral
issues, Lincoln contended, lay at the heart of
the sectional conflict. The effects of the galvanizing speech made Lincoln a suddenly viable
alternative to the Republican frontrunner, New
York State’s own Senator William Henry
Seward, and won Lincoln the Republican nomination. Hours before speaking at Cooper
Union, Lincoln visited the photography studio
of Mathew Brady, whose flattering portrait
became the iconic image that introduced the
unknown westerner to the nation.
Following the tradition of the day, Lincoln stayed home and did not campaign in person
throughout the election process. Instead, New
York’s image-makers marketed “three Lincolns”
to the American electorate: the thoughtful orator at Cooper Union; Brady’s dignified statesman; and the self-made frontiersman of political
cartoons. In particular, the lithographers
Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives produced inexpensive prints—images of Lincoln
modeled on the Brady portrait, often highlighting Lincoln’s former work as a rail-splitter—to
be displayed at campaign offices, rallies, and
saloons. Meanwhile, enthusiastic young Republicans, calling themselves “Wide Awakes,”
paraded in the streets bearing torches and
lanterns and singing campaign songs in support
of Lincoln.
SECESSION WINTER
T
he print media flourished in New York,
and train lines swiftly delivered its
newspapers and images to the entire
nation. At the time of the 1860 presidential
election, the city was home to no fewer
than 174 daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers. The press was vital in the era of
impending secession and war, and local
papers such as the Herald and Tribune
influenced public opinion nationwide. Horace
Greeley’s Tribune introduced Lincoln as an
exciting and inspiring candidate. Partisan
publications like the Herald characterized
the Republican candidate as a coarse and
clumsy radical.
Illustrated periodicals and inexpensive prints
grew in popularity during the Civil War period.
Harper’s Weekly or the more satirical Phunny
Phellow, for example, thrived on imagery of
Lincoln, whose lanky physique and angular
features became easy targets for the cartoonist’s pen. Not all caricatures were hostile;
imagery supportive of Lincoln’s efforts to
stop the spread of slavery and preserve the
Union also highlighted the new president’s
physical appearance.
left: C.D. Fredericks & Co., Horace
Greeley (1811–1872), ca. 1861–1865.
Albumen print, carte-de-visite.
New-York Historical Society, PR 011.
right: Unidentified artist. “Dictator
Greeley.” Wood engraving, published in
Harper’s Weekly, August 10, 1861.
New-York Historical Society.
This image from early in the Civil War
reflects the close relationship between
Lincoln and the New York press. After
the Union defeat at Bull Run in July 1861,
Horace Greeley had charged the Lincoln
administration with incompetence
and called for the resignation of the
entire cabinet. Though images like
this characterized Greeley as childish
and irate, he and his fellow publishers
wielded a great deal of power during the
Civil War.
top left: Unidentified artist, after
Mathew B. Brady. “Hon. Abraham
Lincoln, Born in Kentucky, February 12,
1809.” Wood engraving, published in
Harper’s Weekly, November 10, 1860.
New-York Historical Society.
Harper’s Weekly, a popular illustrated
journal, published this issue four days
after Lincoln’s election on November 6.
The cover illustration is a woodcut
adaptation of Mathew Brady’s photographic portrait of Lincoln taken just
before the speech at Cooper Union.
Woodcuts like this were the means by
which photographic images were
reproduced in publications and distributed to a wide audience in the 1860s.
top right: Unidentified artist. “’The
Schoolmaster Abroad’ at last,” Strong’s
Dime Caricatures No. 4, 1861. Wood
engraving, T. W. Strong, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, PR 010.
bottom right: Michael Angelo Woolf
(1837–1899). “Good, my lord; what is the
cause of your distemper?” 1860. Wood
engraving. New-York Historical Society,
PR 010.
anic gripped New York as news of South
Carolina’s secession in December 1860
and fear over the loss of vital Southern
markets fed predictions of economic disaster.
Yet after the war began in April
1861, New York and Brooklyn
would provide significant contributions to the war effort and
to the eventual Union victory.
By that summer, New York
State regiments such as the
69th and the 7th jubilantly
marched through the streets.
German, Hungarian, Italian,
and particularly Irish immigrant men enthusiastically enlisted. New York
manufacturers supplied the Union army with
uniforms, buttons, and flasks. In an effort to
meet the extraordinary military demand,
Brooks Brothers produced “shoddy” uniforms
made from an artificial cloth that disintegrated
in the rain. The Navy’s demand for gunboats
led to increased production at Brooklyn and
Manhattan shipyards; at its wartime peak, the
Brooklyn Navy Yard employed over 6,000 men.
New York’s women also rose to the call. The
Women’s Central Relief Association (WCRA)
trained nurses, collected supplies, and raised
funds for war widows and orphans. Though
founded in New York, the WCRA expanded to
a regional network of nearly 1,500 affiliated
societies. The United States Sanitary Commission, a forerunner to the International Red
Cross, originated from the WCRA.
PROCLAMATION POLITICS
left: Unidentified artist. Phoenix
Regiment! Corcoran Zouaves! 4th
Regiment Spinola’s Empire Brigade! n.d.
Hand-colored woodcut and letterpress.
Baker & Godwin, publisher. New-York
Historical Society, PR 055.
right: Thomas Nast (1840–1902). Study
for “Departure of the Seventh Regiment
for the War, April 19, 1861,” ca. 1865–69.
Oil over graphite on brown paper.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of
George A. Zabriskie, 1946.174.
top: P.S. Duval & Son, after R. Morris
Swander. Emancipation Proclamations.
Allegorical Portrait of Abraham Lincoln,
1865. Lithograph. Art Publishing
Association of Philadelphia, Swander
Bishop & Co., publisher. New-York
Historical Society, PR 068.
bottom: Unidentified artist. Freedom to
the Slave (detail), ca. 1863. Lithograph.
Photographs and Prints Division,
Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, The New York Public
Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden
Foundations.
Morse. [Abraham Lincoln boxing with
Jefferson Davis], 1861. Woodcut.
New-York Historical Society, PR 010.
top left: Unidentified artist. “Doctor
Lincoln’s New Elixir of Life — for the
Southern States.” Wood engraving,
published in New York Illustrated News,
April 12, 1862. New-York Historical
Society.
top right: Unidentified artist. Freedom
to the Slaves…, ca. 1865. Lithograph.
Currier & Ives, publisher. New-York
Historical Society, PR 052.
According to this view from Currier
& Ives, emancipation was a personal
gift from Lincoln to the slave. This
dynamic, in which the slave is still
subordinate, ignores the extent to which
enslaved people played an active role
in their liberation, often crossing into
Union territory and working or fighting
alongside Union soldiers. Images
depicting liberated slaves as docile and
submissive were likely used to reassure
Northern whites who were fearful about
the effects of emancipation.
bottom left: Adalbert Johann Volk
(1828–1912). Writing the Emancipation
Proclamation, Baltimore, 1863. Etching.
New-York Historical Society, PR 010.
top left: Unidentified artist. WCRA
(Women’s Central Relief Association) in
Cooper Union, New York City, ca. 1864.
Albumen print. New-York Historical
Society, PR 164.
top right: Entry Ticket for Metropolitan
Fair, 1864. New-York Historical Society,
Metropolitan Fair Papers.
bottom: Unidentified artist. Continental
Works, Green Point, Brooklyn, 1865.
Hand-colored lithograph. Endicott &
Co., publisher. New-York Historical
Society, PR 020.
The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
L
ingering questions about slavery and
freedom provoked bitter divisions in
wartime. Abolitionists and African
American statesmen rallied reformers
to shape the movement for Emancipation. Leaders such as Frederick Douglass, James McCune Smith, Reverend James
Pennington, and Martin Delaney passed resolutions, published political pamphlets, and
pressured the president to convert the war to
one of emancipation. Nevertheless, a cautious
Lincoln had to brace for political opposition as
he prepared to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation after the Union victory at
Antietam in September 1862.
In an ironic twist, Jefferson Davis was
inaugurated President of the
Confederate States of America before
Lincoln took the oath of office in
March 1861.
In 1864 the WCRA sold nearly 30,000
tickets in just three weeks to their
Metropolitan Fair, which displayed
Frederic Church’s Heart of the Andes and
Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing
the Delaware for a steep admission fee.
And by virtue of the power and for
the purpose aforesaid, I do order
and declare that all persons held
as slaves within said designated
States and parts of States, are, and
henceforward shall be free.
In this anti-Lincoln view, Lincoln writes
the Emancipation Proclamation with his
foot on the Constitution, dipping his pen
in a diabolical inkwell. This linkage of
Lincoln with the devil appears in other
imagery emergent from the south at this
time, as Confederate ideology and
nationalism identified with Christianity
and thus equated Lincoln with the devil.
The legs on Lincoln’s desk are composed
of African American faces with horns and
cloven hooves, while a snake head emerges
from under the curtains, behind Lincoln’s
back. Framed images of “St. Osawatomie”
and Santo Domingo, both references to
violent anti-slavery insurrections,
complete the negative characterization
of abolitionism in this scene.
A key turning point in the war, Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation provided a new
language and motivation for extreme depictions
of Lincoln from both sides of the conflict. Proslavery imagery of Lincoln depicted him as a
despotic, diabolical figure and made reference
to the violent acts of radical abolitionists like
John Brown. Later, the figure of Lincoln as a
benevolent liberator, elevating a humble slave
from his shackles, became a familiar representation of the President after the war shifted
from a fight to preserve the Union to a battle for
emancipation.
bottom right: Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co.,
after David Gilmour Blythe (1815–
1865). President Lincoln, Writing the
Proclamation of Freedom, January
1st 1863, 1864. Chromolithograph. M.
Dupuy, publisher. New-York Historical
Society, PR 052.
In marked contrast to the Southern view
of this scene, here Lincoln writes the
Emancipation Proclamation with his
hand on the Bible, which rests in his lap
on top of the Constitution. A bust of
Andrew Jackson is a reference to another
strongly Unionist President. Conversely,
a bust of James Buchanan, who was
notably ineffectual in opposing
secessionism, hangs from a noose.
Lincoln’s cluttered study also contains
the scales of justice and a rail-splitter’s
maul, which together symbolize his
persona as a moral and humble statesman.
Organized by:
Unidentified artist. Fourth of July in
and about New York, “The Regatta”
(detail), 1860. Stereograph card.
E & H.T. Anthony & Co., publisher.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of
Mrs. Elihu Spicer, PR 065.
Made possible through the generous support of:
U.S. Department of Education
Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
CONTRABAND AND THE LAST OF
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
E
arly in the war, one of Lincoln’s generals navigated the issue of slavery by
calling the enslaved people “contraband of war.” Later, Congress passed legislation
authorizing the Union to confiscate Confederate property, including slaves, and forbidding
the Union army from returning runaway
slaves to their masters. Thousands of fleeing
slaves descended on Union lines, in a final manifestation of the Underground
Railroad. This migration altered the racial environment
in the South, and Freedmen’s
camps served as centers of an
emerging, free African American culture, providing schools,
churches, and job training.
bottom: Unidentified artist. Storming
Fort Wagner, 1890. Chromolithograph.
Kurz & Allison, publisher. Library of
Congress, Prints and Photographs
Division, LC-USZC4-507.
In 1863 Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led
the 54th Massachusetts, the first
regiment of black troops raised in the
North, in an attack on Fort Wagner on
the coast of South Carolina. While Shaw
and many of his men perished in the
attack, the battle was the first action for
which an African American would be
awarded the Medal of Honor. Although
the recruits had been promised pay equal
to their white counterparts, it was not
until after the men of the 54th refused
their pay for over a year that the wages
were made equal.
above top: Draft cards, 1863. Paper.
New-York Historical Society,
INV. 7689a-n.
above bottom: Draft wheel, ca. 1863.
Wood, metal. New-York Historical
Society, Gift of Frederic C. Wagner,
1865.6.
ongress passed
the Conscription
(Enrollment) Act
in March 1863 implementing the first federal draft. A
controversial aspect of the
law offered exemption from
military service in exchange
for $300. New York’s working
men grew enraged, while Irish
Americans in particular feared that
their efforts on the battlefield would liberate men and women who ultimately might
compete with them for jobs as well as larger acceptance in American society. On July 13th, two
days after New York’s draft lottery began, a mob
of angry protestors stormed the draft office on
Third Avenue and Forty-seventh Street and
burned it to the ground. Four days of rioting
ensued. The brutal attacks on African Americans and massive property destruction ended
only when Federal troops were called back from
the battlefields of Gettysburg to restore order.
This lottery wheel was for use in the
draft lottery held in the 7th Congressional
District on the Lower East Side of
Manhattan. Cards inside listed the names,
occupations, and addresses of potential
draftees. The wheel was rescued from
destruction after the outbreak of the
draft riots in July 1863. It still contained
3,500 draft cards when it was donated to
the New-York Historical Society in 1865.
right: Unidentified artist. “The Riots in
New York, Conflict Between the
Military and the Rioters in FirstAvenue.” Wood engraving, published in
the Illustrated London News,
August 15, 1863. New-York Historical
Society, PR 020.
left: Unidentified artist. Major Martin
Delaney U.S.A. Promoted on the Battle
Field for Bravery, n.d. Hand-colored
lithograph. Joseph Hoover, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, PR 052.
top right: Unidentified artist. Colored
Pickets on Duty, near Dutch Cap,
ca. 1863. Stereograph card, E & H.T.
Anthony & Co., publisher. New-York
Historical Society, PR 164.
bottom right: 24 Men Wanted! 1863.
Letterpress poster, Curtz, printer. NewYork Historical Society, PR 055.
above: Unidentified artist. Colored
Orphan Asylum (detail), 1861.
Stereograph card. New-York Historical
Society, Purchase, PR 065.
This acclaimed school and shelter for
African American children was founded
by women in 1836. During the draft riots
an angry mob destroyed the building as
part of a series of vicious attacks that
targeted African Americans. Though
all 233 children escaped with their
lives, eleven black men were lynched or
dragged through the streets during the
riots. The Orphan Asylum was rebuilt
in 1867 and operated into the twentieth
century.
below: Unidentified artist. “The
Naughty Boy Gotham, Who Would
Not Take the Draft.” Wood engraving,
published in Frank Leslie’s Budget
of Fun, November 1, 1863. New-York
Historical Society.
right: Unidentified artist. Political
Caricature No. 2. Miscegenation or
The Millennium of Abolitionism, 1864.
Lithograph. G.W. Bromley & Co.,
publisher. New-York Historical Society,
PR 010.
As part of a larger Democratic strategy,
many anti-Lincoln New York publishers
produced pamphlets, lithographs and
engravings depicting scenes of
‘miscegenation,’ spreading the notion
that under Lincoln, the white race would
be debased by African blood. Here
Lincoln at the far left and Greeley in the
center participate in a gathering that,
according to their opponents, reflected
the impend-ing deterioration of
American society.
The New York City draft rioters railed against the draft and
the repercussions of emancipation, as well as the perception,
fomented by the Democratic
press, that under Lincoln the
federal government had taken
on a dangerous level of centralized power. To this day, the
draft riots still rank as the largest and bloodiest urban disturbance in American history.
Indeed, the Emancipation Proclamation and
rising anxieties about the implications of racial
integration prompted harsh words and deeds.
Lincoln’s opponents discredited Republicans
through fear-mongering accusations like
“miscegenation,” implying that Lincoln and his
supporters endorsed racial integration and
equality, a radical concept in its time.
“OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN!”
right: Daniel Chester French (1850–
1931). Maquette for Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865), 1922. Plaster. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. William
Penn Cresson (Margaret French),
1954.79.
below: Daniel Chester French (1850–
1931). Preparatory study for Abraham
Lincoln (1809–1865), 1916. Painted
plaster. New-York Historical Society,
Gift of Mrs. William Penn Cresson
(Margaret French), 1954.164.
far right top: Walt Whitman (1819–1892).
Manuscript copy of ‘O Captain! My
Captain!’ Poem, March 9, 1887. Brown
University, John Hay Library.
A
A
s the long war continued, Lincoln faced
former General George B. McClellan as
his challenger in the election of 1864.
As had been the case in the election of 1860,
Lincoln’s campaign would be waged in the pages
and images of New York’s news and humor
publications. Yet by 1864 the extended trauma
of the Civil War would dramatically influence
the terms on which Lincoln was both praised
and assailed. The high cost of the war, in both
human and financial terms, dominated the attacks on Lincoln. The New York World falsely
reported that Lincoln had
toured the battlefield at
Antietam with a lighthearted
attitude. Thus by late 1864
Lincoln’s opponents depicted
him as a distracted jokester,
indifferent to the great casualties of war.
Cartoonists continued to highlight the shape
and size of the candidates. The fact that the notably tall Lincoln was running against one of his
more diminutive former generals did not go
unobserved. Yet Lincoln took control of his
visual identity in 1864. Recognizing that he
would have a lasting legacy as an emancipator,
Lincoln agreed to allow Francis Bicknell
Carpenter unprecedented access to the White
House for a six-month period while the painter
prepared a life-size portrayal of the first reading of the proclamation for the cabinet. Adapted as an engraving, the painting gained popularity after the great emancipator’s sudden and
untimely death.
top: Campaign banner, 1863. Lithograph
on cotton. New-York Historical Society,
Samuel T. Shaw Memorial Collection,
1946.243.
bottom: Alexander Hay Ritchie (1822–
1895), after Francis Bicknell Carpenter
(1830–1900). The First Reading of the
Emancipation Proclamation Before the
Cabinet, 1866. Engraving. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Harold
E. Hoyt, PR 052.
from top to bottom: Unidentified artist.
The Death-Bed of the Martyr President,
Abraham Lincoln. Washington,
Saturday Morning, April 15th 1865,
1865. Lithograph. Currier & Ives,
publisher. New-York Historical Society,
PR 052.
Unidentified artist. Lincoln’s Funeral
(detail), City Hall, New York City, 1865.
Stereograph card. New-York Historical
Society, Gift of Mrs. Elihu Spicer, PR
065.
Unidentified artist. [Abraham Lincoln’s
catafalque] (detail), 1865. Stereograph
card. New-York Historical Society, Gift
of Mrs. Elihu Spicer, PR 065.
Unidentified artist. Lincoln’s Funeral
Procession, Seventh Regiment in
advance of the catafalque (detail),
New York City, 1865. Stereograph card.
William Evans James, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, Gift of
Mrs. Elihu Spicer, PR 065.
fter an assassin’s bullet struck down
the president just days after Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court
House, New York became a central site of
dramatic national mourning. Despite the extraordinary passions expressed for and against
Lincoln in his lifetime, the imagery of his death
and martyrdom came as a sudden reversal.
Lincoln’s tragic death temporarily erased the
fierce conflicts of his presidency. New York’s
sophisticated media machine,
which had helped propel the
obscure western politician to
the highest office, now shaped
his legacy, highlighting only
his great achievements and
omitting the controversial
struggles of the war. In rapid
response to avid public demand, Currier & Ives created
and distributed depictions of both Lincoln’s
assassination and deathbed. Immediately thereafter, printmakers embarked upon a project of
sanctifying the martyred president, frequently
pairing him with George Washington, and
thereby linking two great American icons, the
creator and the defender of the Union.
Although the city had been the site of some of
the harshest criticism of Lincoln and his policies, within days New Yorkers had draped
their homes, businesses, and even ships in the
harbor in mourning bunting. When Lincoln’s
funeral train stopped in New York en route from
Washington to Springfield, Illinois, New Yorkers turned out in massive numbers to witness
the funeral procession. Well over 100,000 New
Yorkers viewed President Lincoln’s open coffin
during the twenty-four hours that he lay in state
at City Hall.
above: Unidentified artist. “Long
Abraham Lincoln a Little Longer.”
Wood engraving, published in Harper’s
Weekly, November 26, 1864. New-York
Historical Society.
above: Francis Bicknell Carpenter
(1830–1900). The Lincoln Family,
ca. 1865. Oil on canvas. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of Warren C.
Crane, 1909.6.
Shortly after Lincoln’s assassination,
New York printmaker John Chester
Buttre commissioned Francis Bicknell
Carpenter to paint this portrait of
the Lincoln family for the purpose of
creating an engraved print. The family is
depicted as they would have appeared in
1861, when both Lincoln and his middle
son William, seated in front of the table,
were still living. Carpenter painted in
black and white to facilitate printmaking,
and drew upon photographs and
sketches of the Lincoln family and
their furnishings, as well as his own
recollections from his extended stay at
the White House in 1864.
far right bottom: Unidentified artist.
The Lincoln Statue. In Lincoln Square,
Washington, D.C, Unveiled April 14
1876, 1876. Lithograph. Currier & Ives,
publisher. New-York Historical Society,
PR 052.
Funded entirely by donations from
free blacks, the Freedman’s Memorial
to Abraham Lincoln was the first
monument on the topic of emancipation
and African American history intended
for a national audience. Despite the
hopes of its funders and the expectations
of the era of Reconstruction, Thomas
Ball’s memorial reinforces the dynamics
of slavery by depicting a nude slave
crouched powerlessly at the feet of a
authoritative, formally attired Lincoln.
N
ational grief over Abraham Lincoln’s
death inspired a vast amount of literary and artistic works in the decades
following the Civil War. Walt Whitman’s elegies,
“When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom’d” and
“Oh Captain, My Captain,” encapsulated this
profound sense of national loss. Lincoln’s legacy, his humble persona, and role as emancipator has had a broad and lasting influence on
American political and cultural life.
At the turn of the twentieth century, recollection of Lincoln as an industrious everyman
appealed to an increasingly urbanized and diverse nation. Lincoln’s likeness debuted on the
penny in 1909, an era that championed Lincoln
as an example for poor children who sought to
rise and improve through their own labor. While
dedicated in 1922 as a celebration more of
unification than emancipation, the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington D.C. has served as a
symbolic meeting point for generations. Most
notably, Lincoln’s figure served as a backdrop
for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”
speech during the 1963 March on Washington.
The Lincoln legacy has been expressed in the
twenty-first century through the candidacy and
inauguration of President Barack Obama. Framing his presidential run as the fulfillment of
Lincoln’s ideals, Obama announced his candidacy in Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield,
Illinois and took the oath of office in 2009 with
the same Bible Lincoln had used nearly 150
years earlier.
right: John Sartain (1808–1897).
Abraham Lincoln, the Martyr,
Victorious., 1866. Mezzotint. W.H.
Hermans, publisher. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of O.T. Bark Sr.,
PR 052.
top left: C.A.L. The Commander in Chief
Conciliating the Soldier’s Votes on the
Battle Field, 1864. Etching. New-York
Historical Society, PR 010.
Lincoln stands with U.S. Marshal Ward
Lamon who is disturbed by a landscape
of wounded and dying soldiers. Lincoln’s
request to “sing us Picayune Butler or
something else that’s funny” is reference
to a report, later disputed by Lamon, that
while touring Antietam, Lincoln had
offended General McClellan by asking
Lamon to sing a song. Underscoring
references to his insensitivity, Lincoln
holds a tartan hat, an allusion to an 1861
incident in which he avoided an
assassination attempt by dressing in
disguise. Subsequent images of Lincoln
incorporated Scottish clothing as a visual
code to accuse him of timidity.
Organized by:
VICTORY AND MARTYRDOM
C
top: Unidentified artist. Fred(erick)
Douglass (1817–1895), n.d.. Albumen
print, carte-de-visite. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of Mr. Rodman
Gilder, PR 011.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, the approach of freedom seemed closer in both
South and North, even though
the military measure did not
have an immediate impact.
Lincoln invited Frederick
Douglass to the White House
to ask him to encourage more
slaves to abandon the South,
and forsake all work for Southern masters.
The final Emancipation Proclamation authorized the recruitment of African American
troops into the Union army. However, black
soldiers initially received less pay than their
white counterparts and were less eligible for
promotion. Yet as black volunteers fought in
the same battles as white Northerners, positive
news of their achievements sent a strong
message to Lincoln-doubters, who feared the
consequences of emancipation.
THE BATTLE FOR A
SECOND TERM
NEW YORK AS A BATTLEGROUND
bottom left: Unidentified artist. “This
Reminds me of a Little Joke.” Wood
engraving, published in Harper’s
Weekly, September 17, 1864. New-York
Historical Society.
While referencing Lincoln as a joker, this
image also depicts McClellan’s dim
chances for election in 1864, as Lincoln
holds his opponent in his palm and
appears merely amused by his short
statured opposition.
right: John Cameron (b. ca. 1828),
Running the “Machine,” 1864.
Lithograph.Currier & Ives, publisher.
New-York Historical Society, PR 010.
In this scene, Lincoln sits with his
cabinet members and Navy secretary
Gideon Welles, while Treasury secretary
William Pitt Fessenden cranks out
greenbacks from a machine. In the midst
of this display of wastefulness and
ineptitude, Lincoln obliviously leans
back and cracks a joke.
Now is the
time to make real
the promises of
democracy
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
August 28, 1963
top: Thousands of demonstrators
with the March on Washington gather
around the Lincoln Memorial and
its reflecting pools © Flip Schulke/
CORBIS
bottom: A reporter interviews civil
rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. at
the 1963 Freedom March ©CORBIS
The text inscribed in the Lincoln
Memorial does not refer to slavery
or emancipation, and Daniel Chester
French’s colossal, seated Lincoln does
not share the stage with a liberated slave.
Yet its vast scale and central location
have enabled the memorial to serve as
a dramatic site of American political
history, in particular a seminal moment
of the Civil Rights movement. Today a
memorial to King himself sits adjacent
to the Lincoln Memorial, creating a
landscape of commemoration that is a
tribute to an evolving commitment to
human dignity and civil rights.