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Lincoln and New York Traveling Panel Exhibition

Image Captions

File Name: 81532d_UncleSamMakingNewArrangements

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.

File Name: 81505d_HonorableAbeBornKentucky

Unidentified artist, after a photograph by 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, 1860. The cover illustration is

a woodcut adaptation of Mathew Brady’s photographic portrait, taken just

before Lincoln’s groundbreaking 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.

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File Name: 82151d_DictatorGreeleyDismissesCabinet

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, publisher of the New York

Tribune, 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.

File Name: 40917_LincolnDavisBoxing

Morse. [Abraham Lincoln boxing with Jefferson Davis], 1861.

Woodcut. New-York Historical Society, PR 010.

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.

File Name: 81786d_MetroFairTicket_April11th12th

Entry Ticket for Metropolitan Fair, 1864. New-York Historical

Society, Metropolitan Fair Papers.

An important wartime charitable organization, the

Women’s Central Relief Association trained nurses,

collected supplies, and raised funds for war widows and

orphans. 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.

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File Name: 85638d_LincolnWritingProcOfFreedom

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 this pro-Lincoln view, 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.

File Name: ac03014_24MenWanted

24 Men Wanted! 1863. Letterpress poster, Curtz, printer. New-York

Historical Society, PR 055.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation authorized the

recruitment of African American soldiers. These men received

less pay and were less eligible for promotion than their white

counterparts. Yet the presence of black volunteers meant that

news of their military achievements appeared in the North and

sent a strong message to Lincoln-doubters, who feared the

consequences of Emancipation.

File Name: 1865.6_DraftWheel

Draft Wheel, ca. 1863. Wood, metal. New-York Historical Society, Gift of

Frederic C. Wagner, 1865.6.

This lottery wheel was for use in the draft lottery held in the 7

th

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.

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File Name: 82129d_ThisRemindsMeOfALittleJoke

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’s reputation as a joke-teller, this image

also depicts George 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.

File Name: 80060d_LincolnsBodyCityHall

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.

Although New York had been the site of some of the harshest criticism

of Lincoln and his policies, within days after the President’s

assassination, New Yorkers had draped their homes, businesses, and

even ships in the harbor in mourning bunting. Well over 100,000 New

Yorkers viewed President Lincoln’s open coffin during the twenty-four

hours that he lay in state in City Hall.

File Name: 1909.6_LincolnFamily_byFrancisCarpenter

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 an extended

stay at the White House in 1864.