Artifacts
The Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana consists of approximately 12,000 artifacts, statuary, prints, paintings, broadsides, ephemera, photographs, philately, collectibles/miniatures, and numismatics. Materials are housed in 20 map case drawers, 30 cartons, and a variety of loose statuary, prints, and paintings. The collection also includes nearly 100 original manuscripts and the Claude Simmons collection which consists of approximately 12 bankers boxes of Lincoln related materials and scrapbooks. There are also approximately 15,000 books, journals, and pamphlets separated into two collections: the Lincoln Book Collection and the Civil War/Collateral Book Collection.
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Country Post Office: News from the Army
John Rogers
In the sculpture, an unidentified woman is shown visiting her local post office where she reaches toward a clerk for a letter, presumably from a member of the Army. This particular piece has two variants where the only difference is the length of the woman's dress sleeve. Variant A - the variant shown here - shows the woman's forearm sleeved to the wrist, while Variant B shows a bare forearm.
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The Wounded Scout: A Friend in the Swamp
John Rogers
A highly admired piece, The Wounded Scout illustrates an escaped slave leading and protecting a wounded soldier. Its contemporaneous admirers included Jessie Benton Frémont, Henry Ward Beecher, Lydia Maria Childs, and Abraham Lincoln who said of the piece, "[It] is very pretty, and suggestive, and, I should think, excellent as a piece of art."
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Union Refugees
John Rogers
A genre figure, Union Refugees illustrates a Southern Unionist family fleeing to the North. In the piece, the father is shown standing with his gun and a small bundle of belongings as his wife leans on him in sorrow. Next to the mother stands a small child who holds a small bouquet of wildflowers. This piece was the first of Rogers's to show the harrowing effects of the War on civilians.
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Reading The Emancipation Proclamation
James W. Watts, Henry Walker Herrick, S.A. Peters and Co., and Luccius Stebbins
The engraving depicts a black and white image of a black family reading the Proclamation; Beneath the main engraving, a vignette portrait of Abraham Lincoln is placed among text
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Hingham Bank Check, Paid to Self, Signed by [?] Willard
Hingham Bank check dated 31 December 1864. It is made out to Self by [?] Willard for the amount of $346.70. A blue George Washington two cent stamp is located at the top left corner of the object.
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Secretary Seward's Diplomatic Party
William J. Baker
The carte de visite features black and white image of William H. Seward, standing at far right, with ten members of a diplomatic party visiting Trenton High Falls, New York
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The Scourged Back
McPherson and Oliver and McAllister and Brothers
The carte de visite photograph depicts a former slave, Gordon, with severe scars on back from whipping; Printed text on verso describes the image; The image was widely circulated by Northern abolitionists to illustrate the brutality of slavery; The image originally appeared in the July 4, 1863, edition of Harper's Weekly along with an account of Gordon's escape and was attributed to McPhearson & Oliver in Baton Rouge; However, the image was later pirated by McAllister & Brothers and other entities
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By The President Of The United States: A Proclamation.
John Murray Forbes
The object is a folio broadside of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The broadside is printed in one column and features a bold heading, printing of American eagle, and flag at the top center. No publisher is noted, but sources establish a possible attribution to J.M. Forbes, Boston. It was printed circa September-December, 1862. The broadside is a scarce early printing in an unusually large size.
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General George Brinton McClellan Carte de Visite
Charles DeForest Fredricks
The Carte de Visite features a standing, left-side portrait of General George B. McClellan, holding binoculars; In this portrait in profile by C. D. Fredricks, one of Brady's principal rivals in New York, General George McClellan poses with a pair of binoculars; After the brutal battle of Antietam (September 1862), when McClellan failed to further advance on the weakened enemy, President Lincoln lost confidence in his general and removed him from service as head of the Army of the Potomac; Two years later Lincoln defeated McClellan, who ran against him as the Democratic Party candidate for president
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Brady's Album Gallery. No. 605. Group of President Lincoln, Gen. McClellan, and Suite
Alexand er Gardner
This object is a mounted albumen print featuring a group photo of A. Lincoln, Ward Hill Lamon, and Army officers; The photograph was taken by Alexander Gardner at Antietam, MD
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Camp Fire: Making Friends with the Cook
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts camp life during the American Civil War. In the sculpture, an African-American cook stirs a pot over a campfire. A soldier sits next to the fire holding a newspaper, and the two appear to be engrossed in conversation. According to the New York Historical Society, Rogers offered a very simplistic description of this sculpture stating, ""A soldier is reading the newspaper to the cook and trying to make friends with him, so as to warm himself and get some choice bits from the kettle over the fire.""
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The Picket Guard (without veil)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture features a Union officer walking with two enlisted soldiers toward a picket line. The three appear on duty and cautious, possibly because they see the enemy approaching. The officer lays his proper right hand on the right-side soldier's gun to prevent him from firing. The left-side soldier shields his eyes with his proper left hand as he looks on in the distance.
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The Picket Guard (with veil)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture features a Union officer walking with two Zouaves (seen wearing baggy pantaloons with a fez cap) toward a picket line. Note the veil on the officer's hat as opposed to the variation shown in item # 4578.
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The Town Pump (canteen in front)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts a soldier dressed in uniform standing with a woman at a water pump. A water bucket hangs from the woman's proper right arm, while the soldier holds a cup and rests his proper right foot on the water trough. He has a backpack hanging from his shoulders and a canteen and satchel hanging across his chest. This particular rendering of The Town Pump features the canteen at the soldier's front and a light tan finish.
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The Town Pump (canteen in front)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts a soldier dressed in uniform standing with a woman at a water pump. A water bucket hangs from the woman's proper right arm, while the soldier holds a cup and rests his proper right foot on the water trough. He has a backpack hanging from his shoulders and a canteen and satchel hanging across his chest. This particular rendering of The Town Pump features the canteen at the soldier's front and a brownish finish.