From the Collection: Women at the White House
by Abbie Meek, Jessie CortesiFrom the Collection: Women at the White House by Jessie Cortesi and Abbie Meek President Abraham Lincoln hosted many notable women at the White House during his administration. From advocating on behalf of the U.S. Sanitary Commission to urging him to expedite emancipation measures, these women left their marks on history and the political […]
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LITTLE SISTER Emilie Todd Helm and the Lincolns
byLITTLE SISTER Emilie Todd Helm and the Lincolns by Angela Esco Elder She expected to hear “Fee, fi, fo, fum!” He was tall, a stranger, walking in her home, shaking hands with adults in the wide hall. As her eyes tracked his every move, ten-year-old Emilie (sometimes spelled “Emily”) Todd became convinced he was the […]
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Polly Rogers and Her Husband’s Lawyer
by Stacy LynnPolly Rogers and Her Husband’s Lawyer by Stacy Lynn “The allegation of adultery against the said defendant was muted in the complainant’s bill, for no other cause, than through tenderness to the said defendant’s character.” —Abraham Lincoln, affidavit for his divorce-case client Samuel Rogers, October 20, 1838 On October 4, 1835, in Sangamon […]
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Book Review: Delivered Under Fire: Absalom Markland and Freedom’s Mail
by Frank W. Garmon Jr.Book Review: Delivered Under Fire: Absalom Markland and Freedom’s Mail by Candice Shy Hooper Review by Frank W. Garmon Jr. Although Absalom H. Markland is an unknown figure in the twenty-first century, his life intersected with many of the leading characters of the Civil War era. As a special agent for the Post Office Department, […]
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Abraham Lincoln and “the Most Dangerous Man” in Baltimore
by Sean A. ScottAbraham Lincoln and “the Most Dangerous Man” in Baltimore Sean A. Scott Francis Lister Hawks was a distinguished clergyman and man of letters whose southern sympathies during the Civil War brought him to the attention of Abraham Lincoln. Born in 1798 in Newbern, North Carolina, Hawks graduated from the University of North Carolina in […]
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From the Collection: German-Americans in the Civil War Era
by Jessie Cortesi, Kayla GustafsonFrom the Collection: German-Americans in the Civil War Era Kayla Gustafson and Jessie Cortesi In honor of German-American Heritage Month in October, librarians at the Rolland Center for Lincoln Research launched a new digital exhibit on lincolncollection.org highlighting items in the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection related to German-Americans from the Civil War period. From 1845 […]
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LINCOLN, DOUGLASS, & THE POLITICS OF RACE
by Edna Greene MedfordLINCOLN, DOUGLASS, & THE POLITICS OF RACE EDNA GREENE MEDFORD A few weeks before the 1864 presidential election, Frederick Douglass penned a letter to Theodore Tilton, an abolitionist and the editor of The Independent, a New York newspaper. Referring to the impending election, Douglass wrote: “To all appearance [the Republicans] have been more ashamed […]
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Not-So-Final Resting Places: Grave Reflections on the Historical Reputation of Elizabeth Keckly
by Michelle A. KrowlNot-So-Final Resting Places: Grave Reflections on the Historical Reputation of Elizabeth Keckly By Michelle A. Krowl “To look upon a grave, and not feel certain whose ashes repose beneath the sod, is painful, and the doubt which mystifies you, weakens the force, if not the purity, of the love-offering from the heart.” This is […]
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The Unhappy Fate of Fitz John Porter
by Allen C. GuelzoThe Unhappy Fate of Fitz John Porter By Allen Guelzo The American Civil War was a political war. That should not matter hugely to those of us who study the art of command in the war, since it is one of the basic tenets of the American system of governance that the military remains in […]
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