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Press Release: Announcing Afro-Americana, 1535-1922 — the online edition of the Library Company’s unparalleled collection

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Today we distributed this news release:

Readex to Launch Digital Edition of the Library Company of Philadelphia’s Unparalleled Collection of Afro-Americana

More than 12,000 searchable books, pamphlets, and broadsides will stimulate new research on centuries of African American history, literature, and life 

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia/Afro-Americana Collection

January 16, 2012 (NAPLES, FL) – A digital edition of Afro-Americana, 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia will be introduced in late Spring 2012 by Readex, a division of NewsBank. Created from the Library Company’s acclaimed collection—an accumulation that began with Benjamin Franklin and has steadily increased throughout its entire history—this unique new online resource will provide researchers with more than 12,000 wide-ranging printed works about African American history. Critically important subjects covered include the West’s discovery and exploitation of Africa; the rise of slavery in the New World along with the growth and success of abolitionist movements; the development of racial thought and racism; descriptions of African American life—slave and free—throughout the Americas; and slavery and race in fiction and drama. Also featured are printed works of African American individuals and organizations.

“The Library Company’s Afro-Americana Collection is one of the most comprehensive and valuable archives of printed material by and about people of African descent anywhere in the world,” says Professor Richard Newman of the Rochester Institute of Technology. “From early descriptions of African society and culture to the black struggle for justice in the Americas during the 19th century, it remains a touchstone for scholars and students alike. To have it available online and at your fingertips in a searchable format will be a dream come true.”

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia/Afro-Americana Collection

The works in this collection, many of which are quite rare, span nearly 400 years, from the early 16th to the early 20th century. Examples include David Walker’s 1829 Appeal . . . to the Colored Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly to Those of the United States of America, a militant attack on both southern slavery and efforts to colonize free blacks; Lydia Maria Child’s 1833 essay, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans; William Still’s The Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-breadth Escapes, and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom (1872); William J. Simmons’ Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising (1887); and Booker T. Washington’s The Story of the Negro: The Rise of the Race from Slavery, published in 1909.

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia/Afro-Americana Collection

Also included are such important but lesser-known works as Joseph Sidney, An Oration, Commemorative of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (New York, 1809) and Russell Parrott, An Oration on the Abolition of the Slave Trade . . . First of January, 1814 (Philadelphia, 1814), two works by African American authors celebrating January 1 anniversaries of the end of the slave trade; Grand Bobalition of Slavery! (Boston, 1820), a satire of such celebrations, one example of a long-overlooked genre; Robert B. Lewis, Light and Truth (Portland, Maine, 1836), which champions the central role of black Africans in laying the basis for ancient civilization; William Wells Brown, The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements (an 1865 republication in newly-liberated Savannah of an 1863 collective biography of prominent blacks, many still alive, and most, like the author, former slaves); Martin R. Delany, Principia of Ethnology: The Origins of Race and Color, with an Archeological Compendium of Ethiopian and Egyptian Civilization (Philadelphia, 1879), a work by an African American analyzing the origins of color and race and championing black creativity; Charles Carroll, “The Negro a Beast” or “In the Image of God” (St. Louis, 1900), one of many savage works by whites denying the humanity of blacks; and three works by the preeminent African American sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois: The Atlanta Conferences (Atlanta, 1902); Some Efforts of American Negroes for Their Own Social Betterment (Atlanta, 1898); and A Select Bibliography of the Negro American (Atlanta, 1905).

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia/Afro-Americana Collection

The Library Company’s Afro-Americana Collection began to gain international renown for its size, range, and significance in the late 1960s as scholars, influenced by civil rights activism, initiated fresh studies of slavery’s part in the American story. “As researchers rediscovered the importance of the long-neglected writings of African Americans, they told us that our collection was vital to new scholarship in African American studies,” says Librarian James N. Green. The Library Company mounted the path-breaking exhibition “Negro History, 1553-1903” in 1969, and followed that with the publication in 1973 of the magisterial bibliography Afro-Americana 1553-1906: A Catalog of the Holdings of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Since then, Afro-Americana has been a priority of the Library Company, and the collection has grown with each year. A second edition of the Catalog, including 2,500 works acquired since 1973, was published in 2008, preserving and extending the legacy of this landmark work and now providing the bibliographic control for Readex’s online edition. Afro-Americana, 1535-1922 will be fully integrated into America’s Historical Imprints for seamless searching with Early American Imprints, Series I and II: Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker, 1639-1819 and the recent Supplements from the Library Company of Philadelphia, which have added nearly 2,000 newly discovered items. In addition, Afro-Americana, 1535-1922 will be cross-searchable with all Archive of Americana collections, including African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 and African American Periodicals, 1825-1995.

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia/Afro-Americana Collection

Researchers around the world have praised advance word of the partnership between Readex and the Library Company to digitize this landmark collection. UCLA Emeritus Professor Gary Nash writes, “The benefits to scholarship and teaching that will come when the Library Company’s Afro-Americana Collection is made into a digital database are virtually immeasurable. This will be a major step in infusing American history in general with its vitally important African American component. Teachers at all levels will find this a gold mine.”

And University of Michigan Professor Martha S. Jones says, “Today, early African American studies is a global enterprise that includes researchers throughout the United States as well as Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. This collaboration between the Library Company and Readex will bring new resources into reach and enrich this still expanding field of research and study.”

About the Library Company of Philadelphia

The Library Company is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company is America’s first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution. Free and open to the public, the Library Company houses an extensive non-circulating collection of rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, prints, photographs, and works of art. The mission of the Library Company is to preserve, interpret, make available, and augment the valuable materials within its care. It serves a diverse constituency throughout Philadelphia and the nation, offering comprehensive reader services, an internationally renowned fellowship program, online catalogs, and regular exhibitions and public programs.

With the creation of the Program in African American History in 2007 (currently directed by Erica Armstrong Dunbar, an associate professor of history at the University of Delaware), the Library Company has expanded fellowships, conferences, exhibitions, publications, public programming, teacher training, and acquisitions to help achieve the full potential represented by its holdings in this area. For more information about this Program, see http://www.librarycompany.org/paah/

About Readex, a division of NewsBank

For more than sixty years, the Readex name has been synonymous with research in historical materials and government documents. Recognized by librarians, students, and scholars for its efforts to transform academic scholarship, Readex offers a wealth of Web-based collections in the humanities and social sciences, including the Archive of Americana, a family of historical collections featuring searchable books, pamphlets, newspapers, and government documents printed in America over three centuries, and the World Newspaper Archive, created in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries. Also available are the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports and the Joint Publications Research Service Reports, two of the U.S. government’s fundamental sources of political, historical and scientific open source intelligence during the second half of the 20th century.

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For more information, contact Readex Marketing Director David Loiterstein by calling 1.800.762.8182 or emailing dloiterstein@readex.com.

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The Real War Horses of America

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Michael Morpurgo’s fictional story “War Horse” has gone from a beloved children’s book to successful stage production to bestselling Hollywood movie directed by Steven Spielberg. But who were the real war horses of America?

American Red Star poster. Credit: www.usmilitariaforum.com

Between 1914 and 1918, the United States sent almost one million horses to the European forces, particularly the British. When America entered the war, another 182,000 horses were taken overseas by the American Expeditionary Forces. Only 200 horses returned to the U.S., and 60,000 were killed outright.1 As the nation’s equine population and trained cavalry mounts became seriously depleted, many wild horses, including American Mustangs, were utilized. Supplying war horses was considered a patriotic act, and Americans were proud of their contribution.

In 1916 the Idaho Daily Statesmen declared about the Mustang: “The little western pony may not be up to cavalry standards, but he is a good little Ford, and will get you there and be up and about the next morning, and if cactus is the only food, he will take it and smile, leaving the regulation Packard waiting for the oats to catch up.”2 The quality of Allied war horses was seen as a key differentiator in the war. As the Duluth News Tribune asserted in 1918: “When the enemy finally begins its big retreat, it is the Allies’ horses that will keep the Germans on the run.”3

Horses were mainly used for transport, not only of solders but also for hauling artillery, ambulances and supply wagons. They were better suited than vehicles to traveling through deep mud and over rough terrain. They were also helpful in raising soldier morale. The bond between soldier and horse was well documented in the newspapers at the time.

In a feature on how farm horses were trained to become war horses, a Kansas City Star reporter wrote in 1917: “A private will tell how some particular horse will follow him about the lot. ‘Somebody’s pet,’ he explains. ‘I’ve taken a fancy to the darn little cuss.”4 

All the men feel that way about horses, explained the Star’s reporter: “A young lieutenant has a pony with a coffee pot brand on him. He calls him ‘Coffee’ and talk to him as if he were a human.”5

News reports of horses’ heroism, loyalty to their soldiers, and grief when they were lost were common. Typical headlines read: “Charger stood beside Dead Master between Firing Lines for Two Days” and “Faithful Horse Returns to Master.” The Kansas City Star published the photograph above in 1916 with the headine “Faithful Horse Awaits Master in Vain.”6

Not surprisingly, individual horses also became heroes during World War I. One example was Kidron, the war horse ridden by General John J. (“Black Jack”) Pershing, leader of the American Expeditionary Forces. A striking dark bay horse with two white hind socks, Kidron captured the imagination of the American people because he was often used by Pershing in victory parades and seen in ceremonial photos. He became a symbol of all that was noble about the war, despite huge losses of equine and human alike. The news of Kidron’s release from quarantine and his safe entry into the United States in 1920 made headlines across the country.

Unfortunately, most horses did not make it back. They were killed by artillery fire, suffered from skin disorders and disease, and were injured by poison gas. An article published in the Aberdeen Daily News in 1915 estimated that twenty days was the war horse’s average existence at the front.7

Moved to action by the plight of war horses, Americans appealed to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to help equines overseas. On May 22, 1916, Baker asked the American Humane Association to establish a welfare service for horses and mules in the U.S. Army. This organization became the American Red Star Relief, which still exists today as part of the American Humane Association’s emergency services.

After the war, relief societies sprung up across the U.S. to help bring the horses home and to provide care for them after the war. On October 15, 1921, a plaque commissioned by the American Red Star was unveiled in the War Department in memory of the equine suffering during World War I. It reads:

This tablet commemorates the service and sufferings of the 243,135 mules and horses employed by the American Expeditionary Forces overseas during the Great World War, which terminated November 11, 1918, and which resulted in the death of 68,682 of those animals. What they suffered is beyond words to describe. A fitting tribute to their important services has been given by the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, General John J. Pershing, who has written: “The army horses and mules proved of inestimable value in prosecuting the war to a successful conclusion. They were found in all the theaters of preparation and operation doing their silent but faithful work without the faculty for hoping for any reward or compensation.”8

For more remarkable stories in America’s Historical Newspapers, search “war horse,” “war horse relief,” “American Red Star” or “American Red Star Animal Relief.”

Notes

1 International Museum of the Horse (The Horse in Transition: The Horse in World War I, 1914-1918). Retrieved 1-3-2012).

2 “American War Horse,” Idaho Daily Statesman, June 21, 1916, p. 4).

3 “War Horse Gets Full Education,” Duluth News Tribune, (Aug. 30, 1918, p. 2).

4 “When the Plough Horse Changes to a War Horse,” Kansas City Star (Nov. 25, 1917, p. 1).

5 Ibid

6 “Faithful Horse Awaits Master in Vain,” Kansas City Star, (Dec. 28, 1916, p. 4).

7 “War Horses’ Brief Life,” Aberdeen Daily News (Feb. 4, 1915, p. 3).

8 Spielberg’s War Horse: Animal Heroes of the Great War (Part 1).   Accessed  Jan 3, 2012.

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Pearl Harbor: As Reported the Day After

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Today is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Here’s how four American newspapers reported it the next day on their front pages.  

 

For more information about American Newspaper Archives, or to request a free trial, please contact readexmarketing@readex.com.

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D.B. Cooper: An American Original

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Artist's sketch of D. B. Cooper (Photo: Seattle FBI)

The first aircraft hijackings were political. Leave it to American ingenuity to monetize the action! D.B. Cooper, not his real name, did it in 1971.  

Dan Cooper bought a ticket on Thanksgiving Eve 1971 from Portland to Seattle on Northwest Orient Flight 305. During the brief flight, he passed a note to a stewardess claiming to have a bomb and showed her a briefcase containing eight red cylinders wired to a battery. His instructions were for four parachutes and $200,000 in $20 bills to be delivered to the plane at the Seattle Tacoma Airport and for the plane to be refueled.

This was done. He released the passengers and stewardesses. Flight 305 took off, headed for Mexico via Reno, Nevada. Somewhere along the way, over southern Washington, Cooper parachuted out of the plane. It was dark and rainy and he was jumping into a wilderness area wearing a trench coat and street shoes, carrying the money and his briefcase. He has never been found. Nor has his body.

The Seattle Times, Nov. 25, 1971

A few days later a letter from Cooper or someone else was received by authorities:

The Oregonian, Nov. 30, 1971

In the fall of 1973, a Portland paper offered a $1,000 reward for the first person to bring in a $20 bill with a serial number from the list of twenties the FBI had released. They had filmed all the bills to get this information. The reward was never claimed. None of the bills have circulated since 1971.

Dallas Morning News, Nov. 23, 1973

 Six years later in 1979 a placard from the plane about the operation of the rear stairs was found: 

The Seattle Times, Jan. 17, 1979

And in 1980, some of the money was found along the Columbia River. The rest, which has a 2011 purchasing price equivalence of over $1 million, has never turned up.

This past summer it was reported in The Telegraph of London, UK, that the FBI are now investigating an individual who has been dead for 10 years. He had not previously been under suspicion. They are hoping to find fingerprints to compare to those taken from the cabin of the plane back in 1971. They also have some DNA evidence from a tie clip of Cooper’s which they can compare to the suspect, if they find any of his DNA.  

Here’s the key paragraph from the July 30, 2011 Telegraph story, “The 40-Year Mystery of America’s Greatest Skyjacking.” Ayn Dietrich, described in the article as “a former analyst with the bureau who is now tasked with handling inquiries about the Cooper case,” is speaking to Alex Hannaford, the Telegraph’s reporter:

 “You’re the first to know this, but we do actually have a new suspect we’re looking at. And it comes from a credible lead who came to our attention recently via a law enforcement colleague.” I’m stunned. Dietrich says she can’t tell me much more, but like all the Cooper sleuths I’ve met over the past few days, I too have become a little obsessed with the case. “The credible lead is somebody whose possible connection to the hijacker is strong,” she says. “And the suspect is not a name that’s come up before.” Dietrich says agents have sent an item that belongs to him for testing at the forensics lab in Quantico, Virginia. “We’re hoping there are fingerprints they can take off of it,” she says. “It would be a significant lead. And this is looking like our most promising one to date.”

D.B. Cooper was not merely a successful criminal, assuming he survived the jump. He became a folk hero. Within a week or so, tee shirts were for sale with the slogan “D.B. Cooper – Where are you?” 

The Oregonian, Dec. 2, 1971

Later that December a bowling alley advertised a cash prize tournament with the tagline “D.B. Cooper didn’t get all the money in the northwest.”   

The Sunday Oregonian, Dec. 12, 1971

I don’t know why Cooper would have been viewed in this positive light. I’m guessing that it was the fact his crime was seen as successful—relatively nonviolent, if stressful for the passengers and crew. The victim was a corporation and in the late 1960s and early ’70s corporations were often cast as the villain by members of the counterculture. One of the interviewees in Hannaford’s story basically says he was “sticking it to the man.” A bar in Ariel, Washington, has been holding a D.B. Cooper Day since 1973 on the day after Thanksgiving . They’ll hold it again this month, on the 40th anniversary of this unsolved crime.

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The Readex Report: In Praise of Librarians and Archivists; Of Presidents and Papers; Ephemeral Loyalties; and Playing Hardball

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

In our latest issue: A professor lauds his colleagues in the library; dissecting a timeless inaugural speech; consumption versus nationalism in early America; and the unheralded impact of a hard-swinging civil rights giant.

In Praise of Librarians and Archivists: Appreciating the Colleagues Who Make Professors’ Jobs Easier

By Mark Cheathem, Associate Professor of History, Cumberland University

Since I was a child begging my mother to take me to the library on a daily basis, I have appreciated the designated keepers of books. Conducting research as an undergraduate student made me aware of the specialized jobs that academic librarians did every day to make life easier for the clueless young people like me who wandered into the building with no idea about how to find academic journal articles or primary sources…. (read article)

Of Presidents and Papers

By Martha King, Associate Editor, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, established at Princeton University, is preparing the authoritative and comprehensive edition of the correspondence and papers of our nation’s third president. As historians editing Jefferson’s incoming and outgoing correspondence, we are responsible for gathering documents and making them available to posterity in an accurate, transcribed, and contextualized format through our published and digital editions…. (read article)

Ephemeral Loyalties? Consumption, Commerce and Jeffersonian Politics, 1806-1815

By Joanna Cohen, School of History at Queen Mary, University of London

While the Revolution may have secured Americans their political independence, economic independence remained elusive. As early as 1783, Americans realized that they had not extricated themselves in any meaningful way from the mercantile system of the Atlantic world, still dominated by European imperial might…. (read article)

Playing Hardball: Brushing Off the Memory of a Civil Rights Giant

By Harvey M. Kahn, Humanities Reporter

Many scholars consider Rube Foster’s impact on the civil rights movement as important as that of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, or any other early twentieth-century figure. Today, with the exception of diehard baseball fans, few people recognize his name…. (read article)

Subscribe today to receive the next quarterly issue of The Readex Report in your inbox. Browse previous issues in our archive. If you would like to comment, contribute or suggest an article, please email The Readex Report editor: readexreport@readex.com.

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Tecumseh’s Dream Shattered: 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Tippecanoe

Monday, November 7th, 2011

When reading accounts of the tragic conflict between whites and Native Americans, such as Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, one cannot help but wonder why the Indians did not see the whites as a common enemy and band together for their common safety and survival. Unfortunately for them, ancient tribal enmities seemed to erect insurmountable barriers.

So it was that in one of the earliest “Indian wars,” the Mohegan and Pequot tribes helped the English colonists defeat the Narragansett and Wampanoag tribes in 1675-76. Arikara and Crow scouts helped Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer find Sitting Bull’s Arapaho, Cheyenne and Lakota village at the Little Bighorn in 1876. Chiricahua scouts helped General George Crook wage war against the Apache in 1882.  

Shawnee Chief Tecumseh

However, in this sorrowful history of the decimation of one tribe after another by the advance of white civilization, a heroic figure stands apart. One Native American leader tried to do the seemingly impossible: Tecumseh, the charismatic and influential Shawnee chief who organized a tribal confederacy to oppose the white encroachment on Indian lands. A fierce warrior, powerful orator and cunning diplomat, Tecumseh spent the first decade of the nineteenth century skillfully building his dream confederacy.

Then it all fell apart in two hours. In the cold drizzle, overcast skies and pitch darkness of a pre-dawn battle, Tecumseh’s dream was shattered and his confederacy decimated at the Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana Territory on Nov. 7, 1811—a clash Tecumseh had warned his people to avoid, and a battle that happened without him.  

Tenskwatawa, The Prophet

The Battle of Tippecanoe was one of the most significant battles in the 400-year history of the “Indian Wars” in America, and one of the most important in U.S. history. That single fight destroyed the Native American confederation, was one of the chief sparks of the War of 1812, and helped propel the soldiers’ leader into the White House. 

This story centers around three individuals: Tecumseh, the great Shawnee chief; his brother Tenskwatawa, a crazed medicine man who called himself “The Prophet”; and William Henry Harrison, then-governor of Indiana Territory—an aspiring politician who eventually became the  ninth president of the United States.  

William Henry Harrison

While Tecumseh was travelling throughout the “Northwest Territory”—primarily the modern-day states of Indiana and Illinois—organizing his confederation, Harrison was scheming to expand Indiana Territory’s population to qualify for statehood. To do that, he needed more land—Indian land. He followed the usual procedure—flattery and gifts—to convince some chiefs to put their marks on a piece of paper, the so-called Treaty of Fort Wayne, on Sept. 30, 1809—thereby gaining nearly 3,000,000 acres of land right in the heart of the Indian’s prime hunting grounds.

Tecumseh was furious, and angrily denounced Harrison and his sham treaty in a face-to-face encounter in 1810. The two antagonists met again in August 1811 in Vincennes, the capital of Indiana Territory. Tecumseh was calmer this time, but just as adamant that Harrison’s treaty had no validity and would be ignored by his confederation. This time it was Harrison’s turn to be angry; at the end of the meeting he warned Tecumseh that he had purchased the land legally and would defend the whites’ right to it.

The following newspaper article reports on Tecumseh’s message to Harrison. At the same time it accuses Tecumseh of duplicity, this article points a stern finger of blame squarely at the British for instigating the Indians’ opposition. This article was printed by the Reporter (Lexington, Kentucky) on Nov. 23, 1811: 

…Stript of the thin disguise with which he [Tecumseh] attempted to cover his intentions, the plain English of what he said appeared to be this—“In obedience to the orders of my masters, the British, I have now succeeded in uniting the northern tribes of Indians in a confederacy for the purpose of attacking the United States, and I am now on my way to stir up the southern Indians; I wish you however to remain perfectly quiet until I return—do not attempt to obtain any satisfaction for the injuries you may sustain, or for such as you have already received; I am not yet quite ready to resist you—when I return, I shall be completely so, and then you may do as you please.

The wheels were now set in motion for the Battle of Tippecanoe. Before leaving for the conference with Harrison, Tecumseh announced to his people that he was embarking on a five-month tour of the South to encourage other tribes to join the confederation, including the powerful Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles. He sternly admonished his brother, The Prophet, to keep peace and order in their large village and avoid—at all costs—any confrontation with the whites, even if it meant temporarily abandoning their village. Tecumseh told his brother the confederation was not yet powerful enough to wage war against the whites, and must bide its time until after he returned with Southern allies. He also told Harrison about his Southern mission, to let the aggressive governor know the powerful Indian confederation was getting even stronger.

Harrison realized that with Tecumseh away, the time was ripe to take a firm stand against the confederation that stood between him and his dreams of statehood. He assembled a force of over 1,000 men, consisting of U.S. Army regulars, mounted riflemen and militia. Their destination: the large confederation village at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, called “the Prophet’s Town” by the whites but really Tecumseh’s village. While his brother awed the villagers with his mysterious ways, incantations and seemingly magical powers, Tecumseh was the war leader the people trusted to guide them.

The following series of historical newspaper articles tells the story. Harrison’s expedition was in the “wilderness,” away from white civilization, and it took a while for the news to reach the newspapers, usually in the form of letters from participating officers and Harrison himself. However, it is surprising to read the accurate and detailed accounts the newspapers were able to supply the public—and how common the knowledge was that the guns, ammunition and supplies for Tecumseh’s confederation came from the British.

In September 1811 Harrison’s army began their advance. On Sept. 27, one of the officers wrote the following letter, printed by the Columbian Phenix, aka Providence Patriot (Providence, Rhode Island) on Nov. 2, 1811: 

Indian Affairs 

We have been favored, by a gentleman of this town, with the following extracts of letters from an officer in the Western army. In the present uncertainty of the public mind, respecting the ultimate views of the red borderers on our territory (or rather of the British government) and its solicitude with regard to the situation of the small but gallant American force, apparently about to engage in “the unprofitable contest of trying which can do the other the most harm”—these extracts will be perused with interest. 

Camp, 30 miles above Vincennes,

Indiana Territory, Sept, 27, 1811.

Since my last, the troops have descended the Ohio River 1026 miles; ascended the Wabash 150; and are now on our march to the Prophet’s town, for the purpose of erecting a fort on lands purchased of the Indians; but which they now decline giving up. Without doubt, they have been instigated to do this by English emissaries, as well as to massacre some of the whites in their vicinity—and to seize a boat with articles belonging to the government. We have been informed, that they are collected together to the amount of 7 or 800, with intent to resist any settlement, or the erection of a fort. It is expected that Governor Harrison, who is our commander in chief, will, if the Indians resist, force his way to the point he wishes, and erect the fort…We are all in good spirits, and I trust shall do our duty.

This article warns that the approaching confrontation would not be easy, and blames the British for stirring up the Indians. It was printed by The Reporter (Washington, Pennsylvania) on Nov. 4, 1811: 

…It was believed, that on the appearance of an armed force on the Wabash, the idle menaces of the savages, and the ridiculous views of their infatuated leader under the influence and council of our good friends the British, would be awed into silence or totally abandoned. But the true situation of the business now seems different—a force equal to governor Harrison’s has been collected—& the same warlike spirit prevails among the Indians as formerly.

This theme of blaming the British underlay much of the reporting about Harrison’s expedition. Here is another example, printed by the Palladium of Liberty (Morristown, New Jersey) on Nov. 5, 1811: 

…From the friendly course pursued by Mr. Jefferson towards our neighbors, and which has been followed by Mr. Madison, we had supposed the Indians would never more treat us otherwise than as brethren. But we have been mistaken—British intrigue and British gold, it seems, have had greater influence with them of late than American justice and benevolence. Be it so; but let England not hide herself any longer behind the curtain—let her appear to the world as she is, the instigator and protector of savage cruelties; and then real Americans will call into action that spirit of necessary resistance which so eminently distinguished their fathers in the wars of the Revolution.

We have in our possession information which proves beyond doubt the late disturbances to be owing to the successful intrigues of British emissaries with the Indians.

Harrison’s men stopped on October 3 to build a fort, which was named Fort Harrison, and awaited supplies which finally arrived late in the month. With the fort completed and his men restocked, Harrison moved out on October 28 to meet the Indian confederation at its village stronghold—to enforce compliance with the treaty, or do battle.

Just before the supplies arrived, Harrison sat down and wrote Governor Scott of Kentucky the following letter, which the governor passed on to the newspapers. This article was printed by the Reporter (Lexington, Kentucky) on Nov. 9, 1811: 

…The fort which I have erected here, is now complete (as to its defence). I wait for provisions, which I expect tomorrow or the next day, when I shall immediately commence my march, without waiting for the troops which are in the rear—I am determined to disperse the Prophet’s banditti before I return, or give him the chance of acquiring as much fame as a Warrior, as he now has as a Saint. His own proper force does not at this time, exceed 450, but in his rear there are many villages of Potawatomies, most of whom wish well to his cause. I believe they will not join him, but should they do it, and give us battle, I have no fear of the issue. My small army, when joined by the mounted riflemen in the rear, will be formidable—it will not then exceed 950 effectives, but I have great confidence in them, and the relative proportion of the several species of troops, is such as I could wish it.

As the Americans drew near the confederation village on November 6, Tenskwatawa sent three messengers to request a peace conference the next day. Harrison warily agreed, but had his men camp that night in a defensive position about a half-mile from the village, prepared for the battle he suspected was coming—and he had reason to be suspicious. Despite Tecumseh’s explicit warning to avoid a battle in his absence, The Prophet told the warriors he saw in a vision a complete victory for the outnumbered and outgunned Indians (many of the confederation Indians had left Tippecanoe to visit their home villages during Tecumseh’s absence, and only around 500 warriors remained in the confederation village). The Prophet also claimed his magic would make the whites’ bullets harmless.

The Indians attacked shortly after 4:00 the morning of Nov. 7, 1811. The sleeping Americans were at first overwhelmed, but quickly rallied and fought back. The combat was fierce, most of it hand-to-hand, and the Indians quickly realized The Prophet’s vision and magic were both false. When dawn broke two hours later the battle ended, the warriors fleeing back into the woods. The Americans suffered 188 casualties, including 62 dead, but they had held their ground. Although only 38 Indians were killed and perhaps 70 wounded, they had clearly lost the battle and their spirit was broken. The confederation village was hastily abandoned except for one elderly, sick woman who could not run away. The next day Harrison’s men burned it to the ground, destroying the Indians’ shelter, clothing and equipment and capturing their winter food supply of 5,000 bushels of corn and beans.

This is how Harrison reported the fight to Secretary of War William Eustis the day after the Battle of Tippecanoe. His letter was printed by the Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial & Political (Alexandria, Virginia) on Dec. 2, 1811:

…I arrived at my present position (a mile from the town) on the evening of the 6th instant; a correspondence was immediately opened with the Prophet, and there was every appearance of a successful termination of the expedition, without bloodshed. Indeed there was an agreement for a suspension of hostilities, until a further communication should take place on the next day. Contrary, however, to this engagement, he attacked me at half past four o’clock in the morning, so suddenly, that the Indians were in the camp before many of the men could get out of their tents. A little confusion for a short time prevailed, but aided by the great exertions of the officers, I was soon enabled to form the men in order. The companies which were hard pressed were supported, several successful charges made, and about daylight, the enemy were finally put to flight. Our killed and wounded amount to 179, of these 42 are now dead.

The same day as Harrison’s letter, one of his officers—Captain Hunter—wrote the following letter. It was printed by the Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald (Marietta, Ohio) on Nov. 25, 1811: 

wounded is very great. Geiger and myself (Capt. Hunter) are slightly wounded. The most of our men from Kentucky are safe or not badly wounded. The rascals have got all our beef, & some of our horses. Such a battle has never been fought. We have killed many of their Warriors—the most that we have found are old men; they were all through our camp. An old woman was left in the town, who says, that we killed many of them, and wounded many more. We are all in high spirits.”

Further details are supplied by this letter, printed by the Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial & Political (Alexandria, Virginia) on Nov. 27, 1811: 

…The Indians made the attack on the [morning] of the 7th inst.—they surprised our army—they killed all the guards with arrows and were in the camp before the whites had the least notice of them. The battle was fought in sight of the Prophet’s Town. Three Indians attacked Col. F. Geiger in his tent at one time—he killed one and vanquished the other two—he was shot through the arm. Gov. Harrison was shot through the hat and slightly wounded in the head. Thomas Randolph was killed dead; Judge Taylor’s horse was killed under him. It is said that Major Floyd fought like Caesar in his shirt-tail. The Indians rushed up and came to the point of the bayonet with their tomahawks. There has been dreadful slaughter…Hunter states that the Indians got all their beef and a great number of their horses; they [the soldiers] got about five thousand bushels of corn and burned the Prophet’s Town the day after the action.”

The confederation was greatly demoralized by its defeat and the loss of its stronghold, and angrily blamed The Prophet for falsely promising the warriors that his magic would protect them. They tied him up and held him captive, awaiting his brother’s sure-to-be-angry return. This article was printed by the Farmer’s Repository (Charlestown, West Virginia) on Dec. 27, 1811: 

by his conjuration, turn their powder into sand—and furnished every warrior with a charm to render him invulnerable…A report prevailed at Vincennes, that Tecumseh with 300 warriors, from the southern tribes, was on his march to the Wabash—this was believed, but little fear existed of depredations from them; it was supposed they would disperse when made acquainted with the fate of their allies.

Governor Harrison had achieved his signal triumph. With evident satisfaction, he wrote the following letter to Secretary Eustis on December 4. It was printed by the Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser (Baltimore, Maryland) on Dec. 23, 1811:

…It is certain that our frontiers have never enjoyed more profound tranquility than at this time. No injury of any kind that I can hear of has been done either to the persons or property of our citizens. Before the [Tippecanoe] expedition not a fortnight passed over without some vexatious depredation being committed. The Kickapoo chiefs…acknowledge, however, that the Indians have never sustained so severe a defeat since their acquaintance with the white people.

Tecumseh returned two months after the Battle of Tippecanoe to find his village in ashes and his confederation torn apart, the Indians scattered. It had taken Tecumseh ten years to build his dream. His foolish brother destroyed it in two hours.

With great restraint he did not kill his brother, but instead publicly denounced him and doomed him to a life of scorn—the disgraced Tenskwatawa lived another abject 23 years, dying at the age of 61.

Despite his efforts, Tecumseh could not rebuild the former strength and unity of his confederation; the Indians’ will and faith had been broken. When the War of 1812 broke out seven months after the Battle of Tippecanoe—in part caused by American anger over British complicity in the Indian hostilities—Tecumseh and what warriors still followed him joined the British and played a major role in the capture of Detroit on Aug. 16, 1812. However, he was betrayed at the Battle of the Thames on Oct. 5, 1813, when the cowardly British commander fled the field and Tecumseh was killed rallying his warriors. He was 45.

Harrison was the victorious American commander at the Battle of the Thames. When he successfully ran for president in the election of 1840 with running mate John Tyler, the popular campaign slogan and song “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” was used to rekindle voters’ enthusiasm for Harrison’s landmark victory over Tecumseh’s Indian confederation. He became the nation’s ninth president on March 4, 1841, at the age of 68. He died exactly one month later.

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A Sports Legend and His Dream: Bobby Jones, the Augusta National Golf Club and the Birth of the Masters

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Bobby Jones entered the Roaring Twenties still the teenage prodigy who had first come to the public’s attention when he qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship at the age of 14. By the end of the 1920s, Jones was firmly established as a major star. The only golfer considered one of the true icons of the Golden Age of Sports, Bobby Jones stood alongside Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Jack Dempsey and Bill Tilden as giants in the public eye.

Jones’ road to success was not as quick, or easy, as his precocious abilities might have made it appear. It took several years, a few near-misses, and evolving maturity before Bobby broke through. Although winning the amateur championships brought enough glory and achievement to earn him a place in golf’s pantheon, Bobby took his fame a major step further by regularly beating the top professionals of the day.

He won three British and four U.S. Opens against strong fields that included such legends as Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen—the only two U.S. golfers of that period whose triumphs earned them a mention alongside Jones. Beating professionals at their own game elevated Jones beyond golf and made him one of the most popular sports stars in the United States. Such was the public affection for Bobby Jones that he remains the only individual athlete to be honored with two New York City ticker-tape parades. The second ticker-tape parade, in 1930, celebrated Jones’ unprecedented Grand Slam.

By winning both the Open and Amateur Championships of Great Britain and the United States, and thus triumphing both at home and overseas against fields made up of the finest players in the world, Bobby’s accomplishment was unparalleled.

After his Grand Slam, Jones was eager to escape the pressures of both celebrity and championship-caliber golf.

For a one-dimensional athlete, retirement from his or her chosen sport can be a challenge greater than any faced on the fields of competition. Jones, however, was a well-educated, intelligent soul interested in much more than the game of golf. Not only had he earned undergraduate degrees from Georgia Tech (B.S., Mechanical Engineering) and Harvard College (B.A., English Literature), but after just one year of law school at Emory he passed the Georgia bar exam.

Jones looked forward to embracing the rewards of a well-rounded life. Determined to remain part of the golf world, Jones sought to establish a club with members from across the nation. It was to be situated in a climate warm enough for winter play. Members were to be successful men who took their golf seriously and had the financial standing necessary to form the type of club that Bobby envisioned.

On July 15, 1931, The Augusta Chronicle devoted most of its front page to coverage of the announcement that Jones and his associates were founding the Augusta National Golf Club. Nearly six of its eight columns were necessary to display four articles on Jones and his new club.

Among the specific details in the Chronicle’s reporting were items such as:

The site Jones chose was a former nursery with enough land to build several courses:

Jones discussed his intentions for the club:

O.B. Keeler, famed golf writer and long-time chronicler of Jones’ career, made a prediction that at the time might have seemed more fantasy than fact, but now seems remarkably accurate:

Even with Jones’ involvement, building a new golf course in the early years of the Great Depression was no small challenge. Few private clubs would open during the 1930s, and many established clubs closed, falling victim to the tough economic times. Not until the Works Progress Administration began building public courses later in the ‘30s would course construction resume with any regularity. By encouraging a national membership, Jones and his backers had access to enough capital to make this confident statement:

Jones intended to use his experiences playing the world’s great golf courses to lay out the new course, but realized he needed a professional golf course architect to ensure the greatest success. He chose Alister MacKenzie, a Scottish physician-turned-course designer as his architectural partner:

With sufficient financing, excellent topography and natural features, as well as the best design instincts of both Jones and MacKenzie, the course was ready for its debut in January 1933. The Chronicle’s coverage is replete with interesting details:

The reporting hints at the affluence of the visiting golfers:

In addition to the obvious attractions of warm southern weather and Jones’ hospitality, the course itself was to be the star of the gathering:

The Masters, world famous as one of golf’s major championships, has been played since 1934. Conceived by Jones, the annual event was intended to bring the top professional and amateur players together in the spring when the Augusta National course would be at its best. Originally called the “Augusta National Invitational Tournament,” the hometown Chronicle began referring to it as the “Masters’ Invitation Tournament.” By 1939 this was shortened to the Masters, a name known today by even the most casual sports fans.

At first the Masters’ primary draw was less the prospect of seeing out-of-town competitors than watching the great Bobby Jones in action once again. Jones had entered no important tournaments since his post-Grand Slam retirement in 1930, but was still in the public eye thanks to a series of instructional films made in Hollywood as well as golf equipment endorsements which he had accepted after retiring from amateur competition. While Jones intended the tournament to be a gathering of old friends and top-level players, his other aspirations were publicity and recognition for his new club and the resulting prestige that would come from hosting such an event. Though he was firmly retired there was much speculation about how Bobby would do in his dual roles of host and competitive golfer. 

Speaking to reporters on the eve of play, Bobby said, “I hope to step four fast rounds,” but sportswriters knew that his putting was not thought to be tournament-ready.

Veteran Atlanta Journal reporter O.B. Keeler, who had gained fame as Jones’ Boswell after years of chronicling Bobby’s triumphs, gave the details:

The first Masters was a rudimentary affair compared to today’s professional production with its worldwide live media coverage and sold-out crowds proudly holding one of the toughest tickets in all sports. Prize money in the heart of the Depression was far more modest than today’s seven-figure purses and first-place checks. The first playing featured a total purse of $5,000, $1,500 of which went to winner Horton Smith. The March 26 edition of the Chronicle featured extensive coverage:

The following year would see changes to the course, something that would become a regular occurrence at the Augusta National through the decades. Although the course remains basically the same as the original design by Jones and MacKenzie, it has continued to evolve. In 1935 the tournament drew extra attention when winner Gene Sarazen holed his second shot at the par-five 15th for a headline-making double-eagle during his triumphant final round.

Bobby Jones would remain an integral part of both Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters tournament through the remaining years of his life. Even today he is still listed as the Club’s President-in-Perpetuity.

This view of the 1990 Masters shows the gallery watching play on the 12th tee with the 11th green in the background. (Copyright: Larry Petrillo)

Forty years after Jones’ death, the Masters retains its unique position in championship golf—the first men’s major of the year. For many northern golfers the Masters is proof that spring is on its way. It remains the only major championship played at the same course each year, a course that thanks to extensive television coverage is as well known to many golfers as their own home course, despite the club’s exclusive nature during the other 51 weeks of the year.

Today, the lasting popularity of Augusta National Golf Club, and the continued success of the Masters, is a fitting legacy for Bobby Jones, a legendary champion and stellar sportsman.

[Editor's note: The articles and black-and-white images above are found in America's Historical Newspapers. To learn more, please contact readexmarketing@readex.com.]

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Archive of Americana transports you through time into 18th- and 19th-century America

Friday, October 28th, 2011

As a Readex account executive, I enjoy the opportunity to help bring our digital collections to the attention of students and scholars at some of the smallest four-year colleges. Occasionally, this extends to working collaboratively with librarians and faculty.

Among my accounts is Washington College on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. At this liberal arts institution known for its strong commitment to undergraduate education, I consulted closely with Ruth Shoge, Associate Professor, College Librarian, and Adam Goodheart, Director of the College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, among others, to help bring the acclaimed Archive of Americana collections to their campus.

The Archive of Americana was used extensively by Adam Goodheart in writing his highly praised new book, 1861: The Civil War Awakening (Knopf, 2011). Reviewing 1861 recently, the Boston Globe wrote, “Goodheart shows us that even at 150 years’ distance there are new voices, and new stories, to be heard about the Civil War.” The New York Times review said, “1861 creates the uncanny illusion that the reader has stepped into a time machine,” and Pulitzer Prize winner James M. McPherson describes its author as “a Monet with a pen instead of a paintbrush.”

Last month Adam sent me these comments about our Archive of Americana, and encouraged me to share them further:

“Readex’s databases transport you through time into 18th- and 19th-century America. The eloquent, cantankerous voices of the young nation come through loud and clear in literally millions of speeches, sermons, editorials and newspaper ads. The most remarkable thing is that just a few years ago, reading many of these publications would have required traveling hundreds of miles to rare-book libraries or waiting weeks for microfilm reels to arrive. Now you can summon them up instantly without getting up from your chair. My own book would not have been the same without Readex.

“Best regards to you—and thanks to all those at Readex who work hard to create these tremendous resources.”

I was pleased to also learn that our databases are now helping Adam research his second book.

Does your institution have research needs that Readex digital collections might help fill? Please let me know. My e-mail address is gmauerhoff@readex.com. 

 

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Key Titles in African American Periodicals, 1825-1995: Part One of Three

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, reflects more than a century and half of the African American experience. The first collection in Readex’s new America’s Historical Periodicals series, this wide-ranging resource features more than 170 titles from 26 states. Below is a brief description of seven of these publications. For descriptions of fourteen others, please visit the Key Periodicals page on the Readex website.

The Voice of the Negro (Atlanta, Georgia)

A literary journal aimed at a national audience of African Americans, The Voice of the Negro was published from 1904 to 1907. It published writings by Booker T. Washington, as well as a younger generation of black activists and intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois, John Hope, Kelly Miller, Mary Church Terrell and William Pickens. It also featured poetry by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, James D. Corrothers and Douglas Johnson.

• Includes issues published between 1904 and 1907

The Colored American Magazine (Boston, Massachusetts)

One of the most prominent vehicles for black intellectual, artistic, and political expression during the first decade of the 20th century, The Colored American was edited by Pauline Hopkins, African American novelist, playwright and journalist. The magazine’s masthead read: “An Illustrated Monthly Devoted to Literature, Science, Music, Architecture, Facts, Fiction, and Traditions of the Negro Race.”

• Includes issues published between 1902 and 1908

The Horizon: A Journal of the Color Line (Washington, D.C.)

Edited by W.E.B. Du Bois, The Horizon was the precursor to The Crisis—Du Bois’ groundbreaking publication for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. However, The Horizon was a very different publication in that it functioned as an aggregator of news from other sources, as well as an outlet for its editors’ views. It had three main sections: “The In-Look” was a digest of the “Negro-American press,” “The Out-Look” was a digest of the periodical press, and “The Over-Look” was a digest of opinions and general catch-all for books, political discussions, and the views of Du Bois and his editors. It ceased publication in 1910 when Du Bois started The Crisis.

• Includes issues published between 1907 and 1910

The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races (New York, New York)

The official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The Crisis was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois in 1910 and is widely considered one of the most important African American publications of the twentieth century. Primarily a current-affairs journal promoting the NAACP’s liberal program of social reform and racial equality, The Crisis also included poems, reviews and essays on culture and history. “The object of this publication,” Du Bois wrote, “is to set forth those facts and arguments which show the danger of race prejudice, particularly as manifested today toward colored people. It takes its name from the fact that the editors believe that this is a critical time in the history of the advancement of men.”

• Includes issues published between 1910 and 1922

The Negro: A Review (St. Louis, Missouri)

Billed as “America’s Best Negro Monthly,” The Negro: A Review contained articles, illustrations, advertisements and short stories. Edited by Frederick Bond in St. Louis, it was one of the only general interest African American magazines published in the Midwest during World War II.

• Includes issues published between 1943 and 1948

The African World (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Published first by the Student Organization for Black Unity, The African World described itself as the “Voice of the Revolutionary Pan-African Youth Movement in the Americas.” It contained articles and photographs covering civil rights, the youth movement, prison abuse, and the exploitation of African American workers. Its founders later helped form, and publicize, the February First Movement, the civil rights group named for the date in 1960 when four African American students asserted their right to sit at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

• Includes issues published between 1971 and 1975

Black Careers (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

A bi-monthly journal that did much to educate African American job seekers about the importance of Equal Opportunity Employment legislation, Black Careers contained articles on employment trends, educational opportunities and discrimination in employment. It was also popular with teachers in inner city schools due to its profiles of role models from the African American business community.

• Includes issues published between 1977 and 1982

For more information about African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, please write to readexmarketing@readex.com. To request trial access for your institution, please use this form.

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“Appeal to Loyal Women!” — The Creation of the United States Sanitary Commission and the Impact of Civilian Volunteers during the American Civil War

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Henry Whitney Bellows (1814-1882), planner and president of the United States Sanitary Commission, the leading soldiers' aid society, during the American Civil War.

On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The first shots had been fired in a war that would last four long and bloody years. This April marked the beginning of a four-year commemoration of the 150th anniversary, or Sesquicentennial, of the American Civil War. Over the next four years, Civil War re-enactors, historians and history enthusiasts from across the United States will gather to help commemorate the battles and other important events linked to the war.

With the start of the Civil War in 1861, hundreds of aid societies sprang up across the country almost as quickly as young men rushed to enlist. Women of course were barred from enlisting in the military, although a few successfully disguised themselves as men and joined the fight. In New York, a group of women wishing to show their loyalty and patriotic spirit formed the Women’s Central Association of Relief, inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale and the British Sanitary Commission during the Crimean War. However, efforts to gain government support for their organization proved unsuccessful until Dr. Henry Whitney Bellows stepped in to help. Dr. Bellows and a group of male doctors traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Abraham Lincoln on behalf of the women’s organization. At first, the president and other government officials were reluctant to have civilians become involved with the needs of the military. In spite of this, the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was established on June 9, 1861, with Dr. Bellows as its president.

"United States Sanitary Commission. Our Heroes." Source: Harper's Weekly. Courtesy: Brooklyn Museum Libraries

The headquarters of the USSC was in Washington, D.C., but regional commission branches were established throughout the Northern states, most notably in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. These branches acted as collection and distribution centers. Individuals and local aid societies shipped boxes of supplies to the commission branches where they were repackaged for delivery to soldiers in the field. Money was also collected and used to purchase additional food, clothing, and medical supplies.  

From the Jamestown Journal (NY), Oct. 18, 1861. Source: America's Historical Newspapers

By 1863, there were nearly 7,000 local aid societies affiliated with the USSC. Knitted socks, linens for bandages, quilts, baked goods, writing paper, stamps, and medicines were just a few of the many items that poured in. Even the little town of Chester, Vermont sent items, as reported in The Vermont Phoenix on May 7, 1863:

The Chester Soldiers’ Aid Society was organized in October of 1862. We very soon decided that the Sanitary Commission was the best channel through which to send our supplies and accordingly sent our first box to the care of “The Womans Central Relief Association, New York. Nine boxes have been sent there—three to the Vt. 4th Regiment and one to Brattleboro Hospital….The following is a list of articles sent: 107 quilts, 509 towels, 233 prs. Socks, 27 flannel shirts and under shirts, 9 woolen blankets, 147 shirts, 22 pillows, 102 sheets, 232 prs. drawers, 86 pillow cases, 212 handkerchiefs, 24 cushions, 239 napkins, 14 cans currant and apple jelly, 41 prs. Slippers, 43 bed sacks, 10 dressing gowns, 6 bottles raspberry shrub, 78 lbs. dried apple, 12 lbs. currants, 3 bottles lemon syrup. 

I was pleased to learn that my hometown of Springfield, Vermont also contributed to the war effort—as seen in this Nov. 9, 1861 item in the Springfield Weekly Republican:

“Springfield has done most excellently well in the war thus far. The town contains but 3000 inhabitants, yet has sent 80 men to fight for the country, five being from one family. The ladies also, during the three weeks just past, have manufactured articles for the sanitary commission, and have sent off five large boxes, containing the following articles: 46 bed quilts, 32 woolen blankets, 120 pairs of woolen socks, 111 pillow cases, 7 linen sheets, 43 cotton sheets, 67 napkins, 27 old linen handkerchiefs, 84 books and magazines, 5 old shirts, 2 cravats, 1 muffler, 1 dressing gown, 1 bag mutton tallow, 25 pounds dried apples, 3 boxes guava jelly, one can solidified milk, a quantity of cotton batting, and a quantity of old linen and cotton for bandages and compresses. Other articles have been handed in since the articles named were forwarded, and another box is to be sent soon.”

“Amateur theatricals in aid of The National Sanitary Commission, at Brinley Hall ... Nov. 28, 1862. Programme.” Source: American Broadsides and Ephemera

To help raise money for the USSC, fundraisers held sanitary fairs, bazaars, concerts, raffles, and plays.  Play bills and concert programs for these charitable events are among the many USSC-related items found in America’s Historical Imprints. During its existence the USSC raised roughly $5 million in money and $15 million in donated supplies for the Union Army. The Western Sanitary Commission and the United States Christian Commission also supported the Union Army but worked separately from the USSC. The Confederate States had small aid societies, but none as large as the USSC.

The USSC relied heavily on volunteers. Only a handful of individuals, mostly men, held paid positions. Sanitary agents were employed to inspect the living conditions of military camps and hospitals as well as the health of the soldiers, much to the disgust and annoyance of some military officers and surgeons. These agents would make note of any needed supplies, especially for sick or wounded men, and advise the officers on how to request such supplies from the USSC. Mary A. Livermore was one of the few paid female agents. Livermore and women like Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix, the Union’s Superintendent of Female Nurses, were instrumental in organizing aid societies, collecting goods and money, and recruiting qualified nurses to work in the hospitals. In response to the flood of letters inquiring about wounded or missing soldiers, the USSC created a hospital directory. By April of 1863, the directory included the names of wounded or sick soldiers in every general hospital.

Time and again the USSC proved its worth by providing aid when it was needed most. In many cases the organization was the first to provide medical care and supplies after major battles. Aid delivered after the battles of Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Gettysburg, for example, stands as a testament to the hard work and devotion of thousands of civilian volunteers. The USSC was also able to provide some relief to Union soldiers held at the infamous Andersonville Prison.

"The Sanitary Commission ministering to the wounded and dying after the battle." Courtesy: New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Although the Civil War ended in April, 1865, relief work continued for several months. The USSC aided soldiers and their families by providing food, lodging, and occasionally, travel expenses for returning veterans. Volunteers helped fill out pension claims, locate missing soldiers, and identify the graves of thousands of unknown soldiers. In 1866, the organization was officially disbanded. Work with the USSC opened many doors for women in the field of medicine and helped to convince people that women were capable of achieving great things. In 1881, Clara Barton helped found the American Red Cross using the United States Sanitary Commission as a model.  

From the Oregonian, May 22, 1917. Click to open full article in PDF. Source: America's Historical Newspapers

For more information about Readex collections, or to request a trial for your institution, please contact readexmarketing@readex.com.

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