The March 2013 issue of AJN: The American Journal of Nursing featured on its cover a well-known AAS collection item – A Map of the Open country of a Woman’s Heart by “A Lady” published by Kellogg c. 1833–1842. Throughout the month of April, we received queries about this image from nurses around the country. [...]
Camp of the Duryea’s Zouaves Federal Hill Baltimore, Md. Looking North. Baltimore: E. Sachse& Co., 1861. This hand colored lithograph is one of six prints of Civil War encampments by E. Sachse& Co. given to the Society by member David Doret. The publisher, Edward Sachse (1804-1873), had just opened at a new location on South [...]
This piece of sheet music in the Society’s collection represents a handful of Confederate imprints published by George Dunn and Company (printer) and written or edited by F.W. (Fitz William) Rosier. Even before official secession, and certainly after, the Confederate States produced their own government documents and publications; there were also religious pieces and education [...]
We are going to brave the waters of wartime Christmas. In the next few days, there will be three posts examining Confederate-printed items in the Society’s collection. This season of festivities is also one of commemoration and reflection as we are squarely in the War’s sesquicentennial. A glance over the pages of the nation’s most [...]
Although now a full-time employee of AAS, my love for the Society began years before I started working here when it first introduced me to the thrill of researching in an archive. As a senior History major at the College of the Holy Cross, I was introduced to AAS by my thesis advisor, who suggested [...]
Check out this preview for the second segment featuring the American Antiquarian Society on C-SPAN3′s American Artifacts program. This segment is led by James David Moran, our Director of Outreach, and Philip Lampi, chief researcher on the “A New Nation Votes” project. It will showcase some of AAS’s political collections, including ballots, political cartoons and [...]
“Did he say anything about politics?” “Not a word. We talked mostly about books.” “Books! What does he know about books?” From Henry Adams, Democracy One of the more enjoyable aspects of working with old books all day is having the chance to see what past owners have tucked away for safe-keeping in the leaves [...]
The Civil War Cartoon collection at AAS was donated by Dr. Samuel B. Woodward in 1934. It consists of over 600 newspaper clippings each containing a cartoon about any and all aspects of the Civil War. Because the cartoons were delivered to the Antiquarian Society as clippings, many of them are out of context and often [...]
Over the past few months, we’ve been following our Civil War soldier Henry Joslin while his company was on picket duty on the banks of the Potomac. Last we heard Henry and his Company were involved in a skirmish in late October. Now in the New Year, 150 years ago, Henry is writing home to [...]
Carrier’s address to the patrons of the Bridgeton Chronicle, January 1, 1864. Bridgeton, NJ: James M. Seymour & Matthew Newell, 1863. This carrier’s address came to AAS with a large group of New Jersey newspapers. Written at the end of 1863, the central poem, topped by a cut of a U.S. Mail train, focuses on [...]
AAS intern Katrina Ireland (Simmons College GSLIS program) recently came across a wonderful letter as she was processing our collection of Isaac Shepard Papers. Shepard (1816-1889) was a Harvard graduate and a commander of the 52nd US Infantry during the Civil War. In addition to his military life, Shepard was also a poet, author, and a [...]
Last week, Henry left us, and his mother, hanging. His regiment encountered a skirmish, and although he was not harmed, Henry could not share the details until a few days later. On Sunday, October 27th, he tells his mother about the encounter, and his swim to safety. Below are some highlights. You can read the [...]
A few weeks ago, I shared a letter from Henry Joslin, a Civil War Corporal from Fitchburg, Massachusetts. On October 20th, 1861, Henry was again writing home to his mother. Below are some excerpts from the letter. You can read the full transcription here. I suppose that before you get this you will have received [...]
…a young man named Henry L. Joslin, from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was writing home to his mother on September 24th. Henry, born in 1843, was serving in the Civil War and was working picket duty in Poolsville. In his letter he describes his camp, what guard duty was like, and gives updates about his health, and other [...]
“Strike, but hear.” Homer, NY, August 16, 1862. This broadside, found between the pages of an August 1862 issue of the Cortland County Republican newspaper, recounts the difficulties of taxation and raising bonds in the small town of Homer, NY, during the Civil War. Issued by dry good merchant (and Town Supervisor) George W. Phillips, [...]
Disclaimers always add something titillating to a post, so here goes our very own… This post focuses on reporting in the South, but the war of words worked both ways during the Civil War. The northern press could be inaccurate, hypocritical, and disingenuous. We would love to read examples you have found in your own [...]
What we have for you today is the story of a remarkable African American woman and her community. The story was told by Rev. Lewis C. Lockwood, self-described as the “First Missionary to the Freedmen at Fortress Monroe, 1862,” in a book titled: Mary S. Peake, the Colored Teacher at Fortress Monroe. (The full text [...]
Civil War era newspapers were more than just sources of information regarding current events. In the Boston Daily Advertiser, for example, nearly half of any given issue was devoted to advertising. It was certainly not alone in this, though it was at least honest enough to include the word “advertiser” in its name. Goods and [...]
In the United States today July, 1863 is remembered primarily as the month of the Battle of Gettysburg. For Americans at the time, however, there was plenty of other news to think about. Readers of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, a weekly publication from New York, learned about the battle in the July 11th edition of [...]
There has been much interest in the Civil War of late. The increased coverage makes sense given that next few years mark 150 years since the conflict that divided our United States. Here at Past is Present, we would like to highlight another side of the war years. Rather than focusing on the battles or [...]
Schoolmarm, 1870
