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Title: Life in Philadelphia. Romeo and Juliet
Description: Racist caricature depicting an African American man-woman couple in the characters of Romeo and Juliet during the balcony scene from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." In the right, "Romeo" wearing an Elizabethan costume including a plumed white hat, red cape, and white sash, holds his right, gloved hand over his heart and his left, ungloved hand out and holding the edge of his cape. He recites, "How silver sweet sounds Lubbers Tongues by Night, like sorpest Music to attending Ears." In the left, from the balcony, "Juliet" responds with the self-derogatory remark that as her complexion is "de mark of night" it is impossible to see that "a maiden blush bepaint" on her cheek. She is attired in a pink puffed sleeve, décolleté dress, earrings, a necklace, and hair adornment. She holds a glove and fan in her right gloved hand at her side and her left hand rests on the balustrade of the balcony. A rose vine climbs up the balcony and the tops of trees and a balustrade are visible behind “Romeo.” Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains two lines of dialogue in the vernacular below image: Romeo: How silber sweet, sounds Lubbers Tongues by Night; like sorptest Music to attending Ears./Juliet: Dou know’st de mask ob night is on my face, else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek., Signed W.S. for William Summers in lower right corner., Charles Hunt was a respected 19th century London engraver and etcher known mostly for his prints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Summers, William, artist
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9713.4]

Title: The Philadelphia dandies. A group of fashionables. "Shoot folly as it flies."
Description: Caricature lampooning "fashionable" middle-class Philadelphians depicting two scenes of “belles” being greeted. The first scene portrays a white belle, in the right, being greeted by a white dandy, in the left, who holds up a monocle in his left hand and asks, "How do you do?" They are each bent over and face each other. The dandy is attired in a white ruffled shirt, blue waistcoat, tan pants, and grey boots with spurs. He holds down a black top hat from which a cane hangs in his right hand. The belle is attired in a large green bonnet that curves at the back of her head and that is adorned with feathers and a ribbon, a pink, long-sleeved, knee-length, belle-shaped dress, and boots. She holds a green umbrella up in her right hand toward the raised arm of the dandy and the back of her dress has risen up. A pug-like jumps up and barks at her from behind. She responds that she is “rather cold.” The second scene depicts a white belle being greeted by a "fashionable" white woman and girl whose hand she holds. The women and girl are all similarly attired in large bonnets adorned with flowers, long-sleeved, high waisted, calf-length dresses in pink or green, and boots or ankle-laced shoes. They are also portrayed with stooped postures and accentuated posteriors. The woman with the child also holds a pink purse in the same hand as that of the girl who also wears pantalettes and holds a green parasol in her left hand. A third woman wearing a mortarboard style hat adorned with feathers, a long-sleeved, calf-length, high-waisted dress with under skirt, and boots, holds a spear-shaped umbrella over her shoulder and "marches" passed them in the right. Also, shows a pug-like dog standing in the left by the women who greet each other., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains two bubbles of dialogue within image of first scene: How do you do? How do you do? Madam! How is it with you today? It is rather Cold, sir!-, This caricature is similar in content to the prints from the series, "Life in Philadelphia" (London Set), and has been catalogued as part of the series., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Kensett, Thomas, 1786-1829, engraver
Date: [ca. 1820-ca. 1830]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9720]

Title: This certifies that [blank] having paid to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church the sum of twenty dollars, is hereby constituted a member during life conformably to the seventh article of the constitution. New York, [blank]. [Blank] chairman. [Blank] clerk
Description: Life membership certificate containing a vignette contrasting scenes of apocalyptic doom and religious salvation. From the celestial heavens, the hand of God points to an angel trumpeting salvation and wielding the Bible; a white man missionary preaches to a large group of Native Americans; and a converted African family of a man, woman, and child, kneels and reaches toward the winged messenger of God. On the ground are broken chains and swords, and a hut and palm trees are in the background. Opposite the scenes of salvation, a cross rises from the ground, bringing forth a river of redemption too late for the lost souls of a bejeweled white woman and a skull-headed man entangled by serpents. Behind them a temple, probably the Vatican, collapses to the ground crushing a white man. The Missionary Society, officially organized in New York in 1820, worked first to convert Native Americans and enslaved people before extending their missions to the Black inhabitants of Liberia in 1823., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Issued to Reverend Thomas Lumption on April 9th, 1844. Signed by Joshua Soule, Chairman, and Francis Hale, Clerk., Purchase 1971., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Certificates [7971.F]

Title: Philharmonic T[h]eatre, Islington. Every evening at eight. [Sa]turday at three and eight. Sam Hague's Ori[gi]nal Slave Troupe at St. James's Hall, Li[me] Street, Liverpool. Every evening at 8, Saturdays at 3 & 8, all the year round. Positively for four weeks on[ly] commencing Monday, Feb. 14th. Terminat[ing] [on] March 11 [ ] been re-built since the fire), St. James Hall, Liverpool, March 13th, 1876
Description: Advertising print depicting a racist scene to promote Sam Hague's Original Slave Troupe after their dislocation from their permanent home theatre, St. James Hall, following a fire in 1875. Shows a rhinoceros, a bell on his tail, pulling a cart on which members of the minstrel troupe, portrayed as Black men and women caricartures, perform. On the head of the animal, a man sits, his legs straight out while he holds the pole of a banner designed as an American flag and that is marked with advertising text for the troupe. On the animal's back, men and a woman stand, play hand instruments, and dance on a raised plank. On the cart, men play string and wind instruments, including a bass and trombone, as well as one man, bare-chested and in boxing pants, holds up an open umbrella, on which another man sits and plays the drum. The men figures are attired in suits and/or shirt sleeves and pants. The woman figure wears a kerchief, long-sleeved shirt, with the sleeves pulled up and apron-like, checkered skirt. Scene also includes blades of grass and a flowering plant in the foreground. Sam Hague's Original Slave Troupe evolved from the Georgia Slave Troupe Minstrels for which Samuel Hague assumed part management in 1866. Within the year, the troupe of formerly enslaved individuals, including singers, comedians, and minstrels, traveled to Great Britain to tour the country. In 1869, Hague acquired St. James Hall in Liverpool as a permanent home for the company, as well as a site to organize touring companies. In 1875, the hall was razed by fire and for the next year, the Troupe performed from other theatres such as Philharmonic Theatre, Islington. By this time, the Troupe was mainly comprised of white performers who performed in Blackface and Hague had managed the Troupe with a few different partners., Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes., Title from item., Date inferred from promotional text on item., RVCDC, Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Print torn in half and with sections missing.
Date: [1876]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Advertisements - Samuel Hague [P.2022.57.1]

Title: Turning the tables on the overseer
Description: Abolitionist print depicting a group of enslaved African American people about to whip their white plantation overseer, who has been bound to a tree on the plantation grounds. Before the plantation overseer, the African American man holds the whip and pulls up his sleeve as the enslaved man next to him takes of his hat in a mock gesture of respect. Smiling men, women, and children of all ages stand, sit, and lean on a fence, surrounding the overseer in anticipation of his whipping., Title from item., First published in New York Illustrated news, November 28, 1863 (LCP **Per D 8.5, 1863). Later published as a loose print by the African American press, Robert and Thomas Hamilton, possibly the first Black press to publish separate prints., LCP exhibition catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 38., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Slavery [5780.F]

Title: Washington crossing the Delaware. Evening previous to the Battle of Trenton Decr. 25th 1776 The annual greeting of the carriers of the Philadelphia Inquirer to their patrons for 1861
Description: Commemorative print after Thomas Sully's 1819 painting "Washington's Passage of the Delaware." Depicts General Washington astride his horse atop the barren bank of the Delaware River. He tips his hat and acknowledges his troops below, who cross the river by barge. To the left of Washington, white men soldiers move a cannon. In the right are several soldiers on horseback, including Prince Whipple, enslaved African American man and bodyguard to Washington Aide, General William Whipple., Title based on item., Original painting in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., For a description of the original painting, see the broadside Passage of the Delaware by Thomas Sully. (LCP sm #Am 1820 Sul, 6658.F)., Accessioned 1987., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Gimbrede, Joseph Napoleon, 1820-, engraver
Date: [1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - American Revolution [P.9179.9]

Title: Journey of a slave from plantation to the battlefield
Description: Collection of twelve titled album (carte-de-visite size) cards depicting the evolution of the life of an African American man from enslavement to a Union soldier. "In the Cotton field" and "The Christmas Week" show his life on the plantation from which he is sold and separated from his family in "The Sale" and "The Parting: 'Buy us too'." His new enslaver whips him in "The Lash," for which he then retaliates in "Blow for Blow." He hides "In the Swamp" and is finally "Free!" to become a Union soldier and "Stand up a Man" to fight in the battlefield to "Make Way for Liberty!" He is struck down in "Victory!" for Liberty, depicted as a white woman, who states as she mourns over his body, "He Died for Me!", Title from series title., Publication information inferred from copyright statement: Entered according to the act of the year 1863 by William A. Stephens in the Clerks' Office of the Dist. Court of the U.S. for the E. Dist. of Pa., Attributed to James Fuller Queen after Henry Louis Stephens., Henry Louis Stephens was a native Philadelphia caricaturist, book, and magazine illustrator who worked in New York in the mid-19th century for the periodical "Frank Leslie's." His brother William Allen Stephens served as his business manager., Described in Gathering history: The Marian S. Carson Collection of Americana. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1999), p. 26., Original wrapper for the card set held in the collections of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. [LOT 5174], Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Copyright by William A. Stephens, 1120 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., Queen, a Philadelphia lithographer and pioneer chromolithographer known for his attention to detail, served in the Civil War militia from 1862 until 1863, and created several lithographs with Civil War subjects.
Creator: Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
Date: 1863
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Henry Louis Stephens Collection [(5)5780.F.56m-p; (5)5780.F.57a-h]

Title: Proclamation of Emancipation. By the President of the United States of America
Description: Print commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation containing a bust-length portrait of Abraham Lincoln and two abolitionist vignettes above text from the Proclamation. In the center, Lincoln, attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, waistcoat, and jacket, faces slightly right and is bordered by an American eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows in front of a backdrop of American flags. To the left and right of the portrait are scenes of an auction of enslaved people, with an African American woman, and free African American men working in a carpentry shop. Below the scenes, two African American cherubs hold a banner inscribed, "By the President of the United States of America." Below the text, an allegorical vignette contrasts the productive North with the destitute South depicting a white woman crying, surrounded by her children, sitting underneath a tree., Title from item., Date from copyright statement., Purchase 1972., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., J. Mayer & Company, the Boston lithography firm established by John Julius Mayer in 1862, specialized in practical lithography. Despite the official firm name, John Mayer had no partners.
Creator: J. Mayer & Co., lithographer
Date: 1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Emancipation [8025.F.4]

Title: All slaves were made freemen. By Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, January 1st, 1863. Come, then, able-bodied colored men, to the nearest United States camp, and fight for the stars and stripes
Description: Civil War recruitment print targeting African Americans by evoking the freedoms granted by the Emancipation Proclamation. Depicts a montage of symbolic scenes centered around an African American Union soldier triumphantly holding up a sword and an American flag with the banner "Freedom to the Slave." He stands near broken shackles upon a tri-color flag adorned with a coiled snake. The flag is tugged upon by one of three joyous African Americans freed from enslavement by an African American soldier. Other scenes depict an African American man reading a newspaper on a rocking chair near a plow and child, African American children entering a "Public School" near a church, and a regiment of "U.S. Colored Troops" marching across a battlefield strewn with dead bodies., Title printed on verso., Text of the "Original Version of the John Brown Song" by H.H. Brownell printed on verso., Described in LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro History, entry #139., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War miscellany [(2)5786.F.107b]. Transferred from #Am 1863 All (2)5786.F.107b. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886. Accessioned 1987 [P.9179.44], Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Emancipation [P.9179.44; (2)5786.F.107b]

Title: The Washington family
Description: Group portrait of George Washington, his wife Martha, and his two step-grandchildren gathered around a cloth-covered table. A seated George Washington, attired in civilian clothing, rests one arm on the table and the other on the shoulder of his step-grandson and namesake who stands next to a globe, which shows "America." His step-granddaughter, Nelly, stands next to a seated Martha on the other side of the table. Both are pointing at "North America, United States" on a large map unfurled on the table. William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, stands in the right background. He is attired in a white cravat and a black jacket and tucks his left hand into his jacket. A curtain is draped open near a column revealing a waterscape scene in the background., Title from item., Names of sitters printed in margin below image., Purchased with Davida T. Deutsch Women's History Fund, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: 1873
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Washington [P.2013.23]

Title: Mount Vernon--Washington's Residence
Description: Puzzle showing the eastern facade of the mansion and grounds overlooking the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia owned by George Washington. White men and women promenade, white children play with a dog, cattle graze, and a white man handler walks a horse on the landscaped grounds in the foreground. George Washington, Martha Washington, and a white woman sit on the porch. An enslaved African American man servant, attired in a white collared shirt, a black jacket with tails, and black pants, stands to the left of them. The estate, originally granted to Washington's great-grandfather John Washington in 1674, was inherited by George in 1761 and purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 1858., One of four puzzles, stored in two pieces, housed in clamshell box., Purchase 1978., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: [ca. 1858]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) - Four Lithographic Puzzles [8418.F.2]

Title: Offering of bells to be cast into cannon
Description: Partisan genre scene depicting a Southern white man pastor and members of his congregation presenting church bells to a Confederate officer at the hearth of an enslaved African American man blacksmith. In the left, the officer holds his cap in his hand as the blacksmith, attired in a long apron (doffed cap as well), bends over to grab one of two bells near his feet. Candlesticks and andirons lie in a pile under the hearth and to the left of the officer. In the right, congregants stand behind the pastor attired in robes and a wide-brimmed hat, and include a woman attired in a fancy dress and cape, men in suits and top hats, and a man dressed in yeoman's clothing. In the background, an enslaved African American man carries a cylinder-shaped object over his shoulder and church towers are visible. In 1862, Confederate General P.T. Beauregard called for bells to be given to the Confederacy to be melted into cannon. Several churches in North Carolina donated them., Inscribed upper left corner: 19., Inscribed in lower left corner: AJV; FBM., Issued as plate 19 in Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), a series of pro-Confederacy cartoons drawn and published by Baltimore cartoonist Adalbert John Volck under the pseudonym V. Blada. The "first issue" of 10 prints (numbered 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24), with imprint "London, 1863" were printed as etchings. The remaining 20 prints (numbered 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 17-20, 23, 25-27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 45) headed "Second and third issues of V. Blada's war sketches" and dated "London, July 30, 1864" were printed as lithographs., Title and publication information from series at Brown University Library., Research file about artist available at repository., Accessioned 1935., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912, artist
Date: [1864]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Volck - Sketches - Volck 19 [2990.F.20]

Title: Smuggling medicines into the South
Description: Partisan genre scene depicting the unloading of a rowboat with medical supplies along a shoreline near dense thickets of trees. In the center, a white man Confederate military officer keeps the boat moored through a rope in his hand. He looks back toward a white man, possibly a doctor, climbing down from a tree. An enslaved African American man (his back to the viewer), ankle deep in the water, holds a wooden pole on the shore as a lever as a white man in civilian clothes rolls a barrel toward a Confederate soldier (his back to the viewer). The soldier places sacks on the back of a mule. A sack, crate, and barrel lie near the mule. Volck was active in smuggling medicines into the South across the Potomac River in response to the Union's ban of the passage of medical supplies to the South., Inscribed upper left corner: 18., Issued as plate 18 in Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), a series of pro-Confederacy cartoons drawn and published by Baltimore cartoonist Adalbert John Volck under the pseudonym V. Blada. The "first issue" of 10 prints (numbered 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24), with imprint "London, 1863" were printed as etchings. The remaining 20 prints (numbered 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 17-20, 23, 25-27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 45) headed "Second and third issues of V. Blada's war sketches" and dated "London, July 30, 1864" were printed as lithographs., Title and publication information from series at Brown University Library., Research file about artist available at repository., Accessioned 1935., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912, artist
Date: [1864]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Volck - Sketches - Volck 18 [2990.F.21]

Title: Washington birthday greetings
Description: Postcard containing an interpretation of Christian Schussele's 1864 painting "Washington and his Family" that was also issued as an engraving. Shows a domestic family group portrait with George and Martha Washington seated at a table, near which their step grand-children Nelly and William stand. A map rests on the table, and Washington holds a book in his lap. In the background, William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, enters the room holding a note on a tray. In the right foreground, Washington's overcoat and sword rest on a chair., Date inferred from postmark: Mass., Dec. 1910., Addressed in manuscript to: Mr. Ralph Osgood, Oak St., Springfield, Mass., Inscribed in lower left corner on verso: Cores. from Ethel., Contains cancelled one-cent stamp printed in green ink and depicting Benjamin Franklin in profile., Divided back., Gift of John Serembus, 2013., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1910]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Non-Pennsylvania [P.2013.66]

Title: [George Washington crossing the Delaware]
Description: Commemorative print after the 1851 painting by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze depicting General Washington's famous campaign across the icy Delaware River above Trenton on Christmas Eve 1776. A stoic Washington stands at the head of the lead rowboat surrounded by several of his dedicated men, including a white man soldier holding the American flag and the African American oarsman Prince Whipple, enslaved man and bodyguard to Washington Aide, General William Whipple. In the background, boats with the remaining troops and horses are visible., Copyrighted by M. Knoedler., Proof copy., Title from original painting in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York., Gift of Anthony N.B. Garvan, 1981., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Giradet, Paul, engraver
Date: [ca. 1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - American Revolution [P.8646.1]

Title: Rev. Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in the United States of America, 1779
Description: Half-length portrait of the African American bishop, seated, and holding a book, possibly the Bible, in front of a curtain. He looks slightly to the left and points to an open page of the book with his right hand and clasps the upper edge of the other side of the book with his left hand. Allen is attired in a collared shirt, a vest, and a jacket. Allen was the first African American bishop as well as founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born in Philadelphia and was enslaved by Benjamin Chew. He worked as a wood-cutter during his ordination. A full-length portrait of the white Quaker abolitionist and little person Benjamin Lay is on the verso. Lay is attired in a tricorn hat, a long shirt and jacket, britches, and boots. He holds a cane and book in his right hand., Manuscript note on border: "The curiosity of the portrait below is that it was made for the first Black Bishop in the UStates and perhaps the world! He is indeed a self created Bishop; nevertheless, as such he has now, in his 65 years, in 1824, probably created 100 ministers, by his ordination! He was born & bred in Philada. He was originally a slave of Benjn Chew's Esqre & learnd the trade of a Shoemaker; & like St. Paul, 'labored with his own hands,' while he ordained-", Title from item., Date form item., In John Fanning Watson's Extra-illustrated autograph manuscript of "Annals of Philadelphia", p. 276., Gift of John F Watson, June 1830., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1813
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Watson's Annals manuscript [Yi2 1069.F.276]

Title: Marion crossing the Pedee Engraved from the original picture in the possession of the American Art-Union
Description: Historical print showing Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, known as the Swamp Fox, during the American Revolution and commanding a raft down the river in between one of his guerilla attacks in South Carolina. Marion, wrapped in a cloak, on horseback is surrounded by his band of volunteer soldiers, horses carrying light equipment, and a few dogs on the raft. The men include Marion's enslaved man Oscar Marion holding the reigns of his horse and another African American man rowing the raft with an oar. A few of the soldiers hold the reigns of horses swimming through the river. A second raft is visible in the background., Title from item., After an 1850 painting by William Tylee Ranney in the collections of the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX., One of six prints issued in 1851 for the members of the American Art-Union in New York., Trimmed., Gift of David Doret, 2006., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Burt, Charles Kennedy, 1823-1892, engraver
Date: [1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - American Revolution [P.2006.28.22]

Title: "Father, I cannot tell a lie: I cut the tree"
Description: Genre scene of the fictitious moment when the young George Washington confesses to his father, Augustine, a plantation owner, that he cut a cherry tree on their Virginia plantation. Depicts Washington's father holding his son's hand and comforting him. George looks up at his father and points his left hand towards the cut tree in the right. On the ground is an ax and an upturned hat. In the background, an enslaved African American man plows the pasture with a team of oxen, and an enslaved African American man and woman couple stands near the gate of a cottage, probably their dwelling., Title from date., Date based on the active dates of engraver., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1978., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: McRae, John, engraver
Date: [1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Washington [8384.F.16]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. Sketches of character: At home. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a striped kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, red vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed black and yellow bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a red dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, red-striped shirt, vest, green waist coat, brown pants, and grey gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Inscribed: Pl. 10., After plate by E.W. Clay originally printed by C.G. Childs and published by Clay in Philadelphia in 1830., Charles Ingrey was one of the premier London lithographic printers of the 1830s., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Harrison, H., artist
Date: [ca. 1833]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set)- publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [P.9716]

Title: Views of Liberia from "W.F. Lynch report of mission to Africa"
Description: Series of titled views of the Black emigrant country of Liberia (founded 1822) that accompanied a government report compiled by William F. Lynch, Commander, United States Navy following an exploratory excursion to the west coast of Africa. Depicts the stone mansion of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of Liberia (1847-1855); Episcopal Mission, near Cape Palmas, Mt. Vaughan, founded in 1834 under the auspices of the Maryland Colonization Society and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church; Monrovia (i.e., Liberia) from Bushrod's Island; and Cape Palmas, a Liberian settlement. Views include lush landscapes, Black and white residents, sailing ships, and dwellings., Title from name of the publication., Artists include John H.B. Latrobe and William S. Seager., Printed below images: Senate executive documents, No. 1, 33rd Congress, 1st Session, Part III., Published in "W.F. Lynch report of mission to Africa," Senate Executive documents, 1st Session, 33rd Congress, part 3, vol. 1, doc. 1, p. 329-389., Latrobe, a Baltimore landscape painter, also served as President of the Maryland Colonization Society., Gift of David Doret, 2004., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Wagner & M'Guigan, a partnership between Philadelphia lithographers Thomas S. Wagner & James M'Guigan, was active 1846-1858.
Creator: Wagner & M'Guigan
Date: [1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Views - Foreign - Africa [P.2004.33.5a-d]

Title: [Van Stan's Stratena and Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards for products produced by Van Stans Stratena Co. in Philadelphia. One racist card entitled, "Great lecture on Van Stan's Stratena by Julius Augustus Cesar at Ethiopian Hall," after the 1878 Sol Eytinge illustration "Blackville, 1878" depicts an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, lecturing on a stage in front of an audience of well-dressed African American men. The lecturer, attired in a brown jacket, a tan waistcoat, a white shirt with gold cuff links, a white bowtie, blue pants, and black shoes, leans on a wooden table labeled "Van Stan's Stratena." Rolls of paper stick out of his back pocket, and his upturned top hat is visible underneath the table. A decorative object advertising Stratena and a cup sit on the table. He speaks in the vernacular, "one drop of dis yere Stratena on de conscience of a politician will make him stick to his principles. One drop on de marriage certificate will prevent de divorce court from separating you from de wife of your bosom. Do you heah me! Gentlemen I am a talking." Other illustrations include a double-sided metamorphic trade card showing white women and children upset when their objects and toys are broken and happy after using Van Stans Stratena to repair them and, on the other side, two white men and a white woman cringing while taking a dose of cod liver oil, but smiling after taking Van Stan's Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil. Card shows two white boys' jackets glued together by Stratena after they sat in it. A white boy standing nearby laughs and says, "Ha! ha! ha! No use boys!!! Been sitting in Van Stan's Stratena. Ha! ha! Ha!!", Another series of illustrations entitled, "Marriage a-la-mode. Matter of money," "Marriage a-la-mode. The result," and "The marriage of the future," depicts a white man and woman couple being wed by a white man standing under a sign reading "License marriage fee. $1.00" and a dog standing behind the groom thinking, "I'll be dog-goned if this is anything more than a matter of cur-ency and my privileges are sure to be cur-tailed. Give him a bone." A subsequent scene shows the husband running away from his wife, two children and chaotic household. His wife runs after him with a frying pan as the toddler in the background cries, "Father dear father come home," and the baby, lying on the floor, cries "No one to love me." The final scene shows a wedding ceremony in the "Tabernacle hearts cemented" with the officiator standing before the bride and groom announcing, "with this Stratena I thee wed." The groom replies, "One consolation, if I ever break her heart, I can mend it with Van Stans Stratena." The bride counters, "I'll stick to him through thick and thin.", Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Chas. Shields' Sons (New York) and E. Ketterlinus & Co. (Philadelphia)., Advertising text printed on versos promotes Van Stan's Emulsion of Pure Norwegian Cod-Liver Oil and Van Stan's Stratena cement to repair glass, china, marble, iron, bone, jewelry, jet, coral, leather, wood, earthenware, porcelain, ornaments, lamp shades, metals, Meerschaum pipes, billiard cues, and leather belting., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Van Stan's [1975.F.888-890 & 1975.F.892-894]

Title: Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner--"I'll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I'll lick de hul firm." Compliments of J. Harley Compton, druggist, New Egypt, N.J
Description: Racist trade card promoting the druggist J. Harley Compton and depicting a caricature of an older African American man reading a notice on a country grocery store. Shows the man with a white beard and attired in a yellow brimmed hat, a long-sleeved red shirt, yellow pants with patches and held up by suspenders, and black shoes. He bends forward to read the sign on the boarded up, dilapidated store. It states in the vernacular that the Johnsing & Skinner Grocery is out of business and that, “Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me--dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing." The African American man is labeled as a creditor who says in the vernacular, “I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.” Another sign on the building states, "10 miles to de post ofice (sic)." In the right, the man’s donkey is tied to an orange post behind him. In the background, fenced in fields and trees are visible. William Carroll purchased J. Harley Compton’s drugstore in New Egypt, New Jersey in 1895., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Johnsing & Skinner Grocery. Notis—De firm of Johnsing & Skinner am resolved. Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me—dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing. Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner—“I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.”, Advertising text printed on verso promotes items manufactured by J. Harley Compton, including Compton's concentrated flavoring extracts, liquid rennet, camphor ice with glycerine, cholera and dysentery drops, and Compton's tooth powder. Dated Oct. 9th, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1883]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - C [P.9828.5679]

Title: [Geo. G. Burbank, druggist and apothecary, 235 Main St., Worcester, Mass.]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards depicting Japanese boys wearing fanciful, stylized versions of traditional attire and geta shoes and performing a variety of activities, including watching a fly pull toys on the ground, playing a stringed instrument as a dog dances on its hind legs, and holding a piece of paper of an illustration of a man and woman. Also includes "Ole zip coon," depicting a racist scene of an African American man stealing a chicken in the countryside. He hangs suspended on a wooden fence, snagged by the seat of his pants. He holds two squawking chickens by the legs in his right hand as another squawking chicken runs away in the left. The man is portrayed with exaggerated features and a look of fear. His mouth is open and the corners turned down. His wide eyes look to the right. In the background in the right, a white man, holding a rifle, runs with a dog towards the fence. A house is visible in the center background., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9828.5576] numbered 450 and printed by Bufford, Boston., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - B [P.9828.5573-5576]

Title: Compliments of J.C. Williams & Son, Central Pharmacy, 50 South Salina St., Syracuse, N.Y
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting pharmacist J.C. Williams & Son and including "Surrender" depicting a white man winking as he puts his arms around a white woman from behind. The woman, attired in a hat with red feathers, a red dress with a white collar, and black, fingerless gloves, puts her head down as the man grasps her chin with his left hand and puts his right hand on her shoulder. They stand behind a picket fence. Also includes "Retribution" showing a dog chasing a cat and knocking a startled African American man off of his feet near a fence in a yard. The man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a white collared shirt with blue stripes and white pants with blue patches, flies into the air while his white hat falls to the ground., Title from item., Date from copyright statment on one print: Copyrighted 1882 by Onondaga Lith. Co., Syracuse, N.Y. [P.9828.7105]., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - W [P.9828.7105 & 7106]

Title: Photography under a cloud Perry is selling the nicest lot of fine combs, dressing combs, barber combs and misses circle combs, made from rubber, horn or celluloid; from 5 cts. to $1. Remember Perry's Drug Store, Canastota
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting a group of barefooted African American men and boys, portrayed in caricature, looking on as a photographer takes a photograph of them. In the left, a boy, attired in a blue jacket, and a man, attired in an orange collared shirt and yellow pants, stand and look at the camera. In the center, a man, attired in a yellow shirt and pink pants, stands directly in front of the camera and peers into the lens. In the right, a boy, attired in an orange shirt and blue pants, crawls toward the scene on all fours. The photographer is crouched under a cloak. Visible in the background is a woman standing beside a cabin., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - P [P.9828.6598]

Title: Is dese' your chickens miss Compliments of Durant & Oehlmann, druggists, 518 Hampshire St., Quincy, Ills
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a torn hat and shirt, on the ground with baby chicks in front of him. In the left, a white woman with a pitchfork leans over a fence to observe the scene and surprises him. Durant & Oehlmann, the partnership between Dr. Joseph F. Durant (b. 1831) and Charles Oehlmann (1849-1921), operated in Quincy, Illinois between 1875 and 1888., Title from item., Date inferred from date of operation of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso promotes Falke's Sulpholine Cream and Falke's Kah-Kan-Kee Hair Restorative manufactured by J. Falke & Co., 418 Elm St., St. Louis., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - D [P.9828.5810]

Title: Old '76 and young '48 From the original picture in the possession of the American Art-Union
Description: Mexican War-era genre print evoking the memory of the American Revolution depicting a young, white man Mexican War soldier returned home to his family, including his grandfather, a Revolutionary War veteran. In a parlor, the young man, attired in his uniform, sits, turned away from his meal, surrounded by his mother, father, sister, grandfather, and family dog. He raises his hand in the air as he regales his family about his experiences. They all look at him intently, except the grandfather, seated in an arm chair, and leaning on a cane, who stares a little off to the side. In the background, three servants (two African American men and an African American woman) listen from the doorway. A portrait painting of the grandfather as a young man in his military uniform hangs on the wall. In the left, a fireplace with mantle is visible. Above the mantle, a framed print reproduced after Trumbull's painting "Declaration of Independence" is displayed near lamps, a clock, and a bust of Washington on a bookcase. Also shows the soldier's cap and sword lying on the floor in the foreground., Title from item., After an 1849 painting by Robert Caton Woodville in the collections of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore., One of six prints issued in 1851 for the members of the American Art-Union in New York., Gift of David Doret, 2006., Description revised., Access points revised., Described in the Bulletin of the American Art-Union, June 1850, p. 46., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Pease, Joseph Ives, 1809-1883, engraver
Date: 1851
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Mexican War [P.2006.28.23]

Title: The pic nic on the Fourth of July, "A day to be remembered"
Description: Copy of subscription print published in 1864 and 1866 for "Demorest's Monthly Magazine" after the painting of Lily May Spencer showing her family at a Fourth of July picnic in a grove near, possibly, the Passaic River, in Newark, N.J, the hometown of the Spencers. Shows Spencer's husband Benjamin in the center of the view, lying on his side, and with one hand on the broken rope of a tree swing. Family members surround him, seated and standing, and predominately laugh and clap, except for a boy who attempts to help him up and the artist who runs toward him with her arms out. Another child waves a flag while on her father's shoulders. In the foreground, in the right, an African American man servant with a picnic basket, pot, and ice cream churn at his feet is distracted by the husband and pours wine on an older female guest who scowls. To their left, an African American woman caretaker holds a concertina and watches the scene with African American man. Seated next to her is her young white charge, who rests on a dog. To the right, a boy, holding up a small instrument, possibly a noise maker, lays behind a log on which a young couple courts each other. They hold hands and the woman places a fan to her face. Lush greenery forms the landscape, and in the background, a path through the woods, and canoes, a sailboat, and boys playing at the river is visible., Title from item., Published and copyrighted by the New York Engraving, Printing & Publishing Company in 1864 and published by H. Peters and P. & J. Levy (N. Y.) in 1866., Gift of David Doret, 2009., Trimmed and strip of paper mounted on bottom edge., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Hollyer, Samuel, 1826-1919, engraver
Date: [ca. 1864]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Holidays - F [P.2009.6.1]

Title: Jacob Riegel & Co., importers and jobbers of dry goods. No. 333 Market, & Nos. 25 & 27 North 4th Street, Philadelphia
Description: Exterior view of the multi-story storefront at 333 Market Street of the dry goods store originally established in 1832 as Siegers & Vogel. Patrons stand in the doorway of the building, while pedestrians converse and a white man and woman couple passes by on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. Laborers load and unload horse-drawn drays stationed nearby across from street traffic, including a Pennsylvania Central R.R. Depot street car, a racing Adams Express Co. wagon transporting crates, and an African American delivery man pushing a handcart carrying boxes. Also shows partial views of adjacent buildings. Jacob Riegel operated Jacob Riegel & Co. from 1866 until his death in 1880. The establishment, considered one of the most prominent dry goods firms in the country, went into decline as Riegle, Scott, & Co. following the death of Riegle and was bought out by John Wanamaker in 1886., Title from item., Accompanied by complementary trade card [P.2008.34.22]., Reproduced in online LCP exhibition Mirror of a City., Purchase 2008., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Sartain, Samuel, 1830-1906, engraver
Date: [ca. 1867]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Ph Pr - Businesses - R [P.2008.34.21], http://www.librarycompany.org/mirrorofacity/section6.htm

Title: Your home is not complete without the Missouri Steam Washer. The best washing machine in the world. Johnston Bro's. St. Louis. Philadelphia There are more Missouri Steam Washers sold than all other washing machines in the world combined
Description: Trade card for the small portable washing machine invented by George D. Ferris and marketed by Johnston Bros., "General Agents for the United States." Depicts two male fairies, one white and one African American, presenting a "Missouri Steam Washer. Pat'd. May 1, 1883" to a white woman who stands over a washboard in a wash tub. Steam rises from the tub filled with clothes. The African American fairy, portrayed in racist caricature with orange wings and attired in blue pants with suspenders, pushes in the metal washing machine on a dolly, while the other fairy points to it. The African American fairy image was often used in newspaper advertisements for the machine that operated through placement on a family cook stove, internal perforated steam tubes, and a crank to keep the clothes in motion during washing., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1884., Contains five testimonials, including one by G. R. Brandt and Harry E. Brandt (Hurricane Laundry, 232 New Street), Philadelphia, Pa., printed on verso., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1884
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Johnston [P.2013.35.1]

Title: I'm a masher
Description: Set of five collecting cards depicting African Americans, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque facial features, to satirize womanizing, courtship, marriage, and fatherhood. Includes (1) "I'm a Masher" showing a dapperly-dressed African American man, attired in a derby hat, a red bow tie with yellow polka dots, a yellow waistcoat, a blue jacket, and a watch fob, holding up a swagger stick, as well as cigarette that he smokes; (2) "I've Made a Mash" showing the "masher" in a close embrace with a stylishly-dressed African American woman, attired in a red dress with black polka dots, gold drop earrings, and yellow gloves; (3) "I'm Married" showing the couple on promenade with the woman, attired in a red dress with a yellow bow, a yellow and red hat, and white gloves, and the man, smoking a cigarette, and attired in a green bowler hat, a red ascot with shiny cravat pin, a blue jacket with a yellow flower boutonniere, a matching yellow with gray striped waistcoat and pants, and red gloves; (4) 'Home Sweet Home" showing the man, attired in a white collared shirt and blue-striped pants, seated with a look of anguish and surrounded by his six small children; (5) "Dady's [sic] Dead" showing the children as older and dancing around their father's grave adorned with a headstone inscribed "To the Memory of the Masher." Masher was a later 19th-century slang term for a womanizer, known for garish clothes and a vulgar manner., Copyrighted., Series no. printed in upper right corner., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Chicago Picture Co, a Chicago publishing firm of advertising card and novelties, was active circa 1881-circa 1883.
Creator: Chicago Picture Co.
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.25.1-5]

Title: "De breddren and sisters will now relate dere experience."
Description: Set of five collecting cards depicting African Americans, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque facial features and speaking in the vernacular, satirizing African American church life. Includes (1) "De Breddren and Sisters Will Now Relate Dere Experience" showing a white-haired African American minister at his pulpit before a small congregation of mostly African American women, attired in kerchiefs, and seated in pews; (2) Sister Hannibal. - "Oh Breddren and Sisters, Ise an Awful Sinner" showing Sister Hannibal standing up and confessing among the other congregants; (3) Sister Snowball. - "Yes, Breddren and Sisters, Dats So, I Kin Testify Dat Sister Hannibal is an Awful Sinner. I knows It" showing Sister Snowball standing, her hands clasped across her stomach, while Sister Hannibal, sits and frowns, and the minister rests his hand on his head; (4) "Sister Snowball, You Am a Liar" showing the "sisters" fighting among the other parishioners, who are in various states of commotion; (5) "De Congregation Am Dismissed" showing white men police officers escorting the congregation out of the church, including an unconscious Sister Hannibal in a handcart. Images also show the church interior and exterior, including windows, steps, and a tree., Title from item., Date of publication inferred from date of copyright, Series no. printed in upper left corner., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Sammis & Latham was a New York publishing firm active in 1882 that issued comic card sets and juvenile novelty items.
Creator: Sammis & Latham
Date: 1882
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.24.1-5]

Title: Brother Gardner addresses the Lime Kiln Club on the virtues of Dixon's Stove Polish
Description: Racist, satiric trade card promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a caricature of an African American man presenting Dixon’s Stove Polish to the African American men members of the Lime Kiln Club. Shows Brother Gardner, the white-haired, African American man, in the left with spectacles on his forehead and attired in a white collared shirt with a red bowtie, an orange jacket with a sunflower on the lapel, red and white checked pants, and black shoes. He stands holding a blue box of Dixon’s in his left hand and a gavel in his right hand. In the left is a wooden table with a blue pitcher and a top hat on top of it and a sign that reads, “Dixon’s Carburet of Iron Stove Polish.” Brother Gardner addresses the men in the vernacular, who are identified by number with the key of their names on the verso of the card. In the right, the man, attired in a striped white collared shirt, a red tie, a white and blue striped jacket, yellow and red striped pants, and black shoes, sits on a wooden chair and examines a blue box of Dixon’s in his hands. Beside him another man, balding with tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and a white beard and attired in a red jacket and blue striped pants, kneels down and carries a brush in his right hand. Behind them two men sit on chairs and an additional nine men stand and listen to Brother Gardner. In the background, the wall reads, “Lime Kiln Club, Paradise Hall.” A horseshoe and framed prints that read “Beautify your homes” and “Rules of the Lime Kiln Club” hang on the wall. In the center is a large, black stove., The African American "Lime Kiln Club" caricatures originally were devised by Charles Bertrand Lewis (i.e., M. Quad) in the Detroit Free Press. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, established by Joseph Dixon in Salem, Mass. in 1827, produced graphite pencils, crucibles and stove polish, and relocated to Jersey City, N.J. in 1847. In 1868, the firm name changed from Joseph Dixon & Co. to the Jos. Dixon Crucible Co. In 1870 the firm won a trademark case against a Philadelphia competitor selling J.C. Dixon Stove Polish., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1886., Advertising text printed on verso: The Lime Kiln Club, Brother Gardner in the Chair. “Dis Club hab ebery reason to be proud of de Stove Committee. We has tried all de other stove polishes. We has been stunk out wid so-called peperahuns and seen de piping rust to pieces, till de stove-pipe wus a tumbled down disgrace to de good name of de Lime Kiln Club. De honah of dis occashun belongs to Brudder Shindig, who has made a name for hisself, by introducing Dixon’s Big cake of Stove Polish, and has covered hisself wid shine. Stand up, Brudder Shindig, and let us gaze upon your countenance. Now, my frens, let us draw a lesson from dis: Seek and find out for yerselves, and when you’s got a good ting stick to it, so dat, like DIXON’S STOVE POLISH, you may not only be a use to de community in which yer libes, but a shining example for de rest of mankind. “De club owes a vote of thanks to de Stove Committee, an’ to Brudder Shindig in particular, an’ extend de heartfelt thanks of de Lime Kiln Club to DIXONS for de valuable addition to de comfits of dis life through their CARBURET OF IRON STOVE POLISH. Wid one drawback, Brudder Shindig—you orer haf found dis outen befo’ for de DIXON’S STOVE POLISH has bin in de market SINCE 1827,--58 YEARS.” (Signed) No. 1. Bro. Gardner, 2. Old Man Jenkins, 3. Bro. Shindig, 4. Give-A-Dam Jones, 6. Sundown Davis, No. 7. Accordingly Davis, 8. Stepoff Johnson, 9. Trustee Pullback, 10. Sickles Smith, 11. Sir Isaac Walpole, 12. Layback Jones, Committee., Advertising text printed on verso: Fifty-eight years in market! The oldest, the best, the neatest, the quickest. Ask your dealer for Dixon's Stove Polish. Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J. Illustration showing a box of "Dixon's Prepared Carburet of Iron (Trademark) For Polishing Stoves, Grates, Ranges, and Every Kind of Cast and Sheet Iron work.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1886
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *trade card - J [P.2012.54.2]

Title: "I'm a farder"
Description: Set of four collecting cards depicting racist caricatures of African Americans to satirize fatherhood and the question of paternity. Titles are in the vernacular. Includes "I'm a Farder" showing a dapperly-dressed African American man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red tie, a gray waistcoat, a blue jacket, and blue-and-white striped pants. He talks to his "Aunty," an African American woman, attired in a red and yellow head kerchief, hoop earrings, a green and red shawl, a red dress, and a white apron, and holding her hands to her chest; "Aunty Says Der Am Two" showing the man with a sheepish look and his hands in his pockets while "Aunty" smiles; "And Dat One Am kinder White" showing the man aghast and standing straight up as "Aunty" holds out her hands in a near gesture of comfort; and "If Dat Chile Dont Change Color Der'l Be Trouble in Dis Yer Fam'ly" showing the man forlorn, hands in pockets, and looking down at this two infants being held by "Aunty" in her lap, while she sits in a chair under a placard reading "Bless Our Home." The baby in the left has a dark skin tone, and the baby in the right has a light skin tone., Copyrighted., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Purchase 2012., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.23.1-4]

Title: Mrs. Lena Mason's Chautauqua meetings, Aug. 1st - Sept. Phila, Pa
Description: Postcard showing an African American Chautauqua meeting. Depicts African American men, women, and children gathered near several tents. In the foreground, an African American woman and man, possibly Mrs. and Mr. Mason, stand and look at the viewer next to a wooden chair with a hat on top of it. Chautauqua meetings, developed from the Lyceum Movement, were traveling tent shows providing education and entertainment to early 20th-century audiences., Title and date from item., Photographic paper company's imprint on verso: Mermont Photo Paper Co., New York., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitized with funding from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: 1908
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Events [P.9933.9]

Title: The Wesleyan Female Collegiate Institute, Wilmington, Del
Description: Exterior view showing the buildings and grounds. Two female students stand on the balcony, one reading a book. Two younger girls play in the yard below, one jumping rope and the other playing rings. Several white men and women pedestrians stroll before the front gate. In the street, an African American coachman stands beside a horse-drawn carriage., Title from item., Date inferred from content., See Weaver's diary for April 18, May 11, 12, 23 and 28, 1842 for references to his work on this print., Gwinczewski, a Wilmington artist and drawing instructor, served as teacher of perspective, drawing, painting, &c. at the Institute., Purchased 1972., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Weaver, Matthias S., 1815 or 16-1847, lithographer
Date: [1842]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Education [8035.F.3]

Title: Girard-college
Description: View of Girard College at Girard Avenue facing northwest from Corinthian Avenue including Founder's Hall and the eastern and western outbuildings. Street scene in the foreground includes an omnibus drawn by a team of six horses, a man on horseback, and a carriage. Elegantly dressed men, women, children, and couples stroll, and an African American man leans against a pole smoking a pipe. The college buildings, designed by Philadelphia architect Thomas Ustick Walter in the Greek Revival style, were constructed 1833-1847. Girard College was established through a bequest from Stephen Girard, a Philadelphia financier and philanthropist, for the creation of a school for "poor white orphans.", Title from item., Copyrighted by Augustus Kollner in New York., Plate 9 of series of fifty-four views published by Goupil, Vibert and Company from 1848 to 1851 that were drawn by Kollner and lithographed by Deroy, and later bound under the title "Views of American Cities.", Philadelphia on Stone, POS 316, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Deroy, Laurent, 1797-1886, lithographer
Date: 1848
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Education [P.2283.23]

Title: Girard-college
Description: View of Girard College at Girard Avenue facing northwest from Corinthian Avenue including Founder's Hall and the eastern and western outbuildings. Street scene in the foreground includes an omnibus drawn by a team of six horses, a man on horseback, and a carriage. Elegantly dressed men, women, children, and couples stroll, and an African American man leans against a pole smoking a pipe. The college buildings, designed by Philadelphia architect Thomas Ustick Walter in the Greek Revival style, were constructed 1833-1847. Girard College was established through a bequest from Stephen Girard, a Philadelphia financier and philanthropist, for the creation of a school for "poor white orphans.", Title from item., Plate 9 of a series of fifty-four views published by Goupil, Vibert & Company from 1848 to 1851 that were drawn by Kollner and lithographed by Deroy, and later bound under the title "Views of American Cities.", Philadelphia on Stone, POS 305, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Deroy, Laurent, 1797-1886, lithographer
Date: [1848]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Education [P.2283.15]

Title: Arch Street ferry, Philadelphia
Description: View of the Arch Street ferry terminal on the Delaware River. Depicts Philadelphia's busy waterfront and includes sailing ships, warehouses, bartering merchants, and dock workers weighing, as well as loading, barrels and bundles of produce onto carts. Others, including white women, are fishing and looking out onto the river. To the far left of an unoccupied dock, dock workers, including an African American man, move large bundles. At the turn of the 19th century ferries were the main source of transportation to Southern New Jersey. New Jersey provided much of the fresh produce sold at Philadelphia markets., Inscribed: 1., Title from item., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000), pl. 4., Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834, engraver
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 4c/P.2276.7]

Title: High Street, from Ninth Street. Philadelphia
Description: View of High (Market) Street from Ninth depicting a detachment of the First City Troop of Philadelphia drilling on horseback. The troop promenades up the busy street where several horse-drawn carts and a dray travel and several pedestrians, including an African American man and boy (in the right), watch the guard and/or stroll the tree-lined sidewalks. A market shed is seen in the distance. The First City Troop, one of the oldest continually mounted U.S. military units, was organized in 1774 to defend against British invasion. The troop used a variety of arenas to perform drills including circuses, riding schools, and various public grounds., Title from item., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982), pl. 12., Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: W. Birch & Son
Date: 1799
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 12/P.2276.24]

Title: New market, in South Second Street Philadelphia
Description: Street scene with a view of the New Market shed on South Second Street. Depicts a group of men, women, and children with a dog, possibly a procession of a butcher's trade association, gathered across from the shed and by a bull decorated with garlands of flowers. An African American man fiddle player entertains the group as an African American boy and a dog runs toward them. Attached to the back of the shed is the fire engine house with cupola, known as the "headhouse." The New Market, erected about 1745, was created following a petition by the growing population of South Philadelphia residents who found it a hardship to cross Dock Creek to reach the High Street Market. The shed was razed in 1956 and rebuilt in 1963., Title from item., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982), pl. 16., Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: W. Birch & Son
Date: 1799
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 16/P.2276.35]

Title: Jno. W. Holm
Description: Bust-length portrait of the African American minister of the New School Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. Holm, attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, waistcoat, and jacket, faces slightly left. Holm, a former resident of Liberia, was an alumnus of the Presbyterian-sponsored Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University, the first school of higher education in science and arts for Black men, founded in Oxford, Pennsylvania in 1854., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from presented age of the sitter., Probably published in "Presbyterian Magazine," the Philadelphia periodical published by Wilson., Wilson, a Philadelphia publisher and bookseller, published the "Presbyterian Magazine" from 1851 until 1860., Originally part of a McAllister Scrapbook of portraits. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Sartain, Samuel, 1830-1906, engraver
Date: [ca. 1858]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait Prints-H [(2)5750.F.31d]

Title: The battle ground at Germantown. Cliveden or Chew's House
Description: Periodical illustration depicting the colonial residence built 1763-1767 by master carpenter Jacob Knor for Philadelphia attorney Benjamin Chew at 6401 Germantown Avenue. On the grounds in the foreground, a white boy stands beside a chair and exchanges a book with an African American man. Benjamin Chew owned property from Delaware to Maryland, including plantations that enslaved people. Chew House, also known as Cliveden, was the site of the turning point in the Battle of Germantown in 1777. The Chew family enslaved people of African descent in the city of Philadelphia and in Germantown during the 18th and 19th centuries. The estate was the Chew family residence until 1972 when it was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation., Title from item., Plate from: Godey's magazine and lady's book, December, 1844. (LCP Per G 43)., Smith, a prominent Philadelphia landscape painter and friend of Godey's publisher, Louis A. Godey, had several of his Philadelphia and Pittsburgh views engraved for the 1844 issues of the periodical. Smith's painting, Chew House, Germantown, is in the collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Dick, Archibald L., approximately 1805-approximately 1855, engraver
Date: [December 1844]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department PhPr - 11x14 - Residences [(7)1322.F.12b]

Title: Mr. Chew's house
Description: Restrike of an Archibald Dick engraving after the work of Philadelphia artist Russell Smith which originally appeared in the December 1844 edition of Godey's lady book. Exterior view of the colonial residence built 1763-1767 by master carpenter Jacob Knor for Philadelphia attorney Benjamin Chew at 6401 Germantown Avenue. On the grounds in the foreground, a white boy stands beside a chair and exchanges a book with an African American man. Chew House, also known as Cliveden, was the site of the turning point in the Battle of Germantown in 1777. The Chew family enslaved people of African descent in the city of Philadelphia and in Germantown during the 18th and 19th centuries. The estate was the Chew family residence until 1972 when it was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation., Title from item., Smith, a prominent Philadelphia landscape painter and friend of Godey's lady book publisher, Louis A. Godey, had several of his Philadelphia and Pittsburgh views engraved for the 1844 issues of the periodical., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department PhPr - 11x14 - Residences - Chew [(7)1322.F.13]

Title: Ledger carriers annual greeting 1862 Girard College (Philadelphia)
Description: View of Girard College at Girard Avenue facing northwest from Corinthian Avenue including Founder's Hall and the eastern and western outbuildings. Street scene in the foreground includes a streetcar drawn by a team of six horses; elegantly dressed white pedestrians strolling, including men and women couples; and an African American man leaning against a pole smoking a pipe. The college buildings, designed by Philadelphia architect Thomas Ustick Walter in the Greek Revival style, were constructed from 1833-1847. Girard College was established through a bequest from Stephen Girard, a Philadelphia financier and philanthropist, for the creation of a school for poor white male orphans., Title from item., After drawing by Augustus Kollner published as plate 9 of a series of fifty-four lithographs executed by Isidore Laurent Deroy issued as a bound volume in New York and Paris by Goupil, Vibert and Company from 1848 to 1851 under the title "Views of American Cities.", Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *PhPr - Education - Girard [1883.F.182]

Title: The conflagration of the Masonic Hall Chesnut Street Philadelphia. Which occured on the night of the 9th of March 1819 This plate is respectfully dedicated to the active and much esteemed fire engine & hose companies, by their obed't serv'ts S. Kennedy and S.S. West
Description: Reissue of the print after a commemorative painting of the hall on fire by Samuel Jones at the request of the publishers with added figures by the prominent Philadelphia genre painter, John Lewis Krimmel. View depicts several volunteer firefighters hosing the flame-engulfed tower of the majestic hall, erected in 1811, purportedly after the design of William Strickland. A large frenzied crowd, including African Americans and well-dressed men and women couples, gather on the street. Spectators push, shove, are knocked down, and watch the fire in horror. Residents flee with their belongings as firefighters blow horns and transport a handpump. The fire started by a faulty flue destroyed the building, which after several successful masonic charity events was rebuilt, without a tower, in 1820 under the direction of Strickland., Title from item., Third state., Inscribed below image: Copy right secured., Samuel Kennedy and Samuel West were members and official print publishers for the Association of American Artists, later headed by Krimmel., Barber, a Philadelphia printer, artist, and engraver, was in business from 1867 until 1885., See Anneliese Harding's John Lewis Krimmel. Genre artist of the early Republic. (Winterthur, Delaware: The Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum, 1997), p. 206-208., See Milo Naeve's John Lewis Krimmel: An artist in Federal America. (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1987), p. 109., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America #30., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Hill, John, 1770-1850, engraver
Date: [ca. 1876]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **PhPr - Associations - Masonic Hall [P.9210.5]

Title: Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philada Founded in 1794 by the Revd. Richard Allen, Bishop of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Rebuilt in 1805
Description: Exterior view of the rough cast second edifice of the African American church at 125 South 6th Street. Pedestrians and church attendees, predominately women, stroll the sidewalk and enter the house of worship adorned with a simple stone tablet inscribed, "Bethel Church." Known as "Mother Bethel," the church was formed from African American congregants discriminated against by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 1805 building, the site of the first convention of the Unified African Methodist Episcopal Church, stood until 1841 when a third building was erected on the site., Title from item., Kennedy and Lucas, operated by David Kennedy and William B. Lucas, printed the city's first commercial lithographs, a series of church subjects drawn by W.L. Breton, probably including "Mother Bethel.", Philadelphia on Stone, POS 39, Wainwright retrospective conversion project, edited., Description revised 2021., Accessioned 1965., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Breton, William L., artist
Date: July 1829
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department W26 [7500.F]

Title: Terrible conflagration and destruction of the steam-boat "New Jersey," On the River Delaware, opposite Philadelphia, on the night of Saturday, March 15th, 1856, between 8 and 9 o'clock, by which dreadful calamity sixty-one lives were lost. Names of all on board
Description: Dramatic view of the steamboat engulfed in flames and smoke, the captain still at the helm as the passengers escape into the icy river. Panicked-looking passengers jump into the water already teeming with disaster victims, including an African American man, who thrash, swim, and attempt to stay upon and assist others onto cakes of ice, debris, and a single rowboat. Rescuers from the nearby wharf, including firemen, work in a frantic manner and desperately throw a rope to a white woman standing on an ice floe. Also shows a horse on the fire engulfed deck and a white woman propelled by a flame off of the rear of the boat. A sign for "Baths" is visible on the riverbank in the background. Contains the names of the 107 white and "colored" dead, missing, and saved passengers in three columns below the image. Captained by Ebenezer Corson, the "New Jersey," on mid-voyage to Camden from Philadelphia via an alternate elongated route due to heavy ice, caught fire as a result of defective boilers, a fireplace, and brick work. With the fire spreading rapidly, Corson retreated to Arch Street Wharf in Philadelphia, and came within thirty feet of the pier when the pilot house collapsed leaving the boat unmanned and out of control. Corson survived by leaping ashore before the uncontrolled ship drifted back out on the river., Title from item., Date supplied by Wainwright., Copyrighted by A. Pharazin., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 744, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *W478 [P.2252]

Title: City Marble Works and Steam Mantel Factory. Corner Tenth and Vine Streets Philadelphia. J.E. & B. Schell
Description: Advertisement depicting a corner view of the three-building showroom and factory operated by the Schells from 1853 until 1856. J.E. Schell continued the business as J.E. Schell & Company starting in 1857. On Tenth Street, patrons enter the four-story storefront and mantle room adorned with signage and statuary displayed on a second floor veranda. At the corner, a coach waits, the disembarked African American man driver standing at the ready. On Vine Street, behind the showroom, a family of passerby admire the marble statuary, monuments, and headstones in the factory's fenced-in yard. White men factory laborers load a headstone onto a horse-drawn cart, inspect open crates lining the street, and review slabs of marble outside the factory's storage building. Partial views of adjacent buildings and the "10th" Street carriage are visible., Title from item., Although Wainwright suggests date of publication as circa 1855, date of circa 1854 is used since Rease relocated to the new business address of 97 Chestnut Street as of 1855., Text printed on recto: Having greatly improved their facilities for the Manufacture of every variety of Marble Works embracing the best styles of Mantels, Table Tops, Flooring, Tombs and Monuments, are prepared to supply all orders upon reasonable terms., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 134, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Rease, a prominent mid-19th century Philadelphia trade card lithographer known to highlight details of human interest in his advertisements, partnered with Francis H. Schell in the 1850s and eventually operated his own press until around 1872.
Creator: Rease & Schell, artist
Date: [ca. 1854]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **W71 [P.2032]

Title: Commissioners Hall, Northern Liberties, Phila
Description: Exterior winter view of the hall as it looked on February 22, 1852, with adjoining fenced property, adorned with an American flag, and containing the district's police station and Mayor's office, on the busy, snow covered Third Street between Buttonwood and Green streets. Several warmly dressed white pedestrians, hall officials, and a policeman mill about and converse on the sidewalk; white children throw snowballs and play with a sled; horse-drawn sleighs pass by; white men shovel snow off the street and hall steps; and an African American man carrying a basket of celery and a dead goose stops in the street and looks behind him and toward the passing sled. A broadside inscribed, "Washington, 22nd Feb. 1852" adorns a nearby building. Prior to the city's consolidation with bordering townships in 1854, neighborhoods maintained and housed their own police stations, mayors, and other government officials in Commissioners Halls, including Northern Liberties. Built in 1814, the Northern Liberties' hall served as the quarters of the Northern Liberty Barracks until the American Revolution, and was torn down circa 1869 for the erection of Northern Liberties Grammar School., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Wainwright., Reproduced in Edwin Wolf's Philadelphia: Portrait of an American city (Philadelphia: Camino Books in cooperation with the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1990), p. 199. Incorrectly identified as Commissioners Hall, Spring Garden., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 151, Print described in Public Ledger, July 1, 1853., Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Kuchel, Charles Conrad, 1820-, artist
Date: [1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **W79 [P.2034]

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