Sketches for the Washington Races in October 1840
Title
Sketches for the Washington Races in October 1840 British steeds of your speed I have not a doubt, but if Yankees an't stouter they are as stout, a black jock, in looks so much like a monkey, rides a good horse as an ape rides a donkey
Description
Portfolio containing three prints depicting African American men jockeys, portrayed in racist caricature, speaking in the vernacular, and attired in long underwear, during key moments from a two-mile heat at the Washington Race Course in Charleston, South Carolina. Pl. 1 shows the beginning of the race with three jockeys reigning in and spurring on their horses. Caption reads: At the tap of the drum they jump off from the stand, Be the track deep in mud or heavy with sand, At a pace which at once makes fast ones extend, An e'en the best winded cry bellows to mend. Pl. 2 shows two jockeys racing past a fence as one prepares to whip his mount that trails behind. Caption reads: And now they have reach'd the third mile, second heat, The mare is still going, the horse is dead beat; Say Sambo "Me know how Mass him do it, so me gib him de whip, and make him stick to it." Pl. 3 shows the horse previously in the lead winning the race in a stagger by the judge's stand filled with well-dressed gentlemen. The other jockey races in from behind. Caption reads: Now the Winner comes in decidely blown, Tho 'ere two miles were done the race was her own, but they go the whole hog in this western clime, When they've beaten the field they run against time. The Washington Race Course, also known as the Charleston Race Course, was developed by 1792 and served as the one-mile track for the South Carolina Jockey club annual one-week races in early February. The jockeys were usually enslaved men and the races were a series of two, three, and four mile heats run by the same jockeys and horses. The track closed circa 1900., "Eye witness" attributed as conservative British politician Charles Newdigate Newdegate., Inscribed on front cover: the Lord Brook. Sir Richard Henry Greville, 3rd Earl of Warwick was known as Lord Brook in his later years., Plates numbered in upper right corner: Pl. 1; Pl. 2; Pl. 3., 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.
Creator
Newdegate, Charles Newdigate, 1816-1887
Date
[ca. 1840]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2010.8.1-3]
Handicap race presidential stakes 1844. [graphic] /. EWC.
Title
Handicap race presidential stakes 1844
Description
Satire of the presidential election of 1844 depicting the potential candidates; Whig Henry Clay, and Democrats Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, John Calhoun, Richard M. Johnson, and John Tyler on various mounts racing for the White House. Clay riding a racoon leads the pack claiming that no one can overtake him. Van Buren follows riding a fox and holding a weather vane labeled "N" (North) and "S" (South) with the slogans "Free Trade Texas" and "Abolition Oregon" attached. He acknowledges that Lewis Cass is closing in. Cass on his hound gloats that he has finally overtaken the "old fox." Calhoun, positioned fourth, rides a lion with an enslaved African American man and child, portrayed in racist caricature, on his shoulders and bemoans his extra weight. Johnson, on foot and holding a hook, follows Calhoun stating he will "hook on" to whomever gets in. Last is Tyler, who switched political parties, trying to ride the two mounts of the "Loco Foco" (radical Democrats) donkey and the "Whig" horse., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in year 1844 by J. Childs in the Clerk's Office in the District Court of the Southern District of N.Y., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1977, p. 51-52., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African Americans of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
Creator
Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
Date
1844
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-55W [8366.F.36]
The great presidential race of 1856. [graphic]
Title
The great presidential race of 1856
Description
Cartoon ridiculing the Democratic and American (Know-Nothings) Party presidential candidates James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore by depicting them in a race to win the election of 1856. Depicts Buchanan having crashed his mount (i.e, running mate John C. Breckenridge depicted as a buck) into a rickety platform marked "Democratic Platform," Slavery," and "Cuba." An enslaved African American man, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, and wearing shackles on his ankles and worn and torn clothes, shoes, and a hat, stands upon and ridicules the "Democratic Platform." Buchanan angrily replies, "You infernal Black Scoundrel, if it had not been for you and that cursed Slavery Plank that Scared and upset my Buck, I should have won this race certain." Following Buchanan is Fillmore using his running mate Andrew Jackson Donelson, depicted as a goose, as his mount. Fillmore, the American Party candidate, carries a "Know-Nothing" lamp and fears his loss will dissolve the Union. In the distance, the Republican candidate John C. Fremont pulls ahead to the cheers of many of the spectators. Brother Jonathan, (predecessor of Uncle Sam), stands on an observation or judging deck and carries a timer’s watch. Additional spectators include white men belittling Fillmore as "spineless" and a "goose," and a white boy holding a sign inscribed, "We Po'ked Em in 44; We Pierced Em in 52; and We'll 'Buck Em' in 56." He is being hoisted by two African American men, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, upon the back of a gruff and annoyed-looking, bearded, white man asking him if he's a "Fre'mounter.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Political cartoon Horse sassengers! A free lunch lithographed on recto. (political cartoons - 1858 Hor, P.2275.18b)., Accessioned 1979., 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., Magee was a New York cartoonist and lithographer who eventually established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
Creator
Magee, John L., artist
Date
[1856]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1858 Hor (verso) [P.2275.18a]