Soldiers memorial. 4th Regiment. Company F. U.S. Col. Troops [graphic] : Mustered into the United States Service at Baltimore, Md., Aug. 4, 1863, by Col. Wm. Birney.
Title
Soldiers memorial. 4th Regiment. Company F. U.S. Col. Troops Mustered into the United States Service at Baltimore, Md., Aug. 4, 1863, by Col. Wm. Birney
Description
Stock commemorative certificate with some variations for the African American 4th Regiment, Company F troop and containing a montage of allegorical and battle scenes, patriotic motifs, and soldier vignettes above the printed names of 4th Regiment Privates, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals, and Field and Staff Officers. The allegorical scene depicts the female figure of Columbia, resting upon an American shield and seated next to an American eagle that looks down on a snake it clutches under its claws. Columbia holds her head with her left hand and the "Constitution of the United States" down between her knees in the other. She is portrayed as a white woman with long dark hair, wearing a gold headpiece and white veil, and attired in a dress with a blue bodice, red skirt, and white sleeves and collar. Surrounding the central scene (counterclockwise) are views of white Union soldiers at battle and firing cannons near a harbor and across from Union forts displaying American flags; a departing white Union solder embracing his wife in front of his family, an older woman holding her grandchild, his crying son, and their dog, outside of their home in the countryside as troops march in the distance; white Union cavalry corps charging during battle; the previously depicted white Union soldier returning home, shown in mid stride and holding his cap in the air as his family heads toward him with their arms out; and white Union soldiers, with a cannon, and at battle near a trench. The scene and views within the montage are bordered and framed by portraits of George Washington, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson and pictorial details of American flags, flowers, and filigree., Pictorial details surrounding the names of the soldiers in the lower half of the print include outer columns composed of marble and wood trunks with one unsplit and adorned with the placard "United We Stand" and another split with stakes and adorned with the placard "Divided we fall; inner columns wrapped within the American flag; medallions depicted with red, white, and blue stripes and stars; and images of the American eagle atop an American shield that is adorned with a banner reading "E Pluribus Unum." A. Hoen & Co. printed several slightly variant copies of the Soldiers Memorial in 1866, to commemorate different regiments and with different publishers. In the upper half of the print, the montage imagery remained the same, and in the lower half of the print, the imagery for and near the columns was altered in addition to the printed names of the officers and soldiers and their placement between the columns. The 4th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry was organized in Maryland, July 15-September 1, 1863. The African American unit saw action in Virginia and North Carolina before being mustered out May 4, 1866 after the designation change to 76th U.S. Colored Troops on April 4, 1864. The Regiment lost nearly 300 officers and enlisted men while in service., Title from item., Name of publisher from publication statement: Published at Baltimore by Jos. L. Kessler., Date inferred from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863 by Whitney & Anderson in Dist. C. of Md., Purchased with Louise Marshall Kelly Fund.
Date
[ca. 1863]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Certificates [P.2022.28.2]
Masonic memorial [graphic] / Ch. Inger, del.
Title
Masonic memorial
Description
Commemorative, fictionalized group portrait print depicting “seventy-seven Masonic Brethren, Signers of the Declaration of American Independence and other Distinguished Members of the “Masonic Fraternity” in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall. Shows three rows of Brethren (“Distinguished Dead” and “immortal”) within the paneled wall room of the historic site being used as an exhibit gallery. At the center of the first row stands “Father of his Country” George Washington, his left hand on his hip, and wearing a masonic apron adorned with Masonic symbols. Nearest him to the left, also in masonic, but undecorated, aprons, stand Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Other figures in undecorated aprons in the front row include (left to right) James Buchanan; Marquise de Lafayette; Bishop William White; Andrew Jackson; and Henry Clay. Some of the men hold hats or scrolls, while others hold their hands together, or cross their arms. Other figures in the further rows include Stephen Girard, Stephen A. Douglas, and John C. Breckenridge. In the background, framed artwork, predominately from the Charles Willson Peale portrait collection; Henry Inman's portrait painting of William Penn (left); Thomas Sully's portrait painting of Lafayette (right) line the walls. Background also includes in the far right, the Liberty Bell upon which a stuffed bald eagle sits (installed 1852) and, in the center, a bronze eagle elevated above the partially visible wood statue of George Washington (carved 1815 by William Rush, installed 1824)., Title from from promotional pamphlet held in collections [Am 1860 Pheni 54390.O.13]. Pamphlet also lists the names of many of the sitters in image., Publication information from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860 by Thomas Phenix in the Clerk's Office of the Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Gift of David Doret, 2011.
Creator
Inger, Christian, artist
Date
1860
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **group portrait prints - Masons [P.2011.45.10]