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]
Reading the Emancipation Proclamation
Title
Reading the Emancipation Proclamation
Description
Print depicting a white Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to families of enslaved African Americans in a cabin. The families are depicted with anxious and solemn mannerisms. Family members surround the officer near a dining table and hearth. An older boy holds a torch providing the officer with light. The father watches over the soldier's shoulder. Other figures, including a "young woman with two children, the house servant of her [enslaver], not belonging to the cabin but happened to be in on the occasion" pray, cheer, and cling to their mothers. Interior also includes a side of bacon hanging next to a ladder, a drying line with cotton balls handing from it above the hearth, and a cradle. Contains portrait of Abraham Lincoln below the image. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, granted African Americans not only their right to freedom but the right to join the Union Army., Title from item., Date from copyright statement., After painting by Henry Walker Herrick exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1865. Exhibited by "possessor" Lucius Stebbins., Publisher and copyright holder Stebbins published complementary pamphlet "Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1864 [sic]" that included "Description of the Engraving." Description: Old man at the right with folded hands, Grand-father; Old lady at the left with cane in hand, Grand-mother; man leaning on ladder, the father; woman with child in her arms, the mother; lad swinging his hat, oldest son; one holding torch, second son; little girl, oldest daughter; infant in the arms of its mother. Young woman with two children, the house servant of her master, not belonging to the cabin but happened to be in on the occasion. Party reading, Union Soldier. The internal view of the Cabin is true to nature. The stone chimney, garret, ladder, side of bacon, rough cradle, piece of sugar cane and cotton balls, &c, all combine to give a correct idea of the slaves' home. Lincoln Financial Foundation copy of pamphlet accessible at Internet Archive., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 44., LCP exhibition catalogue: An African American Miscellany p. 22., Purchase 1993., 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., Lucius Stebbins (1810-1901), born in Massachussets, worked in Hartford, Connecticut, in the businesses of map coloring and subscription book publishing (American Publishing Company).
Creator
Watts, James W., -1895, engraver
Date
1864
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-Emancipation [P.9429]