History Commons^™

Art, Artifact, Archive: African American Experiences In The Nineteenth Century, Shannon Egan, Lauren H. Roedner, Diane Brennan, Maura B. Conley, Abigail B. Conner, Nicole A. Conte, Victoria Perez-Zetune, Savannah Rose, Kaylyn L. Sawyer, Caroline M. Wood, Zoe C. Yeoh

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Angelo Scarlato’s extraordinary and vast collection of art and artifacts related to the Civil War, and specifically to the Battle of Gettysburg, the United States Colored Troops, slavery and the African American struggle for emancipation, citizenship and freedom has proved to be an extraordinary resource for Gettysburg College students. The 2012-14 exhibition in Musselman Library’s Special Collections, curated by Lauren Roedner ’13, entitled Slaves, Soldiers, Citizens: African American Artifacts of the Civil War Era and its corresponding catalogue provided a powerful and comprehensive historical narrative of the period.

This fall, students in my course at Gettysburg College “Art and Public …

Slaves, Soldiers, Citizens: African American Artifacts Of The Civil War Era, Lauren H. Roedner, Angelo Scarlato, Scott Hancock, Jordan G. Cinderich, Tricia M. Runzel, Avery C. Lentz, Brian D. Johnson, Lincoln M. Fitch, Michele B. Seabrook

Other Exhibits & Events

Based on the exhibit Slaves, Soldiers, Citizens: African American Artifacts of the Civil War Era, this book provides the full experience of the exhibit, which was on display in Special Collections at Musselman Library November 2012- December 2013. It also includes several student essays based on specific artifacts that were part of the exhibit.

Table of Contents:

Introduction Angelo Scarlato, Lauren Roedner ’13 & Scott Hancock

Slave Collars & Runaways: Punishment for Rebellious Slaves Jordan Cinderich ’14

Chancery Sale Poster & Auctioneer’s Coin: The Lucrative Business of Slavery Tricia Runzel ’13

Isaac J. Winters: An African American Soldier from Pennsylvania …

Glenn Ligon: Narratives, Shannon Egan, Kimberly Rae Connor

Schmucker Art Catalogs

The exhibition on display at Schmucker Art Gallery, a suite of nine prints entitled Narratives by prominent contemporary artist Glenn Ligon, has been made possible by a generous gift to Gettysburg College by Dr. Kimberly Rae Connor ’79. Ligon’s works have been exhibited widely at major museums, and Gettysburg College is fortunate to have the opportunity to engage with work that examines issues of race, sexuality, history and representation. The artist is well known for his use of quotations and texts from a variety of literary writers and cultural critics such as James Baldwin, Frantz Fanon, bell hooks and Ralph …

Ms-063: Melancthon E. Washburn Family Collection, Stephen H. Light

All Finding Aids

The Melancthon E. Washburn Papers consist primarily of correspondence between Washburn and his family members during the Civil War period. While the letters date anywhere from 1857 to 1883, most of them fall into the 1861 to 1865 time frame. The collection also consists of a wide range of miscellaneous items, including newspaper clippings collected into scrapbooks, the diary of Melancthon’s son William Washburn, wedding invitations, Confederate bonds and currency, and a public broadside advertising a slave auction.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include …

The Lincoln Enigma: The Changing Faces Of An American Icon, Gabor Boritt

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Nearly a century and a half after his death, Abraham Lincoln remains an intrinsic part of the American consciousness, yet his intentions as president and his personal character continue to stir debate.

Now, in The Lincoln Enigma, Gabor Boritt invites renowned Lincoln scholars, and rising new voices, to take a look at much-debated aspects of Lincoln's life, including his possible gay relationships, his plan to send blacks back to Africa, and his high-handed treatment of the Constitution. Boritt explores Lincoln's proposals that looked to a lily-white America. Jean Baker marvels at Lincoln's loves and marriage. David Herbert Donald highlights …

Notes From Fragments Of The Past: Historical Sketches Of Oley And Vicinity, Alfred L. Shoemaker

Alfred L. Shoemaker Folk Cultural Documents

Handwritten notes copied from the unpublished volume Fragments of the Past: Historical Sketches of Oley and Vicinity by P. G. Bertolet, compiled by Alfred L. Shoemaker, originally dated 1860. Within, a number of stories collected from the Oley Valley detail various subjects including encounters with Native Americans, churches, rock formations, Revolutionary War encampments and husking parties.

The Voice Of The Phi Sigma -- 1887 -- Vol. 09, No. 06, Phi Sigma

The Voice of the Phi Sigma

This item is part of the Phi Sigma collection at the College Archives & Special Collections department of Columbia College Chicago. Contact archives@colum.edu for more information and to view the collection.

Letter From Delphina E. Mendenhall To John L. Ham, February 1, 1879, Delphina E. Mendenhall

Paul W. Bean Civil War Papers

Letter from Delphina E. Mendenhall to John L. Ham, February 1, 1879. Delphina wrote to John Ham as an attempt to rekindle an old friendship made during the bitterest months of the war when he was released with a few other prisoners from the Salisbury, North Carolina prison camp around the time General Sherman made his march through there.Due to the state of affairs both before and during the war she and her husband were one of the few slave owners that attempted to emancipate their slaves before the war, and she mentioned that of those former slaves several went …

Letter From Jacob G. Armstrong To W.G. Spencer, Jacob G. Armstrong

Harvey Collection Letters

Jacob updates the Spencer family on Thomas's activity, considers military strategy and Ambrose Burnside; describes the wool business in relation to a cotton shortage

Letter From Robert Hanson To Francis P. Porter, Robert Hanson

Harvey Collection Letters

After routing Rebels at Holly Springs, Robert writes the Brigade is in high spirits in La Grange. He considers the community of freed men near Grand Junction. The 78th has not paid its soldiers in 5 months and holiday furloughs are not likely.

Letter From W.G. Spencer To Armstrong Family, W.G. Spencer

Harvey Collection Letters

W.G. Spencer sends condolences to the Armstrongs regarding Wilbur's death and news about his family; anxieties about the war

Runaway Slave Broadside From Clay County, Missouri, Dated July 14, 1860., Gideon Thompson

Documents Related to Slavery

RANAWAY

FROM the residence of the undersigned, one mile north of Barry, Clay county, Mis- souri, on the night of the 13th inst., a mulatto negro girl named

VERCILLA,

aged about 17 years, weighs about 135 lbs., and has a scar on her left jaw. ..A liberal reward will be given for the delivery of said negro girl to me, or her confinement so that I can get her

GIDEON THOMPSON. Clay Co., Mo., July 14, 1860.

Sworn Oath To Not Provide Liquor To Slaves; Liquor License., B. H. Teague, Aiken, Barnwell District, South Carolina

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

John F. Cutter attests to not provide or sell liquor to any slaves. Aiken, Barnwell District, South Carolina, 1859.

Receipt For Sale Of Permelia, A Woman. January 24, 1859., A. M. Holland, John Susan

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Receipt "for a Negro Woman named Permelia," 21, from John Susan (name unclear) to A.M. Holland for "eleven hundred dollars" ($1100 USD), January 24, 1859. Location not stated.

Slave Trade Ledger Of William James Smith, 1844-1854, William James Smith

Local History

This ledger meticulously details the prices paid and received for scores of human beings (as slaves; only first names are recorded), as well as the expenses incurred by Smith in undertaking this business venture, such as feeding, clothing, sheltering, and nursing the people he purchased and sold. The details of the book illustrate that Smith took several "trips" between 1844 and 1854 to buy and sell slaves: detailed records of purchases and sales of "Negroes" exist for all of the years between 1844 and 1854. The listing of expenses for the year of 1844 (the most complete account) indicate that …

Liquor License, Barnwell District, South Carolina, August 21, 1841., Barnwell District, South Carolina

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

In which the licensee, William Robertson Jr., swears to not "sell give exchange barter" liquor to any slaves. Signed by C.A. Scott.

List Of Slaves, Including Their Ages, At Spring Garden Plantation, Florida, 1829., Spring Garden Plantation

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

This item is a list of over 80 "negroes" — slaves of African descent — at Spring Garden, a plantation in present-day DeLeon Springs State Park, Florida. The list notes the first names of slaves and their ages. Annotations indicate occupations and work assignments, family units, and if individuals were sent to Charleston or sold locally. The meaning of some annotations are unclear or at least not explicit, such as small circles next to females' names. Annotations indicate this list was used as reference more than once. One pair of twins is noted as are several infants. Reference to the …

Deed Of Sale For Seven People (As Slaves) Sold By William O'Neale To John Henry Eaton, Washington, D.C., April 10, 1823., William O'Neale, John Henry Eaton

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

This deed or receipt acknowledges the exchange of $800 for seven slaves: Betsy Baker, 55; Nelly, 36 and her son Jim, 12 and daughter Jane, 7; Henney, 40, and her son Washington, 5; and Polly Quander, 21.

Letter From Josiah Masters To John Reade About A Slave Man Named Dick He (Masters) Wishes To Sell. New York, 1796., Josiah Masters

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Masters writes to Reade that Dick "has been somewhat uneasy with me, the first cause [was] my separating his wench from him.

"The lowest price is one hundred pounds."

Addressed to Reade in Poughkeepsie, NY.