Artifacts of
Assassination![Contents of Lincoln's pockets](Artifacts of Assassination (Memory) American Treasures of the Library of Congress_files/tm012-th.jpeg)
|
When Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in
Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, he was carrying two pairs of
spectacles and a lens polisher, a pocketknife, a watch fob, a linen
handkerchief, and a brown leather wallet containing a five-dollar
Confederate note and nine newspaper clippings, including several
favorable to the president and his policies. Given to his son Robert
Todd upon Lincoln's death, these everyday items, which through
association with tragedy had become like relics, were kept in the
Lincoln family for more than seventy years. They came to the Library
in 1937 as part of the gift from Lincoln's granddaughter, Mary
Lincoln Isham, whose gift included several books and daguerreotypes,
a silver inkstand, and Mary Todd Lincoln's seed-pearl necklace and
matching bracelets.
It is quite unusual for the Library to keep
personal artifacts among its holdings, and they were not put on
display until 1976, when then Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin
thought their exposure would humanize a man who had become
"mythologically engulfed." But the availability of these artifacts
has only piqued interest in the Lincoln myth--the contents of
Lincoln's pockets are among the items visitors to the Library most
often ask to see.
One of the most complete representations of
conspiracy literature as well as newspaper accounts of the
assassination, like that in the New York Times pictured
here, was assembled by Alfred Whital Stern. The most extensive
collection of Lincolniana ever assembled by a private individual,
Stern's important gift to the Library in 1953 included books,
broadsides, paintings, photographs, medals, manuscripts, and
memorabilia.
Additional Views:
|