Imi think of what talking about jen wittenberg. He would find someone to volunteer for a project. Busy people get things done and it. New we were in forc mostwhite has to be the prolific young professor. Won the outstanding faculty award for virginia. He is an active public speaker and a parent of young children. I dont know where john finds the time. Generousn very with our Education Programs to which we are grateful. As you can see from your printed programs, the topics of his varied with a and focus on Abraham Lincoln and legal and constitutional history. He is the coauthor of a book thetled civil education in future of american citizenship. Because he had a few extra minutes, he and ann holloway wrote our monitor. I asked him to speak on a topic i did not put on the printer program. A topic that draws from two other book manuscripts he is currently finishing about Abraham Lincoln and africanamericans. Ladies and gentlemen, jonathan white. [applause] jonathan thank you, john, the introduction. I missed ballet practice to be here not my own. [laughter] im really thrilled to be here. It is the middle of the civil war, early 1863, elizabeth shorter, a black teenager, is living in the capital and working as a servant for a local shoemaker. One night, she went to bed in the store and it was dark. All of a sudden she heard someone come in next to her. She asked who was there and he said, liz, it is me frank. I want to get into bed with you but dont want to tell. She told him to go away but he persevered, put his arms around her neck, and slept with her. That happened on several occasions. When lizzie realized she was pregnant, she told frank. He asked if the baby was his and she confirmed. A baby girl was born november 3, 1863. In may of 1864, frank told lizzie he wanted her to take the child and get out. She replied she would leave if he gave her Financial Support but he refused. When lizzie learned frank was going to kick her out, she decided to confront him in front of his wife. The next morning, lizzie packed up her belongings, dressed her baby, and knocked at the bedroom door. Frank stayed in bed while his wife, who just had a baby of her own, answered the door. Lizzie went in holding her baby and turned to frank and said, look at me, look at the baby, and remember what you have done. Well andplied, here membered abouts Financial Support. She said i will disgrace you on the morrow if he did not supply Financial Support. Peru became angry and turned to his wife saying, do you believe that black bitch . Yes, i do. At that, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a revolver and said i never intended to die a natural death. I will blow your brains out. His wife grabbed the revolver out of his head and said, frank, the murderer of my child. , thtt choked her rew her against the wall and threatened her to get out of his house. Lizzie hurried away. She returned later in the day to get her trunk and when she went back to the house, mrs. Pruitt gave her money. The next morning, a monday at 7 00 a. M. , she went to find a local judge and wanted to file a complaint against pruitt. The judge refused. She went to another judge. Unfortunately when prewitt found out, he decided to act and he had lizzie arrested for grand larceny that same night. Money the wife had given to her was stolen. She spent the rest of the week in jail and was finally released on bail. On june 16, 1864, a judge heard the case against pruitt. Lizzie testified and told her story and its a remarkable moment. Prior to the civil war African Americans were not allowed to testify against whites in state or federal court. We are in the district of columbia. The war changed that. She told her story. Several white witnesses offered their own account of what they had seen or thought happened. The judge decided to acquit prewitt. Sometime around when the trial took place, lizzie posey lizzies baby died. Lizzie went to trial herself. It would have been her babys first birthday. She was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison at the albany penitentiary in new york. The following day she sent a , letter to Abraham Lincoln. She was not able to write it herself. An unknown hand wrote it for her. You can see this is the letter and these are some of the words. The fault was my own for which i was convicted, but i must solemnly declare before my maker i am guilty of no crime. And an people our she gave way to the emperor tended eez of mr. Pruitt and gave birth to his child. She implored lincoln for mercy, informing him the money i am charge for stealing was given to me by mr. Pruitt on condition i would say nothing of the connection between myself and mr. Pruitt. At the end of the letter she x. Ked her name with an as lincoln sat in his Office Reviewing her case file, many thoughts flashed through his mind. His own genealogy had striking similarities to the letter. He believed his own mothers conception was the result of a wealthy planter taking advantage of a poor young girl and lincolns law partner said this was a painful memory for lincoln. Lincoln had strong misgivings about societys standards when it came to premarital sex. That extra marital sex. He thought it was unjust out women received more blame the men. He wrote a poem in the 1830s and these are a few lines from the poem. What ever spiteful fools may say, each jealous, ranting yelp er no woman ever played the , whore, unless she had a man to help her. That one is not on the lincoln memorial. [laughter] prof. White prewitts Sexual Exploitation of elizabeth shorter clearly offended lincolns sense of justice. He felt empathy for the young mother. He knew the grief of losing a child. Considering all the evidence on hand and moved with compassion, lincoln issued a pardon on november 5 before she could be sent to new york for imprisonment. This is what he wrote on the back of her letter. Elizabeth shorters case is probably the fastest pardon he ever issued. She was convicted on november 3, wrote the letter on november 4, and he pardoned her on november 5. All more remarkable is the timing. Three days later lincoln would stand for reelection for his second term in office. The story of elizabeth shorter is important one. Although it is completely unknown today, it confirms lincolns belief that all people deserved a fair hearing and equality before the law. He knew that lizzie shorter had been wronged. He did what he could to rectify the situation. He acted upon principles of equality, regardless of race, color sex, or previous condition of servitude. Recently the New York Times project 1619 has gotten a lot of attention among scholars and the general public. Project aren the doing a Wonderful Service in reminding us of the centrality of race and slavery to the american story, but unfortunately the project introduces distortions of its own. The project presents an incomplete and misleading portrait of lincoln and part of this mischaracterization has to do with the lack of historical context. One of the primary pieces of evidence against lincoln and project 1619 is a meeting lincoln had with a black delegation in august of 1862 in which he sought to persuade five black leaders from washington, d. C. Delete africanamericans out of the country to Central America through a process known as colonization. Its an unfortunate moment that scholars like myself have to deal with. We find lincoln lecturing in a very condescending way. He tells them the wars their fault. If they were not here, we would not be at war and they should leave the country. Taken at face value, its quite pathetic. Yet within the context of the time it makes more sense. Lincoln brought a stenographer to this meeting because he wanted his words to be written down and spread throughout the newspapers immediately. He wanted white americans to read his speech for an important political reason. He had decided to issue an emancipation proclamation but he knew all white, racist northern populist would not be likely to accept it. So he had to prepare them for it and this was part of how he chose to do that. In essence, he was telling white northerners dont worry about emancipation because i will try to persuade people of color to leave the country once they are freed. On the one hand this was a , remarkable moment that demonstrated a great step forward in american race relations. It was the first time in American History a sitting president had invited africanamericans to the white house for a meeting. On the other hand, it was a pr stunt and tremendously condescending towards africanamericans, so much so it had negative impacts on black northerners throughout the north. But lincoln was a masterful politician. Wedge this as an entering so he could introduce something bigger and better in the near future. The emancipation proclamation. William lloyd garrisons newspaper the liberator captured the multiple meetings of the meeting, calling it a spectacle as humiliating as it was extraordinary. Here is the question i want to set up for today. Was this meeting of lincoln with the black delegation typical of his meetings or interactions with africanamericans . Should it be held out as exemplary of his behavior as the New York Times has done. To put it simply, i would argue absolutely not. As early as april of lincoln 1861, began engaging in a way no other president ever had. On april 18, a baltimore mob did a black servant named Nicholas Biddle who was traveling from pennsylvania to washington, d. C. With a regiment of pennsylvania volunteers. Word inshouted, n uniform. He received a horrifying blow to the face from a paving stone that was thrown in his direction. As one of his comrades wrote in his diary, nick biddle had his head cut open to the bone with a stone thrown by one of the secess. They were quartered in the u. S. Capitol. Ofdle latent pain, a pool blood staining the floor where he slept that night. The next day lincoln went to the capital severals secretaries to greet the soldiers. He took each manned by the hand, including Nicholas Biddle. A black chaplain later wrote this. Biddles pain was mixed with pleasure at the capital on april 19 for it was his privilege to be visited by Abraham Lincoln, to be taken by the hand and to receive from the kindly president words of complement and cheer. Until the day he died in 1876, biddle never tired of telling people about he called the supreme hours of his life, the time he was wounded in baltimore and went to washington, d. C. And met Abraham Lincoln. Blackn welcomed his first asked in 1862. They bishop named payne. Daniel payne. They bishop named daniel payne. They had a long conversation, about 45 minutes, in lincolns office. Afterwards, he wrote about it. There was nothing stiff or formal in the air or manner of his excellency. Nothing egotistic. President lincoln received and conversed with me as i had been one of his intimate acquaintances, or one of his family neighbors. I left him with a profound sense of his real greatness and his fitness to ruling nation composed of almost all the races on the face of the globe. The following month in may of 1862, lincoln visited a hospital where a white nurse introduced him to three black cooks who were preparing food for the sick and wounded soldiers. At least one of the three cooks was a former slave. Lincoln greeted the three africanamericans in the kindly tone. How do you do, lucy . He said the first. Lincoln stuck out his long hand in recognition of her services. He shook her hand. Next, lincoln turned to the two black men and gave them a hearty grip and asked them, how do you do . When the president left the room, the three black cooks stood there and the nurse said, they had shining faces that testified to their amazement and joy for all time. Soon she looked around the room and noticed how the white officers were convalescing reacted to the scene. She said that they expressed a feeling of intense discussed and claimed it was a mean, contemptible trick for her to introduce those damn nwords to the president. Fortunately, lincoln paid those races views no mind. He treated black cooks the same way he treated the White Union Soldiers at the hospital. He was grateful to them for their service to the nation and did not alter his behavior towards them simply because white soldiers were looking on in disbelief. Throughout his time at the white house, lincoln welcomed several dozen black visitors. Somewhere famous like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. Most are completely forgotten today. When lincoln met with these black visitors whether they were whether they were famous or not, he always shook their hands and he almost invariably initiated that human contact. We have to put this in context. For lincoln shaking hands was a really tiresome chore because he had to do it all day, every day. Yet, when a black visitor came to his office he always warmly kindly, eagerly, repeatedly , grasped their hands. This small gesture should not be discounted for it carried not only great meeting for his black visitors but important symbolic meaning for white americans you write about these encounters in the newspaper. Most white politicians in the 1860s never would have been willing to be so genuinely welcoming to an africanamerican. Blacks often worked with white performers who displayed racially prejudiced views and treated blacks with paternalistic disrespect. The hortons described in the research Heather White abolitionist and black abolitionists, and the white abolitionists refused to shake hands with black abolitionists. This continued in the postwar period, when the reformers showed racial prejudice. During his president ial run in 1872, Horace Greeley this touring pennsylvania at a black elevation comes up to him and go to shake his hand. He showed great disdain for them , towards them for thinking they ought to be able to shake his hand. Not so with Abraham Lincoln. In fact, lincolns hospitality toward africanamericans was well known during his presidency. Union nurse Mary Livermore wrote, the tip and colored men and women, he bent and special kindness. Another white washingtonian said the good and just heart of Abraham Lincoln prompted him to receive representatives of every class fighting for the union. No we see above shaking black hands. Hands of that color then carried the Stars Stripes or used musket or saber in its defense. Africanamericans took great pride in being able to shake president lincolns hand. Some believed it had near talismanic power. After lincoln was assassinated, Mary Lincoln Dave several gifts to prominent africanamericans like Frederick Douglass and her seamstress mary keckly. They cherished these gifts. As Sojourner Truth explained, it was the same hand that signed the death warrant of slavery. Even 50 years later in 1913, the black poet James Weldon Johnson the 50th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation with these words. Since god through lincolns ready hand struck off our bonds and made us men. In january 1864, four black men decided to push the boundaries and attend a new years reception at the white house, the first time black men would go to the white house in a social way, not as a servant or a slave. People who observed the scene noted that lincoln greeted them in a kindly way, not treating them any different than the white visitors. About a month and a half later, two black Army Surgeons tried to do the same thing. Go to a white house reception. Alexander agusta, here on the left. Augusta had overcome tremendous racial violence in his life. He was born in norfolk, virginia in his family moved to 1825. Baltimore in the i dont know 1830s. Exactly why but i think it was probably in the aftermath of nat turners rebellion. He wanted to attend Jefferson Medical College but was not admitted because of his race. He moved to toronto. Where he attended trinity medical college. In january 1863, he sent a letter to Abraham Lincoln. He was still in canada. He wanted lincoln to know he wanted to serve the nation and his race as a surgeon in the union army. Despite his qualifications, agusta faced intense discrimination in the application process. He traveled from toronto to washington, d. C. To appear before the Army Medical Board in march of 1863 and he was examined by this guy on the left, dr. Meredith clymer. Dr. Clymer expressed, and these are his words, surprise that augusta appeared to be a person of african descent. Agusta explained to the members the board i have come near 1000 , miles a great expense and sacrifice hoping to be of some use to my country and my race in this eventful period, and hope the board will make a favorable view of my case. But the board was unmoved. Dr. Clymer and the Surgeon General William Hammond both wanted the War Department to recall his invitation to appear. Fortunately the secretary of war , Edwin Stanton stepped in and refused to give into their racially motivated request. The first africanamerican he became the first African American to receive an Army Commission in American History. He was commissioned major peer Surgeon General hammond went up to the physician and said i say, how did you come to let the nw ord pass. He said, the fact is he knew more than i did and i could not help myself. Once in uniform, augusta faced awful racial violence and discrimination. He was traveling through baltimore in may of 1863 where he was viciously attacked by a mob. Later he was kicked off the streetcar. He went to the Supreme Court to watch oral arguments and he was not admitted to go in and watch. The officers with whom he served in the seventh u. S. Colored regiment said you need to take away his commission. It is outrageous we are outranked by a black man. Agusta would not allow any of this to stop him. He and his friends approached the white house for a reception. They came dressed in their blue union uniforms. Inside the building they met Benjamin Brown french and they presented french with their cards. These are abbotts words describing the scene. French conducted us with all of the urbanity imaginable to the president he was standing just inside the door. French introduced agusta to president lincoln. According to abbott, mr. Lincoln on seeing agusta advanced eagerly a few paces forward and grasped his hand six paces away, Mary Todd Lincoln was standing, talking to her son robert. He was home from harvard. She sent robert over to the president and lincoln was Still Holding agustas hand. Robert says are you going to allow this innovation . Lincoln turns to his son and says why not . ,nothing more was said between the president and his son, and roberts linked back to his mothers side. Lincoln turned back to agusta and these are anderson abbotts words, and gave his hand a hearty shake. Oke president next sho abbotts hand. People who witnessed the scene were amazed by what they saw. His private secretary said i shall never forget the sensation produced by the appearance of tall and very welldressed africans among the crowd of those who came to pay their respects. It was a practical assertion of need gross citizenship negro citizenship for which you are prepared. Lincoln nevertheless received them with marked kindness, and they went on their way with great self possession. It was as good as a play. Another witness to the scene said no visitor could discover that mr. Lincoln consider them black. They were greeted with the same cordiality and freedom he bestowed upon white men. Lincoln treated the affair as an ordinary currents. Occurrence. Augusta would go on to become the highestranking black commissioned officer of the civil war. He had a number of other impressive firsts in American History. He was the first black doctor to graduate from medical school in british north america, the first commissioned officer in the union army, the first africanamerican to run a in then a United States, the contraband hospital in baltimore. He joined the faculty at Howard University. The following year he received an Honorary Degree from Howard University becoming the first , black man to receive such an honor from an american university. Even in death, he had a final impressive the first black first. Officer to be buried at Arlington National cemetery when he died at the age of 65 in 1890. Im a virginian now, pennsylvania by birth. Virginian by necessity. [laughter] i know the state legislature and the Richmond City council are talking about what to do with monument avenue. I would suggest the creation of a monument to alexander acosta. He was from norfolk. I think it would tell a very compelling story if you placed agusta near lee, stewart, and jackson and davis. It would tell a much more complete story of the commonwealth during the civil war. During the summer of 1864, lincoln met with several groups of black religious leaders and they asked for her mission to hold picnics on the white house grounds. In each case, lincoln gave permission. The incredible nature of these events is captured by how the democratic press responded. Democrats complained white religious groups had never been given permission to use the white house grounds for picnics. Why was lincoln allowing black groups to do this . Many expressed outrage. The Cincinnati Enquirer said, limiting with negro officers, lawyers now the , negro race is looking up or rather looking down on the white race. From the elevated position it has attained in this administration. A pennsylvania newspaper sneered at lincoln for his treatment of African Americans. The newspaper was ironically called the star of the north, from bloomsburg, pennsylvania. This is what the editors wrote. When did we ever have a president who made so much of the negro as Abraham Lincoln does . Mr. Lincoln is emphatically the black mans president and the white mans curse. I love that line. Emphatically the black mans president. In december of 1864, a copperhead newspaper is using to say who Abraham Lincoln is. In 1865 at cooper union in new york, Frederick Douglass would deliver a eulogy to Abraham Lincoln and would call lincoln emphatically the black mans president. In september 1864, black ministers from baltimore brought an expensive bible to lincoln out of gratitude for all he had done for africanamericans. I went to see the bible at Fisk University in nashville, and took a picture of the medallion on the front cover. The following month, Sojourner Truth came to the white house. Lincoln sat down with her and showed her the bible. Upon seeing the book, truth said, this is beautiful, and to think colored people have given this to the head of the government, and to think the government once sectioned laws do not permit its people to learn enough to read what is in this book. As truth rose to leave, she said, mr. Lincoln arose and took my hand and said he would be pleased to have me call again. Truth later said, i felt i was in the presence of a friend, and now i thank god from the bottom of my heart that i always have advocated his cause and done it openly and boldly. Lincoln met with africanamericans to discuss matters of public policy. He metspring of 1864, with two delegations of black men from the south to discuss the issue of show the right to vote be given to black men. In march of 1864, he met with creoles from new orleans who presented this petition asking for the right to vote. The two, wealthy creole men said taxpaying black men should be given the franchise. Lincoln said to them, i regret gentleman that you are not able to secure all your rights and that circumstances will not permit the government to confer them upon you. What lincoln meant was that the right to vote is controlled at the state level and as president he had no power over who can vote. Lincoln told the two visitors he wished they would amend the petition. One of them replied, if you will permit me, i will do so here. Lincoln looked at him and said, our youth and the author of this eloquent production . The man replied, eloquent or not, it is my work. Lincoln and the two louisiana sat down and work sidebyside to amend the document. According to one witness, the southern gentleman present at the scene did not hesitate to admit that their prejudices had just received another shock. This meeting had very important effects on lincoln. The very next day, march 13, 1864, he sent a letter to the newly elected governor of louisiana. The majority of this letter had to do with what he called a private suggestion that governor han push at state level for black men to get the right to vote. Lincoln said the very intelligent and those who fought gallantly in our ranks, such voters would probably help in come to keepime to the jewel of liberty within the family of freedom. Lincolns suggestion to governor hahn is remarkable. Most importantly, it is the first time a sitting president advocates for the right to vote for black men. Clearly the argument put forward by the delegation from louisiana had begun to influence the way lincoln is going to think about this issue. It is worth noting lincoln actually advocated for a broader expansion of suffrage than even the two black men from louisiana had asked for. They wanted the right to vote for elite black men, taxpayers. Lincoln once the right to vote for people who are either very intelligent, educated or bear arms for the union. Status. Ss of financial a month after this meeting, lincoln met with a delegation of six black men from North Carolina, asking for the right to vote in their state. The leader of this group was named abraham galloway. Galloway had been born into slavery in 1837 and North Carolina. He escaped on a turpentine ship up to philadelphia and when he got to philadelphia, blood was coming out of his pores because of the turpentine. Early in the civil war, galloway worked as a union spy and was at the center of union recruiting of black soldiers in North Carolina. In april 1864, galloway and five other black men come to washington to personally deliver a petition to Abraham Lincoln. Four of the six men had been born into slavery. The men were amazed when they got to the white house that they were escorted through the front door of the building because they said if we were back in North Carolina, we would not be let into the back door of the lowest civil magistrate. Yet in washington, d. C. , they were escorted into lincolns office through the front door the white house and lincoln should each of their hands. Lincoln said to the visitors that he had labored hard through many difficulties for the good of the colored race and he should continue to do so. He then gave them the full assurance of his sympathy and in the struggle of the colored people of North Carolina that they are now making for their rights. One of the men said, he told us what he could do for us. But again, as voting was controlled at the state level, lincoln said it would have to be dealt with during reconstruction. Still, lincoln told the black visitors he was glad to see colored men seeking their rights, especially since this was an important right which we as a people ought to have. When the conversation ended, lincoln shook their hands. Reflecting on this experience, one north carolinian was moved by how lincoln had greeted them. He said lincoln received is lincoln spoke with us spoke cordially and kindly. He called the douglas to come to the white house for a meeting. Lincoln was convinced that he would lose his bid for reelection and want free as many claim as he could. And wanted to see slavery abolished. They sat down to come up with a plan, how could we free as many slaves as possible when im out of the white house in march of 1865. He said they would go into the south to try to get as many slaves to be free as possible. As douglas later explained, what he said on this day showed a deeper moral conviction against slavery then i had ever seen before in anything spoken. R written by him i listened with the deepest interest and profoundest satisfaction. Lincolns meeting with douglas is profoundly significant. The historian mark neely junior lincolnsit showed genuine humanitarianism, freeing the slaves in this way at this point in the war had nothing to do with military necessity and had everything to do with what was morally right. The meetings i have described to you just now are just a sample of the more than two dozen that i found. They demonstrate beyond doubt that lincoln strove to break down some of the racial barriers that existed in washington, d. C. He even invited africanamericans into the private Living Spaces of the white house and i would love to tell one of those stories during q a if you want to hear it. Including poor black women and men in dyer financial situations. He gave the money, like this check, five dollars, we dont even know the name of the recipient, to a colored man with one leg. He give them food and clothes. Theres a story of him calling a poor black man into the white house and giving him food. He sang and he prayed with former slaves at the contraband camp in washington, d. C. The Frederick Douglass meetings with lincoln transformed what he knew and he relished telling northern audiences about the experience. To washington to see the white house and as you were not there, perhaps you would like to know how the president of the United States received a black man at the white house, douglas proudly. Old an audience in 1963 he received me as one gentleman. Eives another he said that lincoln greeted him with a hand in a voiced that was wellbalanced between kind cordiality and a respectful. Eserve i tell you, i felt big there. Colorful reminders that he could connect with people who have different lifes circumstances from his own. Since the mid1850s he had argued that even enslaved Women Deserve the rights enumerated in the declaration of independence. He told a white audience in june of 1857, i will put the words up in her natural right to eat the bread that she earns with her own hands without asking leave of anyone else, she is my equal and the equal of all others. This is a remarkable thing for a white male politician to say in the 1850s because he was telling a white male racist audience that all people of all had value,ywhere worth, and were included in the sacred words of the declaration. Now in these private moments at the white house, lincoln practiced what he had been preaching. He treated all people as equals and connected with them on an emotional level in ways that no white person likely ever had before. Certainly no president before lincoln had ever done so. Thank you. [applause] do we have time for questions . [inaudible] thank you very much. Two questions. I have been trying to get some information on a reverend parker from Hampton Roads and there is a book that says that he comes to me meet with Abraham Lincoln. I want that information, too, then. [laughter] if you could talk about Martin Delaney and when he meets with Abraham Lincoln . When that book comes out, i will buy it. Thank you, two books. Im working on two books. I dont know about parker, but i will look into it and if we can Exchange Contact info after, i will let you know. Im working on two books about africanamericans. One is black correspondence and the other is about black visitors to the white house. The question is about Martin Delaney. Martin delaney is a famous abolitionist of the 1850s. A doctor. He starts writing to the war 1863 about getting a commission in the army and he doesnt actually get one until 1865. He meets with lincoln i want to say in late february of 1865. They go in they have a long conversation. Delaney says the lincoln that i have got this idea that we need to create an army of only black men. You see, the Civil War Union armies were segregated. The regiments, sorry. Black enlisted men and noncommissioned officers being overseen by white commissioned officers. Delaney says, he goes in and meets with lincoln and says that if we create an army of black enlisted men, it would terrify the south and helped lead to the end of the war. We know this through delaneys memoir, published i think in 1883, he gives a long description of this conversation. According to delaney, lincoln turns to him and says this is the idea ive been wanting to hear for a long time and no one has ever come up with it, im glad someone has done this. Shortly afterwards he comes up with a commission for delaney in the union army. There is some question of the timing. 65, iruary or march of dont know that lincoln would have needed that kind of army at can seent because he the handwriting on the wall in terms of where the war is going. But it is beyond doubt that lincoln met with delaney and that they had this conversation and shortly after, delaney got the commission he had asked for. I answered all the questions in the talk, i guess. Yeah, the one in the back, and then appear. Appear up here. [inaudible] [laughter] the story. Ats carolyn johnson, philadelphia, i didnt realize the significance when i wrote it. She was a free brat free black woman in philadelphia and her job was making waxed fruit. She would sell these beautiful displays of whacks fruit. During the war she volunteered as a nurse helping convalescing Union Soldiers in philadelphia. In the spring of 1864 she decided she wanted to do something to show her appreciation to lincoln for all that he has done to free the slaves, so she makes a beautiful waxed fruit display that costs are 150 and had a retail value of 350. She gets permission to go present it at the white house and give it to lincoln in person. She meets with lincoln is a saturday. He met with people normally on other workdays and the fact that he meets with her on the saturdays notable, one, the number two, the room that they met in. They met in the White House Library, the room on the second floor shaped like an oval and shake faces the washington monument. She is given permission to go into the room and hour before her meeting with lincoln and set it up. She is an artist and wants it to look just right. They have this touching conversation and she brings her minister with her. She gives these emotional words responds, each choking up. I thought this was a touching story. I wanted to try to write the book at a way that would capture the scene. I wanted to find out what the White House Library looks like. I strive to do research trying to find newspaper accounts of what it looked like and the more that i read this, what i discovered was that the library was part of his rival family space. Public visitors were not permitted to go in there. That is where he went to take a meal, take a nap, take issues off and put his feet on a table and he didnt want anyone to see him. You didnt invite people in there must they were intimately connected to you as a family friend or close advisor. So, i think it has great meaning that he invites Caroline Johnson and her minister to come into this room for this conversation and presentation. Is that it is the first time an africanamerican was allowed into the private Living Spaces of the white house when they are not either a servant, or a mistress. And maryelcomed her in lincoln was so moved by this that have a reception like this, she brought in a close friend and she wrote in his diary that misses lincoln took me into the library where i saw a splay and misses lincoln talked about how much she loved it and how beautiful it was. It was an incredible moment, not wellknown. When you capture the significance of the room took aboutand it says a lot how lincoln was breaking down the color line, it says a lot about what lincoln was doing at the white house. Over here fresh like, sure. Did mary todd share the same philosophy as her husband . ,erhaps in this day and age they referred to it as the optics of the situation. Maybe she was kind of buffering the public. Yeah, mary did not. When dr. Augusta and dr. Abbott show up at the white house, she sends robert over and tries to get her husband to stop being welcoming to these two black doctors. There are other moments as well, january of 1865 there was a release from the white house saying that anyone of any race is permitted to come to the white house for the new years reception and a ton of africanamericans, well over 100, show up for the reception. Mary lincoln was not having it and forced them to wait until after the white guests had gone through. So, i dont think she had the same sort of egalitarian strain that her husband did. Late in the war, did lincoln solicit or share his thoughts on reconstruction . Did he share them with who . His black visitors to the white house. Thats a very good question. To some extent they did in terms of talking about reconstruction and the expansion of the franchise, but i dont know that he did. He certainly talked about matters of public policy. Robert smalls is famously from south carolina, and after the war becomes a congressman. The 1880sspeech in where he talks about in congress when he met with lincoln in 1862. Aboutims that they talked arming black men to fight. This was before the emancipation proclamation. He probably had influence on the thinking of lincoln with regards to that important war policy. As for reconstruction policy, i dont know, i dont know that they did. I dont recall anything from the records that would suggest they did, but he may have at some point, it may not have been reported. Yes . Can you comment on lincolns relationship with douglas . Second, i was wondering where and when did douglas and lincoln first meet . Yeah, they were aware of each other from the 1850s. Stephen douglas loves to bring up friendly douglas and connect them. Frederick douglass was not a fan of lincolns early in the war years. When lincoln is elected president and gives his first inaugural, frederick atlas writes an editorial in response where he says that lincoln is the abolitionists worst enemy and the slave catcher the souths greatest slave catcher. In the first inaugural lincoln says hes going to enforce the law. So, Frederick Douglass is not a fan. Summer of 1853, Frederick Douglass is furious that lack soldiers are not being black soldiers are not being paid the same as white soldiers. The federal government said that they would reinstate or execute thek pows and not give them protections of a prisoner of war. That is when douglas first goes to the white house to meet with lincoln and he is completely by this welcoming and they have a cordial conversation. Thats the first meeting. The second is 1864, where they discuss a band of scouts. The third meeting is on the day of the inauguration in 1865, where douglas shows up at the white house and the guards wont let him in and eventually he is able to get his way in and he says here comes my friend douglas. Asks them what did you think of my speech . Douglas doesnt want to answer, saying that you have got a lot of bigwigs here and he says youre the one whose view you want i want to know when he says mr. Lincoln, it was a sacred effort. About mary lincoln, she was actually upset she didnt meet douglas that day. Its in elizabeth kegleys memoir, where she finds out that douglas was there and she was upset she didnt get a chance to meet him. Tea. En invited douglas to he was fastidious. If he had an engagement, he would not break it. A couple of weeks later lincoln was assassinated in douglas said that he could have broken his engagement with the had known it was his last chance to meet with the president. Am going to take moderators privilege once again, that was the last question. The date on the slider you have got there, a lot of people noticing like i did, the truth , could you speak a little to the implication of this isse slides . The story of nancy bush raw. I actually close the white house book with this story. 1865, april that on 14, she goes and walks five miles to the white house. The guards dont want to let her in. She pleads with them not to let her go, they let her in and some people do stop her. She eventually gets up to the white house and is pleading to see lincoln. The guards will let her any further and then lincoln comes down and she says my husband is a soldier in the union army and i havent gotten his pay for months and i have these kids, we are starving, i need help. Lincoln says to come back tomorrow and we will work out the paperwork and she comes back the next day and lincoln is of course shot that night. She findsomes back, the situation on the ground has completely changed and now she is not going to get the help that she needs. One of the fruits will said to be sure to14th is get her children and education. So, she then pledges in that moment that she will do what lincoln said to do and make sure that her kids get educated. The story that survives, the earliest account i have found is from 1901, so it is questionable in terms of its credibility, but it says that she then made sure that her kids got educated. I have searched in census ,ecords and enslave records searched on ancestry. Com, searched everywhere i can possibly think the search. I have the names of her children but i cannot find her or her kids. For any of the blue haired genealogist in the room, i would be grateful. At you, jack. Its an incredible story. It might be a true story. A sort ofe paternalistic narrative created by whites in the early 20th century to say to black americans that you should be like her. Its hard to know. Im still searching. Its a great story and im including it in the book with the copy got of credibility issues. Image the Sojourner Truth , Sojourner Truth had lincoln sign an autograph for her in her book. I think the originals at the university of michigan now. One of the things that lincoln gets dinged for in the current scholarship is sometimes using language that is considered pejorative. He referred to some of his male servants in their 20s as boy and here he refers to her as anti. What is interesting about the meeting is that she went to meet along with an abolitionist named coleman. She wrote an account of the meeting way after the fact. In the account, she makes lincoln off to be the biggest racist you could imagine. A lot of historians, gooding very good historians, have relied on that very late rendering. Two other black women that met with him before she went to the office with lincoln callously making him wait for a long time to meet with him. She just says these awful not truths, lucy coleman says these things in her memoir. December, right after the meeting, lucy coleman wrote an anonymous squid about the meeting that depicts them in a positive light. Jack was talking earlier about as historians we have to wade through the sources to evaluate what is reliable and what isnt. Lucy coleman didnt like lincoln and i go with her earlier recollection and less with her 1890s recollection. Thank you so much. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] historyu like american tv, keep up with us during the week on facebook, twitter, and youtube. Learn about what happened this day in history and see preview clips of upcoming programs. Follow us at cspan history. April 11, 1970, apollo 13 blasted off on the Third Mission to land humans on the moon. Onboard explosion causing critical system failures forcing the mission to abort and return to earth. American history tv tells the story this sunday with archival footage. Heres a preview. The thought crossed our mind that we were in deep trouble. We never dwelled on it. We never sort of gave up and said what will happen if we dont get back. If everything failed and we still have life support in the lunar module but we couldnt get back to the earth, you know, the heat shield was damaged or what passed through it, the orbit we were on would take us past the earth. 40,000 miles. I said we would send it back information and keep on operating as long as we could and that was the end of the deal. That was what i had planned to do in my mind, should something happen. Tell me about that. You didnt have anything to kill yourself with, no poison pill . All we would have had to do was open the event and we could have gone just like that, so why bother . Did the three of you have any thought about buying the farm . We never did. We never admitted to ourselves that we werent going to make it. One time when fred looked at the , after the lunar module finding out that we had 45 hours with the power and united from home, he said Something Like i dont think we are going to make it the way we are right now and i said i want to agree with you. What we are doing now is going to hack it. Learn more about the germanic mission this sunday at 1 p. M. Eastern here on American History tv monday night on the communicators, American Economic liberties project sarah miller on big tet Big Tech Companies as monopolies and the impact of corporate concentration. Now there are some extravagant sees. Are you going to sell to google or facebook . It has warped the ability of innovators in Silicon Valley to actually innovate according to market needs and ideas and instead everyone is guessing how can i develop something that facebook will buy or that google will buy and that wantt necessarily how you an economy or an Innovation Sector to function. Watch monday night at 8 00 eastern on cspan two. Next on American History tv the National Constitution center loria conversation with ginsburg, discovering the life Elizabeth Cady stanton, the Program Begins with an overview of their forthcoming exhibit, the 19th amendment and how women won the vote. [applause] greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the National Constitution center. Im jeffrey rosen, president of this wonderful institution. Let us
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