Our next speaker is he is an associate professor in newport news. When i look at his academic resume, i think of what an old graduate School Advisor talked about, would say to us when he would come into our offices to find someone to volunteer for a project. Busy people will get things done. We knew we were in for it. He has to be the busiest young scholar in the field today. Hes not only a prolific historian, but more projects on more back burners on the stove than i have ever seen for. A dedicated a dedicated educator he won the 2019 outstanding educator award. I do not know where he finds the time. He has been very generous with what remaining time he has. We are all very grateful. As you can see from your printed programs, the topics of his published works are many and varied with something of a focus on Abraham Lincoln and constitutional history as well. And because he lives in newport news, virginia and had a few extra minutes on his hands, he and Anna Holloway wrote our little monitor the greatest invention of the civil war. I have asked him to speak in a topic that is not even on the printed program, a topic that draws from two other manuscripts he is currently working on today. Ladies and gentlemen, jonathan white. [applause] prof. White thank you for that kind introduction. I missed ballet practice to be here today. Not my own ballet, i should say. My threeyearold. But i am thrilled to be here at the library of virginia. Its the middle of the civil war, early 1863. Elizabeth shorter, a black teenager is living in the nations capitol and working as a servant for a shoemaker named frank prewitt. One night lizzie went to bed and it was dark and she laid down on the couch and 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. I dont want you to tell lib. Live was his wife. Liz said she was tired and told him to get away. He put his hands around her neck and slept with her that happened on several occasions. She became pregnant. He asked if the baby was his and she confirmed it was. The baby was born in april of 1863. Frank told lucy that he wanted her to take the child and get out of his home in 1864. She said she would leave if he gave her financial support. He refused. She decided to confront him in front of his wife. The next morning, a sunday, lizzie packed up her belongings, dressed her baby and knocked at the bedroom door. Frank stayed in bed, well his wife got out of bed and and while his wife got out of bed and answered the door. Lizzie turned to frank and said, look at me. Look at the baby. Remember what you have done to me. He, sitting in bed, said, well . She said, i will disgrace you if he did not supply financial support. At this, prewitt became angry and turned to his wife and said, do you believe that black . And she replied, yes, i do. You have acted like you were afraid of liz. At that, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a revolver and said i never intended to die a natural death. I will blow youre brains out. His wife grabbed the revolver and said, frank, the murderer of my child. He choked lizzie and threatened for 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, she went to find a local judge and wanted to file a complaint. She went to another judge. Unfortunately when prewitt found out, he decided to act and he had lizzie arrested for grand larceny and he claimed the money his wife had given to her had been stolen. She spent the rest of the week in jail and was finally released on ale. Released on bail. Lizzie testified and told her story. Prior to the civil war African Americans were not allowed to testify against whites in state or federal court. The war changed that. The judge decided to acquit prewitt. Some time again when this trial took place, her baby died. Lizzie went to trial herself in november 1864. It would have been her babys first birthday. She was convicted and sentenced. She sent a letter to Abraham Lincoln. She was not able to write it herself. She said, i must solemnly declare i am guilty of no crime. She said that she became guilty of having his child. She implored lincoln for mercy, saying the money i am charged with stealing was given to me on the condition i would say nothing between the connection between myself and mr. Prewitt. She marks her name with that she marked her name with an x. As lincoln sat in his Office Reviewing her case file, many thoughts flashed through his mind. His own genealogy head striking similarities. 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. He had concerns over Society Double standards when it came to extramarital sex. He thought it was unjust out women received more blame the men. He wrote a poem in the 1830s and here are a few lines. Whatever spiteful fools may say, each jealous, ranting yelp or, no woman ever played the unless she had a man to help her. That one is not on the lincoln memorial. [laughter] prof. White prewitts exploitation of elizabeth shorter clearly preyed on lincolns sense of justice. He issued a pardon before she could even be sent to new york and this is what he wrote on the back of the letter. Elizabeth shorters case is probably the fastest pardon he ever issued. She was convicted on november 3rd, wrote the letter on november 4, and he pardoned or on november 5. All the more remarkable, the timing. The story of elizabeth shorter is important one. It confirms lincolns belief that all people deserved a fair hearing. He knew that elizabeth shorter had been wronged. When dealing with pardons in cases like this, he acted on principles of equality regardless of race, sex, or previous condition of servitude. Recently the New York Times project 1619 has gotten a lot of attention. They did a Wonderful Service in reminding us of the centrality of the american story, but it introduces distortions of its own. The project presents an incomplete and misleading portrait of lincoln and part of this has to do with the lack of historical context. Part of the evidence is the meeting that lincoln had with a black delegation in 1862 in which he sought to persuade five black leaders to lead africanamericans out of the country to central america. Its an unfortunate moment. We find lincoln lecturing in a very unfortunate way condescending way. Taken at face value, its quite pathetic. Within the context of the time it makes more sense. Lincoln brought a stenographer to the meeting because he wanted his words to be written down and spread throughout the newspapers. He wanted white americans to read his speech for an important political reason. He decided to issue in emancipation proclamation but he knew a white, racist northern populace would not be likely to accept it. So he had to prepare them for it and this is part of how he chose to do that. On one hand, this was a remarkable moment that represented 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 toward africanamericans, so much so it had negative impacts on black northerners throughout the north. Lincoln was a masterful politician. He did this as an entering wedge so he could introduce something bigger and better in the near future. The emancipation proclamation. William lloyd garrisons newspaper called the spectacle as humiliating as it was extraordinary. Was this meeting typical of interactions with africanamericans . Should it be held out as exemplary. Lincoln began engaging in a way no other president ever had. He traveled to the volunteers. They said, kill the brother of lincoln. As one of his comrades wrote in a diary, he had his head cut open to the bone. With a stone thrown at him. The pennsylvania soldiers eventually made it. Bidd; lle laid in pain, a pool of blood staining the floor where he slept that night. The next day lincoln went to the cabinet. Later he took each man by the hand. Including nicholas he said his pain was mixed with pleasure at the capitol because it was his privileged to be visited by abram lincoln, to be Abraham Lincoln, to be taken by the hand and received by the president with words of cheer. Until the day he died, he never tired of telling people about what he called the supreme hours of his life, the time that he was wounded in baltimore and met Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln welcome to his first black guest to the white house in 1861 1862. Bishop payne. Pain came to discuss the emancipation of the district of columbia. They had a long conversation, about 45 minutes, in lincolns office. He wrote about it. He said there was nothing stiff or formal in the air or manner of his excellency. President lincoln conversed with me as if i had been one of his intimate acquaintances. I was left with a profound sense of his real greatness and his fitness to rule a nation composed of all the races on the globe a nation composed of all the races on the globe. He was introduced to three black cooks. 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 to the first . Lincoln stuck out his long hand in recognition of her services. Next he turned to the two black men and asked them, how do you do . When the president left the room, the three lakh cooks stood there black cooks stood there and the nurse said, they had shining faces that testify to their joy. Then she began to look around the room and noticed how the white officers convalescing reacted. She said that they expressed intense discussed intense disgust and said it was a mean and contemptible trick to introduce those dam nwords to the president. The president paid their racist comments no mind. He was grateful to them for their service to the nation and did not alter his behavior toward them some plea because white soldiers were looking on in disbelief. Throughout his time at the white house he welcomed several black visitors. Some were famous like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. Most are completely forgotten today. When lincoln met with these visitors, whether they were famous or not, he always shook their hands and almost invariably initiated that human contact. For lincoln shaking hands was a tiresome tour because he had to do it all day, every day. Tiresome chore. He always warmly, kindly, eagerly, repeatedly grassed their hands. This small gesture should not be discounted because it carried not only great meeting for his black visitors but for white americans who read about these encounters in the most white politicians were not genuinely welcome an african american. Newspaper. As two historians write, white performers displayed racially prejudiced views and treated blacks with paternalistic display disrespect. The white abolitionists refused to shake the hands of the black abolitionists and this continued in the postwar period, when the reformers showed racial prejudice. During his president ial run in 1872 cooper was tournaments of a net and the black delegation goes up to him and he showed great disdain towards them for thinking they ought to be able to shake his hands. Not so with Abraham Lincoln. His hospitality toward africanamericans was well known during his presidency. Mary livermore wrote this. She said that he bent in special kindness. Another white washingtonian said the heart lincoln prompted him to receive representatives of he was not above shaking black hands. Africanamericans exhibited great pride in being able to shake Abraham Lincolns hand. Some believed it had near talismanic power. Mary lincoln gave gifts to prominent africanamericans like Frederick Douglass and seamstress elizabeth kecklee. They cherished these gifts. As Sojourner Truth explained, it was the same hand that signed the death warrant of slavery. Even in 1913, the black poet James Weldon Johnson celebrated the 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. A month and a half later, the black Army Surgeons tried to do the same thing. Augusta had overcome tremendous racial violence in his life. He was born in norfolk, virginia in 1825. His family moved to baltimore in the 1830s. I dont know exactly why but i think it was probably in the aftermath of nat turneris rebellion. He wanted to attend Jefferson Medical College but was not admitted because of his race. He moved to toronto. 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. He faced intense discrimination in the application process. He traveled from toronto to washington, d. C. 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. He explained, i have come near 1000 miles a great expense and sacrifice hoping to be of some use to my country and my race and hope the board will make a favorable view of my case. But the board was unmoved. Dr. Clymer and the Surgeon General both wanted the War Department to recall his invitation to appear. The secretary of war stepped in and refuse to give in to their raciallymotivated were requests. April 1, augusta passed the board examination. He became the first africanamerican to receive accommodation. He went to the examining decision. 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 viciously attacked by a mob. He went to the Supreme Court to watch oral arguments and he was not allowed to go in and watch. Augustine would not allow any of this to stop them. He and his friends approached the white house for a reception. They met Benjamin Brown french and they presented french with their cards. French conducted us with all of the urbanity and imaginable to the president. French introduced a gust of two augusta to president lincoln. He advanced a few paces forward and grasped his hands. Six paces away, Mary Todd Lincoln was standing, talking to her son robert. And she sent him over to the president and lincoln was Still Holding his hand and he comes over and says are you going to allow this innovation . Lincoln turns to his son and says, why why not . At that, lincoln turned back to augusta and this is andersons abbotts words. People who witnessed the scene were amazed by what they saw. Lincolns private secretary said i shall never forget the sensation produced by the appearance of too tall and very well dressed africans among the crowds of those who came to pay their respects. It, was a practical assertion of me gross citizenship for which few were prepared. Lincoln according to starter nevertheless receive them with marked kindness and after a while 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 considered them black. They were greeted with the same cordiality and freedom that he bestowed upon white men. According to this witness, lincoln treated the unfair as an ordinary occurrence. Augusta would go on to become the highest ranking black commissioned officer of the civil war. He had a number of impressive firsts in American History. He was the first black doctor to graduate from the medical school and british north america, first black commissioned officer in the union army, to run a hospital in the United States. He ran the contraband hospital in washington d. C. In 1868 he joined the faculty at Howard University becoming the becoming the first black person to teach the medicine in the country. The following year he received an honourary degree from Howard University becoming the first black man to receive such an honor from an american university. Even in death he had one final impressive first. The first black officer to be buried at the arlington cemetery. I know that this upper virginian, pennsylvania by birth, virginian by necessity laughs i know the state legislature i would suggest the creation of a monument to alexander tea gust. I think it would tell a very compelling story compelling story if you place him next to lee, stewart, and davis. It would tell a much more complete story of the commonwealth during the civil war. Lincoln met with several groups of black religious leaders and they asked for permission to hold picnics on the white house grounds and in each case, lincoln gave permission. The incredible nature of these events is captured by how the democratic press responded. Democrats responded that they had never been given white groups had never been given permission to use the white house grounds for a picnic. Why have lincoln given permission to black groups . They lamented that with negro officers, now the negro race is looking up or rather looking down on the white race. 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 1865 at cooperhead newspaper in new york, Frederick Douglass would deliver a eulogy to Abraham Lincoln and would call lincoln 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 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 wants section 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 rose 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 i thank god from the bottom of my heart that i always have abdicated his cause and done it openly and boldly. Lincoln met with africanamericans to discuss important matters of Public Policy whether the right to vote should be given to black men. In 1864 he met with creoles from new orleans who presented a position asking a 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 you are not able to secure your rights and that some people in the government would not confer them on you. Lincoln meant that the right to vote was conferred at the state level and as president , he has 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 said, are you the author of this eloquent production . The man replied, eloquent or not, it is my work. Lincoln and the to louisianans then set down and worked together to amend the document. According to one witness, southern gentleman 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 next day, march 13, 1864, he sent a letter to the governor of louisiana. The majority of this letter had to do with what he called a private suggestion, that the governor han pushed at state level for black men to get the right to vote. Lincoln said the very intelligent and those who fought gallantly, such voters, would probably help in some trying time to keep the jewel of liberty within the family of freedom. Lincolns suggestion to governor hahn is remarkable. It is the first time a sitting president advocates the right to vote for black men. The argument put forward by the delegation from louisiana had begun to influence lincoln. It is worth noting lincoln advocated for a broader expansion of suffrage than even the two black men from louisiana asked for. They wanted the right to vote for elite black men, taxpayers. Lincoln wants the right to vote for people who are either very intelligent or who bear arms for the union. A month after this meeting, lincoln met with another delegation of six black men from North Carolina, asking for the right to vote in their state. The leader was abraham galloway. Galloway had been born into slavery in 1837. He escaped on a turpentine ship to philadelphia and when he got to philadelphia, he described 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 deliver a petition to 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, because they said, if we were in North Carolina, we would not even be let in the back door of the lowest civil magistrate. They were let in the front door and lincoln shook 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 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 that he would do what he could for us. But again, as voting was controlled at the state level, lincoln said it would be have too it would have to be dealt with through reconstruction. Still, he told the visitors he was glad to see colored men seeking their rights, especially this important rite which we has a people ought to have. When the conversation ended, lincoln again shook their hands. One of the North Carolina unions north carolinians said lincoln spoke to us freely and kindly. In august 1864, lincoln called frederick goes to the white house. Frederick douglass to the white house. Lincoln was convinced he was going to lose his reelection and wanted to free as many slaves as he could. He said, i want to see it abolished altogether. The two men then sat down to come up with a plan, how can i free as many slaves as possible . The plan they came up with was to create a band of scouts that would go into the south and try to get as many slaves freed as possible. Doug is later explained, what he said on this day showed a deeper moral conviction against slavery than anything i had seen, either spoken or written, from him. I listened with profound satisfaction. Lincolns meeting with douglass is significant. Historian martin neely junior says it shows lincolnis genuine humanitarianism. Freeing the slaves at this point of the war had nothing to do with military necessity. It had everything to do with what was morally right. The meetings i described are a sample of more than two dozen i found. They demonstrate beyond doubt that lincoln strove to break down racial barriers that existed in washington dc. He even invited africanamericans to the private Living Spaces of the white house. I would love to tell one of the stories during the q a. He helped poor black men and women who were in dire financial situations. He gave them money, like this check for five dollars to a colored man with one leg. To give them food. You give them clothes. He gave them clothes. There is a story about a black man outside the white house and lincoln called him in and gave him food. He sang and prayed with former slaves at the contraband camp in washington dc. Frederick douglasss meeting with lincoln formed his opinion of lincoln and he relished telling audiences, i have been to the white house and perhaps you would like to know how the president of the United States received a black man at the white house, douglass probably told an audience in 1863. He received me just as you have seen one gentleman receive another. Douglass paused while the audience erupted in applause. He continued by saying lincoln greeted him with a hand and a voice wellbalanced between kind cordiality and respectful reserve. I tell you, i felt big there. Lincolns interactions with poor men and women of color are touching reminders he could connect with people who came from different life circumstances. Since the mid1850s, he argued even enslaved women deserved the rights enumerated in the declaration of independence. He told a white audience in june 1857, in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands without asking leave of anyone else, she is my equal and the equal of all others. This was a remarkable thing for a white, male politician to say in the 1850s, for he was telling a white male, racist audience that all people of all colors everywhere had value and worth and were included in the sacred words of the declaration. Now, in private moments at the white house, lincoln practiced what he had practiced what he had been preaching. He treated all as equals and connected with them on an emotional level in ways that no white person had before, certainly no president before lincoln had ever done so. Thank you. [applause] do we have time for questions . Thank you. Two questions. I have been trying to get some information on a reverend parker from hampton roads. And there is a story that he comes to meet with lincoln. He is from norfolk. And if you could talk about martin delaney, and when he meets with Abraham Lincoln, and when that book comes out, i will buy jonathan thank you. I will buy it. Jonathan thank you. Im working on two books. If i find anything, i would love to let you know. I am working on two books about africanamericans. One is black correspondence to lincoln, and the others about black visitors to the white house. Martin delaney is a famous abolitionist and immigrationist of the 1850s, a doctor, and he starts writing to the War Department in 1863 about getting a commission in the army. He doesnt get one until 1865. He meets with lincoln, i want to say late february 1865, and they have a long conversation. Delaney says to lincoln, ive got this idea. We need to create an army of only black men. Civil war regiments were segregated, so you had lack black enlisted men and noncommissioned officers being overseen by white commissioned officers. So delaney meets with lincoln and says, if we create an army of black enlisted men and they are officerer by black men, that would terrify the south and help lead to the end of the war. We know this from the delaney memoir, he gives a long description of the conversation, and according to delaney, lincoln says, this is the idea i have been wanting to hear for a long time and no one has come up with it, im glad someone has done this. And shortly after, delaney receives a commission as an officer in the union army. There is some question about the timing. Because by february or march of 1865, i dont know if lincoln would have needed the kind of army at that point, because he could see the handwriting on the wall in terms of where the war was going. But it is beyond doubt lincoln met with delaney, they had this conversation, and delaney received the commission he had asked for. The one in the back. What is the story jonathan . Jonathan what is the story . There was a woman named Caroline Johnson from pennsylvania, she was a free black woman in philadelphia. Her job was making wax fruit. She would sell beautiful displays of wax fruit. During the war, she volunteered as a nurse helping convalescing soldiers in philadelphia. In spring of 1864, she decides she wants to show her appreciation to lincoln for all he has done to free the slaves. She makes a beautiful wax fruit display. It cost her 150 and has a retail value of 350. Through a connection nothing department of interior, she has her mission to give it to lincoln in person. The morning she meets lincoln is a saturday, and lincoln normally met with people on workdays, so the fact she met him on a saturday is notable. But also what is notable is the room they met in of the White House Library, a room on the second lore shape like an oval second floor shaped like an oval. She goes into the room one hour before the meeting with lincoln and she sets it up, she is an artist and wants it to look right, she and lincoln have a touching conversation, she brings her minister with her and he talks to lincoln about how grateful he is, lincoln is choking up in the conversation and then they go on their way. When i first encountered the story, i thought, this is a really touching story. But i wanted to try to write the book in a way that would capture the scene. So i wanted to find out what the library looked like and started doing research trying to find newspaper accounts, and i discovered the White House Library was part of lincolns private family space. Public visitors were not permitted. That is where he went to take a meal or a nap or put his feet up on a table when he didnt want anyone to see him. He didnt invite people in there unless they were intimately connected as a family friend or close advisor. So it has great meaning that lincoln invites Caroline Johnson and her minister to come into this room for this presentation. My hunch is, and i havent confirmed this, it is the first time that an africanamerican is welcomed into the private Living Spaces of the white house when they are not either a servant, slave or seamstress. But lincoln welcomed her and they had this moving conversation. Mary lincoln was so moved that at a reception that night, when it was over she brought in a friend and he wrote, misses lincoln took me into the library and showed me this beautiful wax fruit display and she loved it, so it is an incredible moment not well known, and the significance of the room says a lot about the way lincoln was breaking down the color line in small steps. There was a hand over here, i thought. Did mary todd show the same philosophy as her husband, perhaps in this day they refer to it as the optics of the situation, she was kind of buffering with the public . Jonathan mary did not. She sends robert over to try to get her husband being welcoming to these two black doctors. And there are other moments as well. In january 1865, a release went out from the white house saying anyone of any ways is permitted at the white house for the new years reception. And well over 100 africanamericans show up for the reception, and mary lincoln was not having it, and forced them to wait until after white guests that gone through. I dont think mary had the same egalitarian strain her husband did. Late in the war, did lincoln solicit or share his thoughts on reconstruction . Jonathan did he share them with whom . His black visitors to the white house. Jonathan that is a good question. To some extent they did, in terms of reconstruction and talking about expanding the franchise, but i dont know that he did. He certainly talked about Public Policy. Robert smalls is a famous slave from South Carolina who escapes and after the war becomes a congressman. Smalls gives a speech in the 1880s, in congress, where he talks about when he met with lincoln in 1862, and smalls claims they talked about arming blackman to fight, and this was before the emancipation proclamation, so smalls may have influenced lincolns thinking. As for reconstruction policy, i dont know that they did. I dont recall anything that would suggest they did, but he may have at some point. It just might not have been recorded. Yes. On lincolns relationship with douglass . And secondly, when and where did they first meet . Jonathan they were aware of each other from the 1850s and in the lincolndouglas debates, Stephen Douglas likes to bring up Frederick Douglass and connect them to lincoln. Frederick douglass was not a fan of lincoln in the early years. Frederick douglass writes an editorial where he says, lincoln is the abolitionists worst enemy and says he is the souths greatest slave catcher. Because lincoln says he is going to enforce the law of the fugitive slave act is the law, so Frederick Douglass is not a fan. In 1863 Frederick Douglass is furious that black soldiers are not being paid the same as white soldiers, and that the confederate government said we are either going to reenslave or execute lack pows and not give them protections as prisoners of war. Thats when Frederick Douglass first goes to the white house to meet with lincoln, and he is completely taken in by lincolns welcoming. They have a very cordial conversation. The second meeting is august 1864, when they discuss this band of scouts. The third meetings the dave lincolns inauguration in 1865. Douglass shows up at the white house and the guards wont let him in, and eventually he makes his way in and lincoln says, here comes my friend, douglass and he asked him, what did you think of my speech . Douglass didnt want to answer and said you have a lot of big whigs here and lincoln said, yours of the views i want any set mr. Lincoln, it was a sacred effort. Mary lincoln was upset she didnt meet douglass, i think it is in a memoir that mary lincoln finds out douglass was there and was upset she didnt get a chance to meet him. Lincoln then invited douglass to tea. Douglass already had an engagement and was fastidious and wasnt going to break it, so he did not to tea with the president. And a couple of weeks later, lincoln is assassinated in douglass says, i could have broken my engagement if i had no that was my last chance to meet the president. A lot of people noticed on the slide with Sojourner Truth, can you speak to this one and the other little one with auntie . Jonathan it is the story about a woman named nancy bushrod. In april 1865, a young black mother named nancy bushtrot walks five miles to the white house and the guards wont let her in and she pleads with them and they say, we will let her in. She eventually gets up to the white house and is pleading to see lincoln, and the guards wont let her any further. Then lincoln comes down, and she says, my husband is a soldier in the union army and i havent gotten his pay for months, ive got these kids, we need help. And lincoln says, come back tomorrow and we will work out the paperwork. She comes back the next day, and of course lincoln is shot on the night of april 14, 1865. And she finds that the situation on the ground has completely changed and she is not going to get the help she needs. One thing lincoln supposedly said to her was, be sure to get your children and education. So nancy pledges in that moment i am going to do what lincoln said to do, and get my kid educated. The earliest account of the story is 1901, so it is questionable in terms of credibility, but it says she made sure her kids got educated. I have searched in census records and slave records, i have searched ancestry. Com and everywhere i could think to search. I have the names of her children, yet i cant find her or her kids. For any genealogist who want to help me, i would be grateful. [laughter] i am looking at you, jack. It is an incredible story. Two things are going on. It might be a true story, it could be a paternalistic narrative created by whites in the earlier in the early 20th century to say to black americans, you should be like her. It is hard to know. Im still searching, but it is a great story and i include it in the book with the caveat there are credibility issues. Sojourner truth had lincoln signed an autograph in her book, and i think it is at the university of michigan now. One thing lincoln gets dinged for in current scholarship is sometimes using language considered pejorative. He referred to some male servants who were in their 20s as boy, and here he refers to her as auntie. Sojourner truth went to meet lincoln with an abolitionist named coleman, and misses coleman wrote an account of this meeting way after the fact at she makes lincoln out to be the biggest racist you can imagine. And a lot of good historians have relied on that very late rendering of the story, of lincoln being mean to two other black women who met with him before Sojourner Truth went to the office, of lincoln callously making Sojourner Truth wait a long time to meet with him, and lucy coleman says these awful things about lincoln in her memoir. But in the liberator in 1864, right after this meeting, lucy coleman wrote an anonymous squib about the meeting which depicts lincoln in a very positive light. As historians, we have to weigh the sources and determine what is reliable, so i go with her earlier recollection and what is Sojourner Truth set about the meeting unless with the 1890s recollection. Less than with her 1890s recollection of it. So thank you so much. Coming up on American History tee, the programs on Alexander Hamilton who served as the nations first treasury secretary. We will first take a look at his economic plan. , his relationship with president George Washington. You are watching American History tv on cspan 3. Selected by president George Washington in 1789, Alexander Hamilton served as the first secretary of the treasury until january, 1795. Next on American History ,