Project. Busy people get things done, and we knew we were in for it when dr. Whittenberg talked about that. Jonathan white has to be the busiest young scholar in the field today. Hes not only a prolific historian, with more projects on the back burners than ive ever seen on the stove before. He won the outstanding faculty award for academic education. Hes a parent of young children, i dont know where john finds the time. Hes been very generous with what remaining time he has from all of that for this museum and our Education Programs for which were all very grateful. As you can see from your printed programs, the topics of johns work are his published work are many and varied with something of a focus Abraham Lincoln with the legal and constitution, as well and hes coauthor of a book entitled Civic Education and the work of citizenship and because he has news they wrote our little monitor, the greatest invention of this civil war. I asked him to put it on a topic, and it draws from other two manuscripts. Hes currently time is, africanamericans in the Lincoln White house. Ladies and gentlemen, jonathan white. [ applause ] thank you, john, for that very kind introduction. I missed ballet practice to be here today not my own ballet, i should say. My 3yearolds, but im really thrilled to be here at the library of virginia. Its the middle of the civil war, early 1863 a black teenager is living in the capital and working for frank pruitt. One night lizzy went to bed and she lay 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, but dont want you to tell lib, will you . Lib was his wife. Lizzy said she was tired and she told him to go away, but she persevered and put his arms around her neck and slept with her and that happened on several occasions. When lizzy realized she was pregnant she told frank. He asked if the baby was his and she confirmed that it was. A baby girl was born on november 3, 1863. In may of 1864, frank told lizzie he wanted her to take the child and get out of his home. She replied that she would leave if he gave her Financial Support, but he refused. When lizzie then learned that frank was going to kick her out of the house she decided to confront him in front of his wife. The next morning, a sunday, lizzie packed up her belongings, packed her baby and knocked on the pruitts bedroom door, frank stayed in bed while his wife who just had a baby of her own got out of bed and she turned to frank and she said look at me, look at the baby and remember what you have done to me. He, sitting in bed simply replied, well, she then reminded him that he had promised to give Financial Support for the child and she threatened i will disgrace you on the morrow if he didnt supply Financial Support. At this pruit became angry and he turned to his wife and said do you believe that damned black bitch and she said yes, frank, for the last three months you have acted as if you were a phrase of liz. He jumped out of bed and grabbed a revolver, and he said i never intend to die a natural death and i will blow your brains out and his wife grabbed the revolver and said frank, a murder over my child. He choked her, threw her against the wall and ordered her to get out of his house. Lizzie hurried her way out of the home with the baby in her arms. She returned later in the day to get her trunk and when she went back to the house mrs. Pruit gave her some money. The next morning, a monday at 7 00 a. M. She went to find a local judge, and she wanted to file a complaint against pruitt and the judge refuse period upon she then went to another judge who was willing to issue the warrant. Unfortunately, when pruitt found out about this he decided to act, too, and he had lizzie arrested for grand larceny that very same night and he claimed that the money his wife had given to her had actually been stolen. She spent the rest of the week in jail and was finally released on bail. On june 16, 1864, a judge in d. C. Heard the case against pruitt. Lizzie testified and told her story and its a remarkable moment because prior to the civil war, africanamericans are generally not allowed to testify against whites in state or federal courts or in the district of colombia but the ward changed that and she testified and told her story. Several eyewitnesses offered their own accounts of what they had seen or thought happened and the judge decided to acquit pruitt. Some time around when this trial took place, lizzys baby died. Lizzie then went to trial herself as a defendant on november 3, 1864, what 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 herself and so an unknown hand wrote it for her, and you can see this is the actual letter and these are some of her words. The fault was my own for which i was convicted, but i most solemnly declare before my maker that i am guilty of no crime. She explained how in an evil hour she gave way to the import unities and having nowhere left to turn she implored lincoln for mercy. The monies given to me by mrs. Pruitt on condition they would say nothing of myself and mr. Pruitt. At the end of the letter she marked her name with an x. As lincoln sat in his White House Office holding lizzies letter and reviewing her case file, many thoughts may have flashed through his mind. His own genealogy had striking similarities to the story of lizzie shorter. Lincoln believed that his own mothers conception was the result of a wealthy virginia planter taking sexual advantage of a poor young girl and lincolns law partner said that this was a painful memory for lincoln. Lincoln also had strong misgivings about societys double standards when it came to cases of seduction or extra marital sex. He thought it was unjust that women received more blame than men who participated in sexual indiscretions and he wrote a poem about this in the 1830s and these are a few lines of that poem. Whatever spiteful fools may say, each jealous ranting yelper, no woman ever played the whore unless she had a man to help her. That ones not on the lincoln memorial. [ laughter ] pruitts Sexual Exploitation of elizabeth shorter clearly offended lincolns sense of justice and lincoln felt empathy for the young mother. He knew the grief of losing a child. He had lost two sons of his own. Considering all of the evidence on hand and moved with compassion, lincoln issued a pardon on november 5th before she could even be sent to new york for imprisonment and this is what he wrote on the back of her letter. Elizabeth shorters case is probably the fastest pardon lincoln ever issued. She was convicted on november 3rd, wrote a letter on november 4th and he pardoned her on november 5th. All the more remarkable is the timing. Three days later lincoln would stand for reelection for the presidency for his second term in office. Now the story of elizabeth shorter is an important one. Although its 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 and so he did what he could do to rectify the situation. When dealing with pardons and cases like this, he acted upon principles of equality regardless of a persons race, color, sex or previous condition of servitude. Recently the New York Times project 1619 has gotten a good deal of attention among scholars and the general public. The essays in the project do a wonderful and Great Service for reminding us for the centrality of race and slavery to the american story, but unfortunately, the project introduces some significant distortions of its own. The project presents an incomplete and misleading portrait of lincoln and part of the 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 that lincoln had with a black delegation in august of 1862 in which he sought to persuade five black leaders from washington, d. C. To lead africanamericans out of the country to Central America through a process known as colonization. Its an unfortunate moment that lincolns scholars like myself have to deal with because we find lincoln lecturing his guests in a very con descending way. He tells them that the war is their fault, if they werent here we wouldnt be at war and they should leave the country, taken at face value, its really 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 throughout the north to read his speech for a very important political reason. He had decided to issue an emancipation proclamation, but he knew that a white racist northern populous was not going to be likely to absent it so he had to prepare them for it and this was part of how he chose to do that. In essence, lincoln was telling white northerners, you dont need to be worried about emancipation because i will try to persuade people of color to leave the country once theyre freed. On the one hand this was a remarkable moment that demonstrated a great step forward in american Race Relations for it was the first time in American History that a sitting president had invited africanamericans to the white house for a meeting. On the other hand, it was a pr stunt, and it was tremendously condescending toward africanamericans and so much so that it had negative impacts on black northerners throughout the north, but lincoln was a masterful politician. He did this as an entering wedge so that he could introduce something bigger and better in the near future, the emancipation proclamation. William lloyd garrisons newspaper the liberator captured the complexity and multiple pieces of this meeting calling it a spectacle as humiliating as it was extraordinary. Here is the question i want to set out for today. Was this meeting with lincoln and the black delegation in august 1862, was this typical of his meetings with africanamericans . Should it have been held 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 1861 lincoln began engaging with africanamericans in ways that no other president ever had. On april 18th, a baltimore mob badly wounded a black servant named Nicholas Bittel who was traveling from pennsylvania to washington, d. C. , with the regimen of pennsylvania volunteers. Someone in this mob shouted n word in uniform, while the other yelled kill the damned brother of abe lincoln. Bittel received a horrifying blow to the face by a paving stone thrown in his direction. As one of his comrades wrote in his diary, nick bittel had his head cut open by a stone thrown. The pennsylvania soldiers eventually made it to washington and they were quartered in the u. S. Capital. Bittel lay in pain, a pool of blood staining the floor where he slept that night. The next day lincoln went to the capital with several cabinet secretaries to greet these soldiers. He took each man by the hand including Nicholas Bittel. A black chaplain for the union army later wrote this. He said bittels pain was mixed with pleasure at the capital, for it was his priviledge to be visited by Abraham Lincoln and to be received by the president words of compliment and cheer. Until the day he died in 1876 bittel never tired of telling people about what 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. Lincoln welcomed his first black guest to the white house in arlington 1862, a bishop named daniel payne. Payne came to discuss emancipation in the district of columbia. They had a long conversation, about 45 minutes in lincolns office and afterwards, payne wrote about it and these are paynes words. There was nothing stiff or formal in the air and manner of his excellency, nothing egotistic. President lincoln received and conversed with me as though i had been one of his intimate acquaintances or one of his friendly neighbors. I left him with the profound sense of his real greatness, and his fitness to rule a nation composed of almost all the races on the face of the globe. The following month in may of 1862, lincoln visited a hospital in washington, d. C. , 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 a kindly tone. How do you do, lucy, he said to the first. The nurse then remarked that lincoln stuck out his long hand in recognition of the womens services. He stuck out his hand to shake 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, the nurse described it, they had shining faces that testified to their amazement and joy for all time, but soon she began to look around the room and she noticed how the white officers who were convalescing there reacted to the scene. They expressed a feeling of intense disgust and claimed that it was a mean, contemptible trickle for those to introduce those damn n words to the president. Fortunately, lincoln paid those racist views no mind. He treated the black cooks the same way he did the White Union Soldiers at the hospital. He was grateful to them for their service and to their nation and he didnt alter his behave consider simply because white soldiers were looking on in disbelief. Throughout his time at the white house, lincoln welcomed several dozen black visitors. Some of these guests were famous like Frederick Douglas and Sojourner Truth. Most are completely forgotten today. When lincoln met with these black visitors 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 tiresome chore because he has to do it all day every day and yet when a black visitor came to his office he always warmly, kindly, eagerly and repeatedly grasped their hands. This small gesture should not be discounted for it carried not only great meaning for his black visitors and also important symbolic meaning for white americans who read about these encounters in the newspapers. Most white politicians in the 1860s never would have been willing to be so genuinely welcoming to an africanamerican. As the historians james horton wrote, blacks often work with white reformers who displayed partial views and the hortons describe in their research that there were white abolitionists and they refused to shake the hands of the black abolitionists. This continue in the postwar period where reformers showed the prejudice. During his run in 1872 horace is touring in pennsylvania and a black delegation comes up to him and they go to shake his hand and he showed great disdain for them, towards them for thinking that 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 this, she said to the lowly, the humble, the timid colored man and woman he bent in special kindness. Another washingtonian in 1866 said the good and just heart of Abraham Lincoln prompted him to receive representatives of every class then fighting for the union. Nor was he above shaking black hands for hands of that color then carried the stars and stripes or used muscular saver 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 gave several gifts to prominent africanamericans who had been close to lincoln including Frederick Douglas and mary lincolns seem stress. And douglas and quickly cherished these gifts and relics that had been held close in lincolns right hand. As Sojourner Truth said it was the same hand that signed the death warrant of slavery. In 1815, the poet James Weldon Johnson celebrated the 50th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation with these words. Since they 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 that black men would go to the white house in a social way, and not as a servant or a slave. People who observed this scene noted that lincoln greeted them in a kindly way and not treating them any different than the white visitors. About a month and a half later two black Army Surgeons decided to go to the same thing and one of them is alexander augusto, who is here on the left. Augusta had overcome tremendous life, and his family moved to baltimore in the 1830s . So in 1863 he sent a letter to Abraham Lincoln. He was still in canada, but he wanted lincoln to know he wanted to serve his nation and a race in the union army. Despite his qualifications, augusta faced intense discrimination in the application process. He appeared before the Army Medical Board in march 1863 and examined by this guy on the left, dr. Meredith climber. Dr. Climber expressed and these are his word, surprise that augusta, quote, appeared to be a person of african descent. Augusta explained to the members of the board i have come a thousand miles of sacrifice hoping to be of use to my country and my race in this eventful period and hope of the board will make a favorable view of my case, but the board was unmoved and dr. Climber and Surgeon General william a. Hammond both wanted the War Department to recall augustas invitation to appear. Fortunately the secretary of war Edward Stanton stepped in and he refused to give in to their racially motivated requests. In 1836 augusta passed the boards examination, the first africanamerican, he became the first africanamerican to receive an Army Commission in American History. He was commission major. Surgeon general hammond went up to the examining physician and his name was cronan and he said i say, cronan, how did you come to let the n word pass . Dr. Cronan said the n word knew more than i did, and i could not help myself. Once in uniform, augusta faced awful racial violence and discrimination and he was traveling through baltimore in 1863 where he was visually attacked by a mob. He was later kicked off of a washington d. C. Street war and he went to the Supreme Court and he was not allowed to watch. You need to take away his commission. It is outrageous that we are outranked by a black man, but augusta wouldnt allow any of this to stop him. He and his friend dr. Anderson abbott approached the white house for a public reception. They came dressed in their blue union uniforms. Inside the building they met Benjamin Brown french and he was the commissioner of the public buildings and they presented french with their cards and these are abbotts words describing the scene. French conducted us with all the urbanity imaginable to the president who was standing just inside the door. French first introduced augusta to president lincoln and according to abbott, mr. Lincoln, on seeing augusta advanced eagerly a few paces forward and grasped his hand. Now about six paces away, Mary Todd Lincoln was standing, talking to her son robert who was home from harvard and she sent robert over to the president and lincoln was Still Holding augustas hand and robert comes over and says are you going to allow this innovation . And lincoln turns to his son and says why not . Nothing more was said between the president and his son and robert slinked back over to his mothers side and at that, lincoln turned over to augusta and these are anderson abbotts words and gave his hand a hearty shake and the president then shook abbotts hand. People who witnessed this scene were amazed by what they saw. Lincolns private sect william o. Stoddard said this, i shall never forget the sensation produced at the levy by the appearance of two tall and very welldressed africans among the crowd of those who came to pay their respects. It was a practical assertion of negro citizenship for which few were prepared. Lincoln, according to stoddard, nevertheless received them with marked kindness and after a while they went on their way with great selfpossession. 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 and according to this witness, lincoln treated the affair as of ordinary 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 a medical school in british north america. The first black commissioned officer in the army, the first africanamerican 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 first black person to teach medicine in the country. 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 one final impressive first. The first black officer to be buried at Arlington National cemetery when he died at the age of 65 in 1890. I know im a virginian, and pennsylvanian by birth and virginian by necessity, and i know that the state legislature and the Richmond City counselor are talking to do what to do with monument avenue, and i would suggest the creation of a monument to alexander t. Augusta and he was from norfolk, after all, and i think it would tell a very compelling story if you placed augusta near lee, stewart, jackson and davis. It would tell a much more complete and compelling story of the commonwealth during the civil war. During the summer of 1864, lincoln met with several groups of black religious leaders in washington and they asked him for permission to hold picnics on the white house grounds and in each case lincoln gave permission. The incredible nature of these, vents is captured by how the democratic press responded. Democrats complained that white religious groups had never been given permission to use the white house grounds for picnic, why was lincoln allowing black groups to do this . Many expressed outrage. The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, that with negro lawyers in the Supreme Court and negros at white house receptions that 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. Ed sneered at lincoln. It was the star of the north from bloomsberg, pennsylvania and this is what they wrote in 1864, when did we ever have a president that made so much of the negro or was ever willing to take him into his private and social circles 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 because in december 1864 a copperhead newspaper is using that phrase to say who Abraham Lincoln is. In june of 1865 at the cooper union in new york Frederick Douglas would deliver a eulogy to Abraham Lincoln and he would call lincoln emphatically the black mans president. In september 1864, a group of black ministers from baltimore brought a very expensive bible that they presented to lincoln out of gratitude for all theyd done for africanamericans and i would see the bible a couple of months ago at Fisk University in nashville, and i took a picture of the medallion on the front cover. The following month, Sojourner Truth came to the white house and met with lincoln and lincoln sat down with her and showed her the bible. Upon seeing the good book truth said this is beautiful and to think that the colored people have given this to the head of the government and to think that government once sanctioned laws that would not permit its people to learn enough to be able 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 said i felt like i was in the presence of a friend and i now thank god from the bottom of my heart that i always have advocated his cause and have done it openly and boldly. Lincoln also met with africanamericans to discuss important matters of public policy. In the spring of 1864 he met with two delegations of black men from the south to discuss the issue of should the right to vote be given to black men. In march 1864 he met with two creoles from new orleans who presented this petition to him asking for the right to vote. The two elite, wealthy creole men argued that wealthy, tax paying black men should be given the franchise. Lincoln said to them, i regret, gentlemen, that you are not able to secure all your rights and that circumstances will not permit the government to confirm them upon you. What lincoln said the right to vote is controlled at the state level and as president he has no power over who can vote. Lincoln then told the two visitors that he wished they would amend the petition and one of them replied, if you will permit me, i will do so here. Lincoln said are you the author of this eloquent production . And the man replied, whether eloquent or not, it is my work. They sat down side by side and worked together to amendment document. According to one witness the southern gentlemen who were 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 sends a famous letter to the newly elected governor of louisiana michael hahn and the majority of this letter that lincoln wrote had to do with what he called a private suggestion that hahn pushed at the state level for black men to get the right to vote. Lincoln said the very intelligent and those who have fought gallantly in our ranks, such voters, lincoln said, would probably help in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel of liberty within the family of freedom. Lincolns suggestion to governor hahn is remarkable in several ways. Most importantly its the first time that a sitting president advocates for the right to vote for black men. Clearly, the arguments put forward by the delegation by louisiana had begun to influence the way lincoln is going to think about this issue. Its also worth noting that 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 and lincoln wants the right to vote for people who are very intelligent meaning educated or who bear arms for the union regardless of their financial status. A month after this meeting, lincoln met with another delegation, six black men from North Carolina came to lincoln asking for the right to vote in their state. The leader of this group was a man named Abraham Galloway and it was in 1837 in North Carolina and she was a how 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 spy by the union army and by the mid center he was at the center of black soldiers in North Carolina. Galloway and five other black men come to washington to personally deliver a petition to Abraham Lincoln. Four of these 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 wouldnt even be led through the back door of the magistrate. In washington, d. C. , they were escorted through the front door of the white house and lincoln shook 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 that he should continue to do so. He then gave them the full assurance of his sympathy that they are now making for their rights and 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 have to be dealt with during reconstruction, still, lincoln told the black visitors, he was blood black men had their rights. When the conversation ended lincoln again shook their hands. Reflecting on this experience, one of the north carolinians was moved by how lincoln had greeted them and he said lincoln received us cordially and spoke with us freely and kindly. In august 1864, lincoln called Frederick Douglas to come to the white house for a meeting. Lincoln was convinced he would lose in his bid for reelection and he wanted toy from as many slaves as he could. He said douglas, i hate slavery as much as you do, and i want to see it abolished altogether. The two men then sat down in lincolns office to come up with a plan. How can we free as many slaves as possible before im out of the white house in march 1865 and the plan they came up with was create a band of scouts, thats what douglas called it and 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 than anything i had before spoken by him. I listen with the deepest interest and profound satisfaction. Learning are lincolns meeting has suggested it shows his genuine humanitarianism and freeing the slaves at this point in the war had nothing to do with military necessity and it had everything to do with what was morally right. They demonstrate that lincoln catastrophe 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 the q and a, if you want to hear it. He helped the least of these, h. He helped the least of these, including, flirt for black women and men who are in dire financial situations. He gave them money like this check of five dollars. We dont even know the recipients, name to a colored man with one leg. He gave them food, clothes, a story of lincoln pouring a poor black man into the house that he saw standing in the white house he sang and prayed. In washington d. C. His meeting with lincoln transformed and he relished telling audiences about his experiences. I have been to washington to see the white house, and as you are not there, perhaps you would like to know of how the president of the United States received a black man at the white house. Douglas proudly told an audience, in 1960 1863. He received me just as you have seen one gentlemen receive another. At this, douglas paused, while the audience broke in applause. He then continued by saying that lincoln greeted him with a hand in a voice will balance, between a kind cordiality in a respectful reserve. I tell you, i felt big there. Lincolns interactions with these poor men and women of color are touching reminders that could connect from people who came from such different circumstances as his own. Since the mid 18 fifties he argued that even enslaved Women Deserve the rights that were enumerated in the declaration of independence. He told the white audience of june 1857, and i will put the words up here. In her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands, without asking leave 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 18 fifties. For he was telling a white male racist audience, that all people of all colors, everywhere, had a value and fourth, and were included in the sacred words of the declaration. Now, in these private moments at the white house, lincoln practiced when he had been preaching. He treated all people as equals, and connected with them on an emotional level. In ways that no white person unlikely ever had before. Certainly, no president before lincoln had ever done so thank you. [applause] we have time for questions . Thank you very much, two questions. I have been trying to get some information on a reverend parker, from hank and roads. There is a book that says he comes to me with Abraham Lincoln, i think hes from north would. I want that information to, then. So you dont know about that, then. No. And if you could talk about Martin Delaney . And when he meets with a brand lincoln . And when that book comes, out ill buy it. Yeah, 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 information, after, if i find anything i would love to let you know. Im working on two books about African Americans, one is black respondents to lincoln, i found 120 letters that African Americans wrote to lincoln. And then the other is about black visitors to the white house. And the questions about delaney, he was very famous abolitionist an immigration assist in the 18 fifties. He was a doctor, he starts writing to the War Department in 1863 about getting a commission in the army, and he doesnt actually get one enten until 1865. He meets with lincoln i want to say late february 1865 and they go and they have a very long conversation, and delaney says to lincoln, ive got this idea we need to create an army of only black man. You see, the Civil War Union armies were segregated. The regiments, im sorry. So you had black and listed men and Non Commissioned Officers being overseen by White Commission officers. So delaney says, he goes and meets with lincoln and says, if we create an army of black men, so your black and listened men in their officers have blackmon, that would just terrify the south and it would help lead to the end of the war. And we know this through the lane memoir which was published in 1883. He gives a very long description of this conversation. And according to the lady, lincoln turned to him and says this is the idea ive been wanting to hear for a long time, and no ones ever come up with, it im glad that someone has finally done this. And shortly after this conversation, elaine receives a commission as an officer in the union army. There is some question about the timing, because by february or march of 65 i dont know that lincoln wouldve needed that kind of army, at that point. He can kind of see 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 top . One of the back there . Or a piece . Whats the story . Sure. So there was a women named caroline johnson, from philadelphia and i didnt realize the significance of the story when i first wrote about it, and just in the last few months i realized how significant it was. She was a free black women in philadelphia, and she worked as her job, was making wax fruit. And she would sell these beautiful displays of wax fruit. During the war she also volunteered as a nurse, helping convalescent Union Soldiers in philadelphia. In the spring of 1864, and she decides she wants to do something to show her appreciation to lincoln, for all that he has done to free the slaves. And so she makes a beautiful wax fruit display. It cost or 150 dollars and does a retail value its 350 dollars. Through a connection to someone in the department of the interior, she gets permission to go presented at the white house and give it to lincoln in person. So the morning she needs with lincoln, its a saturday, and lincoln normally met with people another workdays, so the fact that she gets to meet with him on a saturday is notable for a one. But, to, whats notable is the room they met in. They met in the White House Library. And if you know the white house, its a room on the second floor that is shaped like an oval, and it faces the washington monument. So shes given permission to go into this room, an hour before her meeting with lincoln and set it up, because shes an artist, she wanted to look just right. And then she meets with lincoln and they have this very touching conversation, she brings her minister with him with her. He talks to lincoln about how grateful she, is gives a great word, lincoln response and he is choking up in the conversation. And then they go on their way. And when i first encountered the story i said well this is a very touching story. But then i wanted to try to write the book in a way that will really capture the scene. So i wanted to find out what the White House Library look like. So i started to do a lot of research trying to find newspaper accounts of what the white house looked like, and the more i read, what i discovered was that the White House Library was part of lincolns private family space. Public visitors were not permitted to go in there. Thats where he went to take a meal, or take a nap or to take his shoes off and put his feet up on the table when he didnt want anyone to see him. You didnt invite people in their unless they were intimately connected to you, a family friend or a close adviser. So i think it has a great meaning that lincoln invites caroline johnson, and her minister, to come into this room for this conversation, and for this presentation. My hunch is, and i have to confirm this, but my hunch is that its the first time that an African American is welcome to the private Living Spaces of the white house, when they are not either a servant, a slave, or seamstress. Some sort of servant role. But lincoln welcome her in, and they had this moving conversation, and maryland can was so moved by this that at a reception that night, when the reception was over she brought a close friend and he wrote in his diary. She said mrs. Lincoln take me into the library where i saw all this beautiful wax fruit display and mrs. Lincoln she just talked about how much he loved it and how beautiful it was. So its really an incredible moment that its not well known, and i think when you capturing the significance of the room, that it takes basin, it says a lot about the way lincoln was breaking down the color line in small steps at the white house. There was a handler here, i thought. Oh, sure. Did mary todd share the same philosophy as her husband, and perhaps in this day in age, they may refer to it as the optics . So a situation that maybe she was kind of buffering with the public . Mary did not. So im doctor augusta and the other doctor showed in the white house she sends robert over and tries to get them to get her husband to stop 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 that anyone of any race is permitted to come to the white house for the new years reception. And a ton of African Americans, well over 100 show up for the reception, and mary lincoln was not having it. She forced them to wait until after the white guests had gone through. So i dont think mary had the same sort of egalitarianism strength that her husband did. Light in the war, did lincoln solicit or share his thoughts on reconstruction . Did he share them with whom . His black visitors to the white house . Thats a very good question. To some extent, they did, in terms of talking about reconstruction in the expansion of the franchise. But i dont know that he did. He certainly talked about matters of public policy. So Robert Smalls is a very famous slave from south carolina, escapes on the planter in after the war he becomes a congressman. And smallest gives a speech in the 18 eighties, i want to say, work he talks about, and congress, where he met with lincoln in 1862. And smalls claims that they talked about arming black man to fight. And this is before the emancipation proclamation. So small is probably had some influence in what he was thinking, with regards to that very important war policy. As for reconstruction policy, i dont know that they did, i dont recall anything from the records that were suggest they did. But he may have at some point, but it might not have been recorded. Yes . What was lincolns relationship with douglas . And secondly, i was wondering, when and where did douglas first meet each other . Where did douglas and lincoln first meet . Yes. So they were aware of each other from the 18 fifties. And in the Lincoln Douglas debate, Stephen Douglas loves to bring Frederick Douglass in connection, Frederick Douglass was not a fan of lincolns early in the war years. When lincoln is elected president and gives his first inaugural, fred douglas responded Editorial Board he says that, lincoln is the abolitionist worst enemy and the slave he says he is the souths greatest slave catcher. Because lincoln in his first inaugural said i will enforce the law. And then Frederick Douglass, and not a fan. Summer of 1863, frederik tug lewis is furious that black soldiers are not being paid the same as white soldiers. And that the confederate subway government said we will execute black p. O. W. And not giving protections of a prisoner of war. So thats when douglas first goes to the white house, to meet with lincoln. He has completely taken in by lincolns welcoming of him. And they have a very cordial conversation. Thats a first meeting. Second meeting, is obviously 1864, where they discuss this than of scouts. The third meeting is on the day of lincolns inauguration, in 1865. Douglas shows up at the white house, had the guards wont let him in. And eventually, hes able to get his way in atlantic and says here comes my friend douglas. And ask them, why do you think of my speech . And douglas doesnt want to answer. You had a lot of big words there. In lincoln apparently sister douglas, youre the one whos view i want to know. And douglas responds, and says, mr. Lincoln it was a sacred effort. About maryland can, marilyn kaine was actually upset that she didnt need to tell us that day. I think it might be in someones memoir, but im pretty sure its there. Mary finds douglas is there, and she was upset she didnt get to meet him. Lincoln thin invited douglas to tee and douglas already had a speaking engagement. He was fastidious, if he had an engagement he wasnt going to break it. So he didnt go to tea with the president , and then a couple of weeks later lincoln is assassinated and douglas says i couldve broken my engagement if i had known that that would be my last chance to meet with the president. Im gonna take moderators privilege once again, to ask the last question. Speaking of the assassination, also, im sure a lot of people notice as i, did that there is a lot of truth to the note could you speak a little to the implication of these two . Sure, this is the story of a lady. I closed the white house book with his story, actually. This story is that on april 14th, 1865, a young black mother named nancy walks five miles to the white house. The guards dont want to literally, and she pleads with them, please let me go, they say, okay will let iran. And then some people later on will stop her. Eventually she gets the white house and she is bleeding to see lincoln. The guards wont 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 ive got these kids in were starving, i need help. And lincoln says come back tomorrow, and will work out the paperwork. And she comes back the next day, and of course, lincoln is shot on the night of april 14th, 1865. And when she comes back she finds that the situation on the ground is completely changed. And now shes not gonna get the help that she needs. One of the things that lincoln allegedly said to her, on the 14th, was, be sure to get your children and education. And so nancy then pledges in that moment, im gonna do and look inside to do, and make sure my kids get educated. And then the story that survives, the earliest account that i have found, is from 1901. So its questionable in terms of its credibility, but it says that she then make sure kids got educated. I have searched incenses records, im certain slave records here at the laboratory junior, i have surged on ancestry. Com, i have searched everywhere i could possibly thing to search, i have the names of her children, and yet i cant find her or her kids. So for any of the blue haired genealogy us in the room home and help me out later, i would be very grateful. Im looking at you, jack. Its an incredible story. Theres two things that might be going. On it might be a true story, it could be a sort of paternalistic narrative created by the 20th century to say to black americans, you should be like her. Its hard to know. So im still searching for but its a great story. And im including it in the book, with the kava of theres some credibility issues with the story. As for the Sojourner Truth image. Sojourner truth had lincoln sign an autograph for her, in her book. And the original, i think, is at the university of michigan, now. For such an untruth, a, lincoln and one of the things the lincoln gets ding for in the current scholarship is sometimes using language that is considered pejorative. So he referred to some of his male servants who were twenties, as a ploy, and humor serve refers to that them as this way. The thing interesting about this, is that she went to meet with lincoln and that she went with an abolitionist name coleman. And mrs. Coleman wrote an account of this meeting after, away after the fact. And then account she makes lincoln off to be the biggest races you can imagine. And a lot of historians, including very good historians, have relied on that very late rendering of the story. Of lincoln being the two other black women who met with him before so jenner truth went into the office. Of lincoln making surgeon or truth wait for a long time, to meet with him. So he just says these awful things about him, in the memoir. But in the liberator of 1864, november of it is extra, for right after this meeting, lucy coleman wrote an anonymous little squid about the meeting. Which depicts lincoln in a very positive light. And jack was talking earlier about, as historians, we have to wait through the sources and try to evaluate whats reliable and what isnt. And in this case who see coleman didnt like lincoln, and i would go with her earlier recollection, and i would go with whats surgeon or truths was recorded to say about the meeting, less than 1890s recollection of it. So, thank you so much. [applause] since the 1970s, david pilgrim has collected everyday objects that were made to dehumanize African Americans. Founder and director of the Jim Crow Museum of racist memorabilia, argues, that although the artifacts are offensive they can be used as teaching tools to promote conversation and understanding. Tonight, we visit the museum at farah state university, and big rapids, michigan. To see a selection of artifacts from the collection. Watch tonight, at eight eastern, and enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan 3. Up next unsettled, or a post doctoral fellow with virginia doctoral studies received discusses her research on the black confederacy prisoners. She talks about her concern that these prisoner executed, and