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Catalog Data

Depicted:
Delany, Martin Robinson  Search this
Lincoln, Abraham  Search this
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson)  Search this
Douglass, Frederick  Search this
Brown, John  Search this
Colfax, Schuyler  Search this
Revels, Hiram Rhodes  Search this
Maker:
Kelly, Thomas  Search this
Artist:
Beard, James Carter  Search this
Physical Description:
paper (overall material)
ink (overall material)
Measurements:
image: 18 5/8 in x 25 1/2 in; 47.3075 cm x 64.77 cm
Object Name:
Lithograph
Object Type:
Lithograph
Place made:
United States: New York, New York City
Depicted:
United States: Maryland, Baltimore
Date made:
1870
Date of depicted image:
1870-05-19
Description:
This commemorative print celebrates the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. The central panel depicts the parade in Baltimore on May 19, 1870, the largest celebration honoring the amendment's passage. The parade lasted more than five hours, was over a mile in length, and had more than 20,000 spectators. Note the Baltimore Washington Monument in the background, the troop of Zouave drummers, and the African American men wearing Masonic sashes. The central image is surrounded by sixteen small vignettes containing portraits of individuals and events that were influential in securing voting rights for all American males regardless of race. These include four white men: Abraham Lincoln, in upper left President Ulysses S. Grant, a bust of abolitionist John Brown, abolitionist, orator, and Grant’s Vice President Schuyler S. Colfax. The African American leaders in the center are D.C. US Marshall Frederick Douglas, Mississippi Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels depicted sitting in Congress, and Martin Robison Delany, author and 1st African American major in US Army. The surrounding scenes optimistically depict the of expected benefits of the amendment such as a African American wedding ceremony presuming freedom to marry without impediment, a African American man voting, scenes depicting African Americans at worship and in school, and an image of former slaves tilling their own fields.
The brightly colored chromolithograph was created by graphic artist James Carter Beard and published/ issued by the Irish immigrant lithographer Thomas Kelly. It was published in New York. Two sizes of this print were produced; this is the larger version. Thomas Kelly learned the craft of lithography in Philadelphia from his father. He moved to New York, where he established a print and frame dealership and continued to publish picturesque scenes of American life. He is possibly the same Thomas Kelly who printed Catholic Bibles and prayer-books in New York, winning an award for these at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
For more detailed information about the vignettes in this print see: http://americanhistory.si.edu/Brown/resources/pdfs/unit1/2-15th-amendment-print.pdf
Location:
Currently not on view
Subject:
Horses  Search this
Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols  Search this
Children  Search this
Uniforms, Military  Search this
Reform Movements  Search this
Uniforms, fraternal  Search this
U.S. National Government, executive branch  Search this
U.S. National Government, judiciary  Search this
U.S. National Government, legislative branch  Search this
Chronology: 1870-1879  Search this
Holidays and Celebrations, general  Search this
Depicted:
African American  Search this
Blacks  Search this
Referenced:
United States Constitution, Fifteenth Amendment  Search this
Civil War  Search this
Credit Line:
Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
ID Number:
DL.60.2611
Catalog number:
60.2611
Accession number:
228146
See more items in:
Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
American Civil War Prints
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
Art
Domestic Furnishings
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b5-1316-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_324921