Learn how to use Civil War court-martial records in your genealogy research. Archives specialist Timothy Syzek will present ‘Beyond the Basics Genealogy: Civil War Courts-Martial” (all skill levels welcome). Wednesday, May 15, at 11 a.m. Room G-25, Research Center (Penn. Ave. Entrance) Image: Army of the Cumberland, court martial group, (111-B-2002)
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Learn how to use Civil War court-martial records in your genealogy research. Archives specialist Timothy Syzek will present ‘Beyond the Basics Genealogy: Civil War Courts-Martial” (all skill levels welcome).

Wednesday, May 15, at 11 a.m.
Room G-25, Research Center (Penn. Ave. Entrance)

Image: Army of the Cumberland, court martial group, (111-B-2002)

This diary was written by George Boardman, a young man from Maine, who joined the 22nd Regiment during the Civil War. He wrote of many things: the pride and anxiety they experienced as they paraded through downtown Calais before departing for Bangor; his encounter with citizens who did not welcome Union troops; a miserable trip in a dirty coal car; his fear that death would soon intrude on the grand adventure for him and his friends; cold, rainy nights; his excitement at glimpsing the ironclad Monitor. Read more about this diary from the point of view of an archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library (and see a larger image): http://go.usa.gov/4ZtY
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This diary was written by George Boardman, a young man from Maine, who joined the 22nd Regiment during the Civil War.

He wrote of many things: the pride and anxiety they experienced as they paraded through downtown Calais before departing for Bangor; his encounter with citizens who did not welcome Union troops; a miserable trip in a dirty coal car; his fear that death would soon intrude on the grand adventure for him and his friends; cold, rainy nights; his excitement at glimpsing the ironclad Monitor.


Read more about this diary from the point of view of an archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library (and see a larger image): http://go.usa.gov/4ZtY

Inauguration Fact: Rutherford B. Hayes became President through the Compromise of 1877. When the electoral votes from the 1876 election were counted, Rutherford B. Hayes was 20 votes short of victory, and 20 votes remained in dispute. The Republican-controlled Congress awarded all the disputed votes to Hayes, and the Democrats threatened to block his inauguration. The two parties ultimately worked out a compromise that accepted Hayes as President and also brought an end to Reconstruction, allowing southern states to control their own affairs. Image: Patent for Hayes campaign fan, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, Record Group 241, National Archives.
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Inauguration Fact: Rutherford B. Hayes became President through the Compromise of 1877.

When the electoral votes from the 1876 election were counted, Rutherford B. Hayes was 20 votes short of victory, and 20 votes remained in dispute. The Republican-controlled Congress awarded all the disputed votes to Hayes, and the Democrats threatened to block his inauguration.

The two parties ultimately worked out a compromise that accepted Hayes as President and also brought an end to Reconstruction, allowing southern states to control their own affairs.

Image: Patent for Hayes campaign fan, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, Record Group 241, National Archives.

Throughout the Civil War, when President Lincoln needed to concentrate, he would leave the White House, cross the street to the War Department, and take over the desk of Thomas T. Eckert, chief of the military telegraph staff.

In early July of 1862, President Lincoln asked the telegraph chief for some paper, explaining that he had something ”special” to write. Slowly, putting down just one or two lines at a time, Lincoln began to work.

Only when a draft was finished did Lincoln reveal that he had composed an order ”giving freedom to the slaves in the South, for the purpose of hastening the end of the war.”

The full story of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is featured in “The Meaning and Making of Emancipation,” a free ebook created by the National Archives. You can read it on your iPad, iPhone, Nook, or other electronic device.

The National Archives will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from Sunday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 1.

Image: Presidential Proclamation 93 (Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation); Presidential Proclamation 93 (vault), Box 2; General Records of the U.S. Government, Record Group 11; National Archives.

The Union Army issued this pass to Wally Caruz and his family. The pass amounted to a certificate of freedom and declared them ”forever emancipated.” The order says that: Wally Caruz family a colored…formerly Slaves having by direction of their owner been engaged in the rebel service, are hereby confiscated as being contraband of war, and not being needed in the Public Service are permitted to pass the pickets of the command northward, and are forever emancipated from a master who permitted them to assist in an attempt to break up the Government and Laws of our Country. Why was Wally Caruz issued this pass to freedom? Find out in today’s Pieces of History post. The National Archives will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from Sunday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 1. Image: Order Granting Freedom to Wally Caruz and Family, 08/15/1862; General James R. Chalmers’ Papers, 1874–1899; War Department Collection of Confederate Records, 1825–1927, Record Group 109 (National Archives Identifier 3854715)
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The Union Army issued this pass to Wally Caruz and his family. The pass amounted to a certificate of freedom and declared them ”forever emancipated.” The order says that:

Wally Caruz family a colored…formerly Slaves having by direction of their owner been engaged in the rebel service, are hereby confiscated as being contraband of war, and not being needed in the Public Service are permitted to pass the pickets of the command northward, and are forever emancipated from a master who permitted them to assist in an attempt to break up the Government and Laws of our Country.

Why was Wally Caruz issued this pass to freedom? Find out in today’s Pieces of History post.

The National Archives will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from Sunday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 1.

Image: Order Granting Freedom to Wally Caruz and Family, 08/15/1862; General James R. Chalmers’ Papers, 1874–1899; War Department Collection of Confederate Records, 1825–1927, Record Group 109 (National Archives Identifier 3854715)

The original Emancipation Proclamation goes on display at the National Archives on Sunday for just three days! Are you coming to see this historic document on its 150th anniversary?

todaysdocument:

The original Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln is in the holdings of the National Archives. To protect the document from light damage It is publicly displayed only a few days each year under extremely low light. In this video from the National Archives, senior archivist Reginald Washington and senior conservator Terry Boone discuss the document’s significance, its history and measures taken to preserve it.

The National Archives will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from Sunday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 1.  This will include extended viewing hours, inspirational music, a dramatic reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and family activities and entertainment for all ages.

John Boston fled slavery in Maryland and found refuge with a New York regiment in Upton Hill, Virginia, where he wrote to his wife, who remained in Owensville. At the moment of celebrating his freedom, his highest hope and aspiration was to be reunited with his family: My Dear Wife it is with grate joy I take this time to let you know Whare I am i am now in Safety in the 14th Regiment of Brooklyn … this Day i can Adress you thank god as a free man I had a little truble in giting away But as the lord led the Children of Isrel to the land of Canon So he led me to a land Whare fredom Will rain in spite Of earth and hell Dear you must make your Self content i am free from al the Slavers Lash and as you have chose the wise plan of Serving the lord I hope you will pray Much and i Will try by the help of god To Serv him With all my hart I am With a very nice man and have All that hart Can Wish But My Dear I Cant express my grate desire that i Have to See you i trust the time Will Come When We Shal meet again And if We dont met on earth We Will Meet in heven Whare Jesas ranes … There is no evidence that Elizabeth Boston ever received this letter. It was intercepted and eventually forwarded to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton by Major General George B. McClellan, providing evidence to the War Department and Lincoln administration of the refugee issue. John Boston’s letter to his wife is featured in our new, free eBook: The Meaning and Making of Emancipation. The National Archives will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document. Image: Page 2 of a letter sent by John Boston to his wife Elizabeth, January 12, 1862, enclosed in a letter from Major General George B. McClellan to the Honorable Edwin Stanton; Letters Received, 1805–1889; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1762–1984, Record Group 94; National Archives Identifier 783102.
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John Boston fled slavery in Maryland and found refuge with a New York regiment in Upton Hill, Virginia, where he wrote to his wife, who remained in Owensville. At the moment of celebrating his freedom, his highest hope and aspiration was to be reunited with his family:

My Dear Wife it is with grate joy I take this time to let you know Whare I am
i am now in Safety in the 14th Regiment of Brooklyn … this Day i can Adress you thank god as a free man I had a little truble in giting away But as the lord led the Children of Isrel to the land of Canon So he led me to a land Whare fredom Will rain in spite Of earth and hell Dear you must make your Self content i am free from al the Slavers Lash and as you have chose the wise plan of Serving the lord I hope you will pray Much and i Will try by the help of god To Serv him With all my hart I am With a very nice man and have All that hart Can Wish But My Dear I Cant express my grate desire that i Have to See you i trust the time Will Come When We Shal meet again And if We dont met on earth We Will Meet in heven Whare Jesas ranes …

There is no evidence that Elizabeth Boston ever received this letter.

It was intercepted and eventually forwarded to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton by Major General George B. McClellan, providing evidence to the War Department and Lincoln administration of the refugee issue.

John Boston’s letter to his wife is featured in our new, free eBook: The Meaning and Making of Emancipation.

The National Archives will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document.

Image: Page 2 of a letter sent by John Boston to his wife Elizabeth, January 12, 1862, enclosed in a letter from Major General George B. McClellan to the Honorable Edwin Stanton; Letters Received, 1805–1889; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1762–1984, Record Group 94; National Archives Identifier 783102.

It’s Facial Hair Friday! Since the new film Lincoln has spent a few weeks in theaters, we thought it’d be interesting to learn more about President Lincoln’s fantastically hairy cabinet. First up is Gideon Welles, who served as President Lincoln’s and then as President Johnson’s Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, the longest anyone had held the position. Welles had facial hair almost as prodigious as his political presence. Look at that beard—and those curls! But he wasn’t just about fine grooming: When the “slavery issue” emerged in the 1850s, Welles became a major figure in the newly formed Republican party, serving as Republican national committeeman and member of the party’s national executive committee. He also helped establish the Hartford Evening Press to support the party. He was a strong advocate for Lincoln and abolition, and was rewarded with appointment to President Lincoln’s cabinet. Throughout his career, Welles was regarded as an unusually astute, methodical, and poised politician. Learn more about Wells and his role on Pieces of History. Images: Circa 1860–1865, National Archives, ARC Identifiers 525398 (left), 526505 (right).
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It’s Facial Hair Friday! Since the new film Lincoln has spent a few weeks in theaters, we thought it’d be interesting to learn more about President Lincoln’s fantastically hairy cabinet.

First up is Gideon Welles, who served as President Lincoln’s and then as President Johnson’s Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, the longest anyone had held the position. Welles had facial hair almost as prodigious as his political presence. Look at that beard—and those curls!

But he wasn’t just about fine grooming:

When the “slavery issue” emerged in the 1850s, Welles became a major figure in the newly formed Republican party, serving as Republican national committeeman and member of the party’s national executive committee. He also helped establish the Hartford Evening Press to support the party. He was a strong advocate for Lincoln and abolition, and was rewarded with appointment to President Lincoln’s cabinet. Throughout his career, Welles was regarded as an unusually astute, methodical, and poised politician.

Learn more about Wells and his role on Pieces of History.

Images: Circa 1860–1865, National Archives, ARC Identifiers 525398 (left), 526505 (right).

The Emancipation Proclamation is displayed for a few days each year because of its fragility and the need to preserve it for future generations. This year we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s proclamation with a special three-day exhibit and extended viewing hours: Sunday, December 30, 2012, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, December 31, 2012, 10 a.m.-12 a.m.Tuesday, January 1, 2013, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The document will be on display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives building, which is located on Constitution Avenue at 9th Street, NW. The building is Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines at the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.
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The Emancipation Proclamation is displayed for a few days each year because of its fragility and the need to preserve it for future generations.

This year we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s proclamation with a special three-day exhibit and extended viewing hours:

Sunday, December 30, 2012, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 
Monday, December 31, 2012, 10 a.m.-12 a.m.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The document will be on display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives building, which is located on Constitution Avenue at 9th Street, NW. The building is Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines at the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.