Your Obedient Servants

The Presidential Papers Collection of Joseph and Lucille Block

by Dan Guillory

Joseph Block was an executive with Inland Steel of Chicago. For some sixty years, he and his wife, Lucille, collected presidential letters, portraits, and other ephemera. After their deaths, this rich cultural and historical legacy was divided between the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago Museum of History) and the Illinois State Historical Society. In fact, William Furry, the present executive director, and his predecessor, Tom League, actually removed the documents from the walls of the Block condominium in downtown Chicago. The documents—some forty-nine letters, cartoons, notes, and graphics—were then inspected and treated by paper conservator Dottie Hopkins-Rehan of the Illinois State Archives, repairing minor tears and other irregularities. The Block Documents owned by the Illinois State Historical Society were first exhibited to the public at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, and later at the Society's twenty-sixth annual Illinois History Symposium in late November and early December 2005. A timely grant by the Illinois Humanities Council then facilitated an exhibit at the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington from March to May 2006.

Joseph and Lucille Block, donors of the Block Collection of Presidential Papers.

The Block Documents can be roughly divided into three formal groups: graphic images and portraits, political cartoons, and manuscripts. Many of the portraits are in a popular 5X7 inch size, in a cameo format, and many of these images are from the House of Art in New York City. The Blocks owned likenesses of James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, and others. The presidential images are usually accompanied by a matching text, such as James Monroe's note asking for paper and other writing supplies, or Andrew Jackson's letter to an old friend who was having financial problems, caused by Jackson's own monetary policy. James Madison penned a vehement letter of protest, demanding the release of innocent Americans "impressed" into service on British vessels. The effect of reading these papers is to experience firsthand the unfolding events of nineteenth-century American history especially slavery, the Civil War, slavery, and emancipation. For the heart of the Block collection is a remarkable group of seven political cartoons relating to the presidential campaign of 1860, which pitted John Bell, John Breckingridge, and Stephen A. Douglas against Abraham Lincoln.

The most famous of these cartoons, and easily the star of the show, is a Currier and Ives Cartoon of 1860 entitled "The Nigger" in the Woodpile, a nasty and vicious piece of political satire, even by the rough-and-tumble standards of the day. Like the other six Currier and Ives cartoons, it is well-drawn, carefully composed, and powerfully dramatic in effect. The cartoon emphasizes Horace Greeley (who is featured in almost all of the cartoons as Lincoln's true source of power). Greeley's New York Tribune was one of the most influential newspapers of the day, and the irrepressible journalist had supported Lincoln after the famous Cooper Union speech in February 1860. Here, Greeley stands on the left-hand side, trying to reassure an uncommitted voter labeled as "Young America," while Lincoln squats on the "rails" on the Republican platform. Lincoln's rails are spoofed in almost every cartoon. Lincoln states that he had no idea his frontier rail-splitting would elevate him to his present position. Somehow Lincoln ignores the African American who is hidden inside the Republican Platform, but the Young American blurts out that he can see "the Nigger peeping through the rails." For all its crudeness, this cartoon is entirely representative of the vehement political campaigning of the era, and it may help contemporary voters to understand the political mud-slinging of today.

20 Illinois Heritage

"Letting the Cat Out of the Bag!!" political campaign art hy Currier & Ives.

In like manner, the Currier and Ives cartoon with the title An Heir to the Throne again shows Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln, once again leaning on a rail. The racial stereotypes of 1860 are clearly revealed in the way the African American is depicted with short baggy pants and large goggle eyes. It is entirely possible that the artist had never actually seen or closely observed a person of color. Once again, this cartoon from the past contains lessons on how we perceive one another in the highly charged atmosphere of the present.

Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln responds to a fan's request for his autograph.

The Currier and Ives Company virtually dominated the lithography market in the United States for the second half of the nineteenth century. Some of their prints sold for as little as six cents, and one of the most popular was President Lincoln at Home: Reading Scriptures to His Wife and Son (1865). This print is essentially part of the presidential mythologizing that followed the assassination because Lincoln probably did not read the scriptures to his family. A lifelong Deist, Lincoln certainly studied the Bible, but he did not belong to any formal church, even though he purchased a pew for Mary Todd Lincoln and their sons at the First Presbyterian Church on Seventh Street in Springfield.

Another notable Lincoln item in the collection is the engraving by Alfred Story entiled Mr. Lincoln. Rider and Horse (1865). The artist depicts an idealized and bearded Lincoln sitting astride his horse in front of his Springfield home at Eighth and Jackson streets. The scene is supposed to occur in 1858, after the bitter senatorial campaign against Stephen A. Douglas, which Lincoln lost. So Lincoln's beard is, in fact, an anachronism since he did not begin to grow it until 1861. A more artistic interpretation of Lincoln can be appreciated in Timothy Cole's engraving of the Sixteenth President, which is signed by the artist. Cole was the foremost wood-block engraver of the era, and this beautifully nuanced portrait bears a haunting resemblance to the famous "Whistler's Mother."

The Blocks also acquired some revealing wartime notes from Lincoln, including his April 9, 1864 note to General Meade suspending the execution of a certain William Collins, a private in the 69th New York Irish Volunteers. Lincoln hated to see soldiers executed for minor infractions, especially in the midst of the surrounding bloodshed. In the same way, he deplored the forced drafting of

Illinois Herigate 21

A signature card signed by Lincoln and his cabinet.

African Americans into the Union Army, as shown in his February 1865 memo to Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War. Readers of Doris Kearns Goodwin's best-selling Team of Rivals will also enjoy the cameo engraving of President Lincoln and his eight cabinet members. It is hard to imagine a more talented—or contentious— group of civil servants. There is also an accompanying Signature Card, which Lincoln and the cabinet members all dutifully signed.

Joseph and Lucille Block deserve our gratitude, then, for allowing us to peruse the presidential documents that helped to create the world we enjoy today. These papers are a delight for the eye and the mind: they deserve a little meditation and quite reflection Future exhibitions of the Block Documents will be held at various sites in the State of Illinois beginning this fall.

22 Illinois Heritage