American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Western Illinois Sanitary Fair. [Quincy, IL]: [1864]. 2pp., folio, 8 1/8 x 10 1/4 in. (creasing, few smudges). Signed in type by Charles E. Allen, Presdient of the Freedmen's Relief Society of Quincy, and six other officers, with honorary committee and executive committee members listed below. The first sanitary fair was held at Lowell, MA in February 1863. However, it was the October 1863 fair held in Chicago—dubbed "The Northwestern Soldiers' Fair"—that popularized the concept, and became the model for other cities, including Albany. One important feature of the Chicago fair (copied in Albany and elsewhere) was the organizers' reliance on pre-existing networks of women in charitable societies. -- First Annual Report of the Permanent Soldiers' Home. [Chicago, IL]: [1864]. 3pp., folio, 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (light creasing and soiling). Undersigned in type by Mrs. S.C. Sayrs, Secretary of the Soldiers' Home, Chicago, IL. Additional officers, managers, directresses, and honorary members are listed below. -- State Sanitary Bureau. [Springfield, IL]: [1862]. 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. broadsheet (minor creasing to upper right corner). Undersigned in type by Richard Yates, Governor of Illinois 1861-1865. Governor Yates calls upon the people of Illinois to contribute fresh vegetables, fruits, and other articles of food for shipment to troops in hospitals and in the field. -- Proclamation by the Governor of Illinois. [Springfield, IL]: [1863]. 8 x 10 in. broadsheet (creasing). Undersigned in type by Governor Yates. Proclamation appoints the last Thursday of November 1864 as a day of thanksgiving. -- Proclamation For a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, by the Governor of the State of Illinois. [Springfield, IL]: [1866]. 8 1/2 x 14 in. broadsheet (spotting, minor creasing, few tears). Undersigned in print by Richard J. Oglesby, Governor of Illinois 1865-1869, 1873,1885-1889. Proclamation recommends to the people of Illinois that they observe the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death (15 April 1866) "by laying aside all secular concerns on that day, and devoutly assembling in their respective places of worship..."  -- Together, 5 Civil War-era imprints, condition generally good, many with pencil markings to upper right corners. 

[With:] Circular from H.N. Congar. [Hong Kong]: [1864]. 10 x 16 1/2 in. broadsheet (creasing, few spots and tears to paper). Undersigned in type by H.N. Congar. Writing "To the Union Citizens of Newark, New Jersey," Congar enheartens the residents of his native city amidst the horrors of war, encouraging them to vote for Lincoln and his cabinet. "They stand as leaders in that great struggle for national life now pending, while on the other side are the Seymours, Vallandighams, and Woods, whose traitorous counsels and deeds prove them unfit for power." --

[Also with:] 2 pieces of patriotic stationery featuring Union symbols.