Printed and Manuscript Americana

Baltimore: Published by Metcalf & Clark, 1870. Hand-colored lithograph. 22 x 28 in. (559 x 711 mm). Toned and soiled; sheet generally wrinkled from when affected by damp; scattered dampstaining; scattered repaired small open tears; scattered wear and small chipping along edges. In contemporary frame, 25 1/2 x 31 1/2 in. (648 x 800 mm). Reilly, American Political Prints 1766-1876 1870-2; McCauley, Maryland Historical Prints E109

A jubilant celebration for American Civil Rights after the passage of the 15th Amendment, this print depicts a parade held in Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 19, 1870. The parade is comprised of Black Zouaves, some on horseback, striding down Monument Street from the Washington Monument in Baltimore, as the sidewalks are lined with African American onlookers. Along the margins are a series of vignettes depicting key figures such as Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, John Brown, Presidents Lincoln and Grant, and Frederick Douglass.

The 15th Amendment, enacted on March 30, 1870, extended suffrage to Black men in the United States. The last of the Reconstruction Amendments, it cemented the social gains won at great human cost in the Civil War by stating: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

There are two versions of this print from Metcalf & Clark: a black and white version and hand-colored versions such as this. OCLC records only one copy, at AAS; other copies are held at the Library of Congress, the National Portrait Gallery, the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, and the Leventhal Center at the Boston Public Library. Another edition was published simultaneously in New York, although this Baltimore imprint is the less common of the two.