African Americana

2 3/4 x 5 3/8 in. printed card (toned, dampstain, a few ink spots).

The Colored Orphan Asylum was founded in 1836 by three white Quaker women, Anna and Hanna Shotwell and Mary Lindley Murray, to house and care for Black children who were orphaned. Prior to its founding, Black children were housed in jail or left homeless as orphanages, by and large, refused entry. In March 1863, stricter conscription for the Federal Army was enforced. A substitute could be hired, however, this luxury was accessible only to the wealthy. Additionally, Black men were not subject to conscription as they were not yet considered citizens of the United States. As a result, working-class white males, many associated with Irish mobs, rioted in response to the laws, attacking Black neighborhoods and Federal buildings. In the violence on the first day, the Colored Orphan Asylum was burned down on 13 July 1863.

In response to the rioters, the Democratic Governor of New York, Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) was conciliatory, earning him the ire of Republicans, accusing him of treason and support for the Confederacy. This small handbill was produced highlighting this criticism stating that the "Ruffianly Mob...were acknowledged and addressed by Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, as being his "Friends."

RARE, only one other copy known, held in the New-York Historical Society, Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans Records, series 13: Miscellaneous Items, folder 1, 1853-1865 (Seraile, William. Angels of Mercy, p. 73).