Printed Ephemera: Introduction -- Page 2

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Reward notices constitute another form of broadside and are of endless variety; lost items include horses, dogs, pocket books, packets off a steam boat, and silks, satins, and rings stolen from retail shops. Among the most numerous reward notices are those seeking runaway slaves. "$200 Reward" gives a remarkably detailed description of five members of a slave family that escaped from St. Louis in 1847. Sometimes added annotations are as important at the original printing. For example, on the back of "A List of the East-India Company's Ships," 1766, is an extensive manuscript, Account of my Negroes, 1784-85, indicating names and birth and death dates.

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"Declaration of the anti-slavery convention. Assembled in Philadelphia, December 4, 1833 ..."
[Philadelphia] Merrihew & Gunn, printers. No. 7 Carter's Alley [1833]

The activities of the anti-slavery movement may be traced through a number of documents, including the "Declaration of the Anti-Slavery Convention," printed in Philadelphia in 1833 on silk, and recording the work of the first national organizing effort that sought immediate emancipation of all slaves through non-violent actions of "moral suasion." In " Union with Freemen--No Union with Slaveholders," the bold display lettering of "Anti-Slavery Meetings!" adds urgency to the call for citizens in Ohio to "turn out! and learn your duty to yourselves, the slave and God." Fourteen wood cuts, selected for "Illustrations of the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1840," graphically depict the condition of the slave through Northern eyes as well as through Southern. "Printers' Picture Gallery" offers sixteen cuts from the specimen-book of a single New York type-foundry, including historical sketches of the black man free in Africa and over optimistically predicting freedom again in America by 1852 as a result of the efforts of the Anti-Slavery Society. The vulnerability of most ephemera is demonstrated by the current condition of the 1859 "Address of John Brown," which bears several large tears along the right margin and a large burn hole at the top. Insisting that he wanted only to free slaves, not to incite insurrection, Brown's zeal and courage, and willingness to die for the slave, made him an instant martyr and a bellwether of the violence and bloodshed soon to consume the country.

Items related to the Civil War include proclamations to uphold the union; ordinances of secession including the "Declaration of the Causes which impel the State of Texas to secede from the Federal Union"; and recruiting notices seeking volunteers, including a call for dragoons in California. A popular 1861 broadside, cut in the shape of a pattern, gives directions for making "Hospital Slippers for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the Union." Complementary sources verify that in the first six months of 1862 the Ladies' Aid Society of Philadelphia distributed more than one thousand pairs of slippers, as well as thousands of boxes of other clothing, bedding, food, medicines, and books.

Dire shortages of food and supplies experienced in the South are dramatically demonstrated by the last issue of the Vicksburg "Daily Citizen." When editor J.M. Swords prepared this issue on July 2, 1863, he noted confidently that although there were rumors of Grant planning to dine in Vicksburg on the Fourth, "Ulysses must get into the city before he dines in it. The way to cook a rabbit is 'first catch the rabbit.'" On July 4, Grant's agents added this postscript:

"Two days bring about great changes. The banner of the Union floats over Vicksburg. Gen. Grant has 'caught the rabbit'; he had dined in Vicksburg, and he did bring his dinner with him. The 'Citizen' lives to see it. For the last time it appears on 'Wall-paper.' No more will it eulogize the luxury of mulemeat and fricassed kitten—urge Southern warriors to such diet never-more. This is the last wall-paper edition and is, excepting this note, from the types as we found them."

And yet another example of finding humor in a serious matter is a rare cartoon-style depiction of "Jeff. Davis Caught at Last," in which the Confederate President is shown being captured in hoop skirts and a bonnet.

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The activities and contributions of women are themes that can be traced over time in this collection. With patriotic spirit, Esther De Berdt Reed, the Revolution-era first lady of Pennsylvania, calls on her sisters in "Sentiments of an American Woman" to live simply and make personal sacrifices in order to save money to send to the soldiers. Her plan for organizing a nation-wide fund-raising campaign, which was printed by John Dunlap in June 1780, was widely circulated. The Philadelphia ladies' systematic house to house canvassing of the city and suburbs was so successful that Reed could report in her July 4, 1780, letter to General Washington that they had raised more than $300,000 in paper currency. Although they had hoped that their contributions could be used to provide "an extraordinary bounty" beyond the food and clothing due to soldiers by the government, Washington insisted that it was shirts that would provide the greatest comfort to his men. So in late August, Esther Reed began purchasing linen. Its transformation into shirts unfortunately fell to other hands, for Esther Reed died suddenly on September 18, 1780, of a fever.

Despite the contributions of many women to the revolutionary cause and Abigail Adams' famous admonition to the founding fathers to "Remember the Ladies," women still did not enjoy the rights of full citizenship promised by the Declaration of Independence as the nation prepared to celebrate its one hundredth anniversary in 1876. In "Declaration and Protest of the Women of the United States," the National Woman Suffrage Association lists wrongs and oppressions against women that violate the fundamental principles of government and are, in their eyes, grounds for impeachment of the nation's rulers. The signers, including Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Olympia Brown, Frances Watkins Harper, Virginia Minor, and Belva Lockwoood, ask for no special privileges or legislation, just the guarantee of equality, justice and full citizenship.

In the 20th century, as the banner for woman suffrage was passed to another generation of leaders, their efforts to reach a wider variety of constituencies is evident in fliers generated by the National American Woman Suffrage Association. "Woman Suffrage Co-Equal with Man Suffrage" features supportive quotes from Samuel Gompers and other labor leaders demanding votes for women. When woman suffrage was finally achieved, women were quick to make use of their new political tool. The Federation of Colored Women's Clubs urges their black sisters and brothers to "vote against those who voted to protect the lynching industry" in a 1922 flyer poignantly depicting "A Terrible Blot on American Civilization." Lest women should be inclined to rest from activism, a 1922 membership leaflet of the National Woman's Party lists all the demands of the first Equal Rights Convention of 1848 that still remain to be won. "How long will women wait for Liberty?" urges women to work for equal rights with men in all laws and customs, including equal control of children and property and equal opportunities in education and employment.

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