^^^^rOy^LyM^
COMMEMORATION CEREMONY THE ONE HUNDIIEDTH ANNIVERSAllY OF HIS FIRST
INAUGURATION
East Front of
th
Capitol
IQOI
IVe
are not enemies, hut friends,
We
must not
be enemies."
c,,.-
C
i^'>
LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY
MEMORIAL the Class of
1901
founded by
HARLAN HOYT HORNER and
HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER
THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
•
I86I-I96I
REENACTMENT CEREMONIES
The mystic cords of memory, stretching from . . every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will .
yet swell the chorus
of the
Union, ivhen again
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
.
.
.
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87TH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION
.
.
HOUSE DOCUMENT NO. 523
}~
CEREMONIES AND RE-ENACTMENT OF
THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF
The
First
Inauguration of
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1861-1961 On
the
East Front of the Capitol of the United States
March
4,
ig6i
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON
:
1962
Contents
Page
x
House Joint Resolution No. 155 Introduction and Synopsis
xvii
Congressional Record Report
Report 1
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Lincoln
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;March
9,
ig6i
Inauguration Centennial,
.... March
4,
21
961
Editorial from the
Arrangements
i
Washington Post
for the Original Lincoln Inaugural
31
...
33 37
Epilogue
[VII
]
Letter of Transmittal
The Honorable Lyndon
B. Johnson,
President of the Senate
The Honorable John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Dear Mr. President and Mr. Speaker: of the Joint pleasant duty and high honor on behalf Civil War Columbia of the District on Arrangements,
my
It is
Committee
Sedgwick, Chairman, and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, Paul H. Gantt, President, to present to you and to the Congress this report of the One Hundredth Annias reproduced versary of the First Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, on the East Front of the United States Capitol and at the Willard Hotel,
Centennial Commission, Paul
March
4,
J.
1961.
Sincerely,
Fred Schwengel, Chairman.
[
IX
]
House
Joint Resolution No. 155
Congress of the United States of 2imerica
l^ightg'Scticnth
AT THE FIRST SESSION Begun and held
Washington on Tuesday, the third day of January, one thousaftd nine hundred and sixty-one
at the City of
Joint 'Resolution
To
commemorate the one hundredth anniversary inaugural of Abraham Lincoln.
committee
create a joint
of the
to
first
Whereas Saturday, March
Abraham
1961,
4,
will
mark
Lincoln's taking the oath of office
the
centenary of as sixteenth President
and
of the United States;
Whereas the anniversary will be widely observed and noted throughout this land and overseas; and Whereas the
the occasion will coincide with exercises
American
Civil
War
of 1861-1865;
Whereas Mr. Lincoln stood United States and
and
travail;
its
at the
Armed
commemorative
of
and
head of the Government of the
Forces during those years of tragedy
and
Whereas he foresaw the
difficulty of the task before
him
as "greater
than that which rested on Washington"; and Whereas he sought the guidance of Almighty God, saying, "Without the assistance of that Divine Being ... I cannot succeed. With that assistance
I
cannot
Whereas one who stood
later write, "the shouts
are
still
ringing in
Whereas from
a
fail";
and
in the audience at his first inauguration
my
wooden
which have resounded ears.";
for
him
would
at the Capitol
and
platform, projected from the eastern portico,
beneath an unfinished dome, he pleaded and reasoned that day for reconciliation
and the preservation of the Union, saying:
[X]
with no mental reservations, and
"I take the official oath today,
with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws, by any hypercritical rules
....
I
hold, that in contemplation of universal law,
and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual .... It is safe to say that no government proper, ever had a provision in its
organic law for
its
own
.... Before
termination
entering upon
so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its
its
benefits,
memories, and
tain precisely
why we do
while there
any
is
its
would
hopes,
it
not be wise to ascer-
Will you hazard so desperate a
it ?
possibility that
any portion of the
ills
you
step,
from,
fly
have no real existence ? are greater than
all
Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, the real ones you fly from ? Will you risk the
commisison of so fearful a mistake?
.
.
.
Physically speaking,
we
cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband
and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other but the different parts of our country cannot ;
They cannot but remain face to face and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them .... We are not do
this.
;
enemies, but friends.
We
must not be enemies.
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and
patriot grave, to every living heart
this
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union,
and hearthstone,
all
over
when
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
and
Whereas the
better angels do, in fact, touch us:
Now,
therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America
next, the one
in
Congress assembled, That on Saturday, March 4
hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's
first in-
commemorated auguration may be determined by the committee on arrangements in cooperation with the national Civil War Centennial Commission, the Civil War Centennial shall
be
Commission of the
by such observance as
District of
Columbia, and the Lincoln Group of
the District of Columbia. this resolution, the President of the
Immediately upon passage of Senate shall appoint four the
House
Members of the Senate and Members of the House
shall appoint four
tives jointly to constitute a
the Speaker of
of Representa-
committee on arrangements. [
XI
]
Immediately upon passage of this resolution and after the Members of the Senate and House have been appointed, the Speaker shall direct the committee on arrangements to meet and select a chairman from
one of their
and needed
own group and such other officers as will who will immediately proceed to plan,
with the national Civil
War
be appropriate in cooperation
Centennial Commission, the Civil
War
Centennial Commission of the District of Columbia and the Lincoln
Group
of the District of Columbia, an appropriate ceremony, issue
United
invitations- to the President of the
States, the
Vice President of
the United States, Secretaries of departments, heads of independent agencies, office, and commissions, the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the
Supreme Court,
the diplomatic corps, assistant heads
Columbia, members of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, centennial commissions from the various States, Civil War roundtables, State and of departments.
Commissioners of the
local historical
and
patriotic societies,
scholars in the field of history as
District of
and such other students and
may have
a special interest in the
occasion, organize a reenactment of Mr. Lincoln's
on
the eastern portico of the Capitol, select a
ticipants,
first
inauguration
speaker and other par-
prepare and publish a program and submit a report not later
than June
i,
1961.
Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Lyndon
B. Johnson,
Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.
Approved John F. Kennedy, March i, ig6i. :
[
XII
]
The
Joint
Committee on Arrangements Fred Schwengel, Chairman
For the Senate
For the House
Paul H. Douglas
Peter F. Mack,
of Illinois
Everett M. Dirksen
WiNFiELD K. Denton of Indiana
of Illinois
John Sherman Cooper
Fred Schwengel
of Kentucl{y
of
Vance Hartke
Iowa
William G. Bray
of Indiana
of Indiana
STAFF David C. Mearns, Secretary H. Newlin Megill, Chief Consultant
William A. Coblenz, Lloyd A. Dunlap,
Edmund
Jr.
of Illinois
Director of Tableau
Assistant Secretary
Gass, Consultant
Victor M. Birely, Consultant
Carl Haverlin, Consultant
i
XIII
]
1861
1961 CentenniAl
Com raem oration
Ccremonie*
IjuugniracioQ of
ABRAHAM LrNCOLN Admit Bearer
to East Front of Cnpttol
Mircl. Fourth l-^l
T'h'^
One
Owlt-wm.
Hundredth
Anniversary
°^ "le
Inaugura] of
Abraham Lincoln
AS PART OF THE
COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONIES
March Fourth
Invuaiion 10 LmLuIn Inuugunil Centennial Lunclicon 1
|>.m.
Sub>cri)><ii>n ul ten >liiMjt>
For rcscnadons
P.S.
lu lunilicim
ii
1961
Commemoration Ceremonies
WilUrd Hoiel Iti.iugurntmn of
Imluda
call: Sicrling ^-35^5,
— Subtcripiitw
CetitcnninI
iiiiiiniL'nmialivc pliic
Lincoln In.iu^i.ral CcnicnniaJ
not rn]uiin) iix iiIiciKlanic
at
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ind ntnJal
Commii
Admit
HONORED
CUF.ST to OH The Capitol
Scn.itc ClinmK-.
Cipiiul ceremony
:^,4lC^y^-
INVITATIONS AND TICKETS TO FUNCTIONS OF THE LINCOLN RE-ENACTMENT CEREMONIES.
District of
Columbia Paul
War
Civil J.
Centennial Commission
Sedgwick, Chairman
Sigurd Anderson Marshall Andrews
Alexander Holtzoff
Elden Billings
C.
Henry Brylawski Leon Chatelain
William H. Press
J.
B.
Heffernan
M.
Keller
Mrs. B. Y. Martin
Henry A. Dudley E. M. Eller
William H. Price
M. McKelway Roger Robb B.
Robert E. Freer
West A. Hamilton
J.
Gay Seabourne
Samuel D. Sturgis
The Lincoln Group of
the District of Columbia
Paul H. Gantt, President
Elden E.
Billings, ist Vice President
Judge Arthur M. Smith, 2d Vice President Mrs. Louise
W.
Williams, Treasurer
George H. Landes, Jr., Recording Secretary Mrs. Anna V. Hausman, Corresponding Secretary
Lincoln Inaugural Centennial Committee Cochairman
Cochairman
Earle D. Chesney
C. Wyatt Dickerson
Chairman
of
Ralph
[
Arrangements
E. Becker
XV]
Introduction and Synopsis
the opinion of this
IS
ITCommemoration
Committee
that the
Ceremony, March
4th,
One Hundredth Anniversary of Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln,
1961, of the
the First
duphcating on the
steps of the Capitol the
Asia and thus encompassed the earth and reached even to vast competitive potentials of contention in outer space.
This was also a reenactment of history that
had for the current generation what the Lincoln
audience
could
expected to have had full knowledge
annals of the Capitol of the United States.
immense meaning
Historically far
less
It
reproduced.
was, in
so dramatically
it
fact,
:
American
a restatement
The grandeur and
government implying ation of Americans is ments
in unity
by Lincoln and It
and
sonality
who was
richly this gener-
disaster
had so grown
justice
bequeathed
his time.
that originally
people of the era of 1961 to match for them-
and
their posterity
by
their
own
Nor
had
figure,
what
their forebears of the era of 1861 to
make freedom
—
at
whatever
come
to witness this
cost —
—on
this very plaza
—witnessed
the actual inauguration.
deeds
done
in the century since,
play acting and listen to the contemporary speeches, was twice the size of the audience
it
afforded a remarkable stimulus to the
selves
the focus of this national
that the 1961 audience
living off the achieveto
cir-
the stature of the per-
and American
tradition
how
of the extraordinary
Nation into the greatest tragedy of its somewhat less than four-score and seven years.
of a powerful moral lesson in the philosophy
of the
of the
cumstances that were in 1861 to catapult the
was of course secondary and
it
than the event
actual
be
not
swearing in exercises of exactly a century before, was the greatest epic of its kind in the
tion,
For
that alone.
now
this
same
central
re-created in living personifica-
had shaken the
ideas of
world statesmen
fact on this soil. The restatement was the more compelling, not only because of the brilliant commentary from
and invested the thinking of nation builders from China's Sun Yat-sen to India's Nehru. Schoolchildren in
Tokyo named him
contemporary notables that was so
most respected of
all
an established
vital
part of the ceremony, but because the tion in 1961, as in 1861,
complex of crises that
Cuba
to Berlin
was
now
a
Na-
and from Berhn
O
-
62
-
2
men
of action, but poets
figures."
Not
and dreamers
everywhere, recognized in him the divine culmination of some turning point for good in the tortured record of mankind. Tolstoy
distressed by a extended from to Southeast
[ 88157
only
world
"the
XVII
]
LINCOLN ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, I86I, FOR INAUGURATION
classified
went
"all
their
Lincoln the "only giant" among the great national statesmen of his-
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; tory" a formidable testimonial coming from this literary titan of
Even their
ante-Communist Russia.
Soviet propagandists of this decade, in
own
far out of their
CONCEPTION.
way
to pay Lincoln
kind of homage. For Americans the pure gold of the Lincoln story from 1861 to the end of time consists in
confused and distorted techniques, [
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;ARTISTS
XVIII
the fact that this President,
any other President before or ]
more than
since,
and
per-
LINCOLN,
ON ARM OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN, ENTERS SENATE CHAMBER BEFORE INAUGURATION.
haps more than any other figure in
and even reverently they trailed after the horse-drawn carriage that had
all
American
history, was so absolutely and indigenously, so utterly and typically, Amer-
ancient
belonged
Some like Andrew Jackson who approached him in this regard, and had much
him
ican.
of
the
stuff
of
greatness, have
not,
The
all this
was deeply
The
what was
of the crowds.
this 1961
Lincoln.
And
on
their
via television â&#x20AC;&#x201D; even â&#x20AC;&#x201D; phonograph records reporting the com-
and
memoration, was a further measure of the almost spiritual hold Abraham Lincoln has
lips of
then affectionately [
giving
repercussions afterwards in the news-
papers, on the radio
They followed avidly the
words of the 1861 Inaugural from the
ceremonies,
that took
"one of ours."
reflected
said that day by Speaker Sam and Rayburn by Carl Sandburg. It was inspiringly manifest in the reaction
in
Grant and
unspoken paean of thankfulness to Providence that this immortal of all the ages is
stage.
sense of
the
applause and their devotion as if he were, indeed, the real Lincoln of a century before. The crowd seemed to be expressing an
like
Lincoln, matched either his universal appeal, or made so compelling an impact on the
world
to President
from
upon XIX
1
the
minds and the hearts of whole
generations of his fellow-citizens. For this theatric reproduction had far less the quality
an
of
entertainment
or a documentary and much more the atmosphere of pageant
the reincarnation of the essence of history â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
almost like a devoutly religious play predicated upon a sacred event in Holy Writ.
What
follows in this
document
is
the ful-
fillment of the Committee's function, as pre-
House
scribed in
Joint Resolution 155, pre-
senting as compactly as may be, a full report of the commemoration to the Congress of the
United
The Committee
States.
is
especially
indebtedness not only to the participants in the event whose con-
earger to proclaim
tribution
behind planned,
was the
its
so apparent, but also to those
who organized and avoided a thousand and one and who made
certain that
the timing and pacing, the drama, the movethe whole, measured
up
to high
was
sunset
ing hour.
.
The
."
.
tone of these orations
was superbly set by the music of the U.S. Marine Band under the baton of Lt. Col. Albert F. Schoepper, and then, solemnly, by the invocation of the Reverend Donald W.
Mayberry, of Later,
John's Episcopal Church.
St.
on the same prayerful
note, the Rev-
erend George M. Docherty, pastor of the
New York
Avenue Presbyterian Church,
closed the formal portion of the ceremonies,
pleading that:
".
.
.
In our day and genera-
tion grant us such courage as
we do
this
notables,
and
self-sacrifice
day commemorate.
There was
scenes
who
possible pitfalls,
ment of
and dawn, moonrise and noon sun, dry leaves in an autumn wind, and springtime blossoms, dying time and birth-
it
an
Members
.
."
.
impressive assembly of of Congress from both
Houses, Ambassadors, Government officials and people prominent in the life of the country and the District of Columbia, who
For
formed part of the massive dramatis persons. Particularly distinguished among these and
Speaker Rayburn and Poet Sandburg lent a special significance to the event because
on the podium on the opposite end of the platform from Chairman Fred Schwengel,
each in terms of his position in American
was the Chief
Justice of the
Earl Warren.
It
standards of professional competence. all this was done.
life
was
a singularly outstanding personality.
The Rayburn
speech, referring to himself
as the son of a
Confederate
soldier,
had a
and a content that only he himself could have given it: "I have always thought," quality
he
said, "if
had not been for hotheads
it
in the
South and the inane and insane agitators of the
North
that
Abraham
Lincoln, by his
justice, his fairness his great statesmanship,
would have prevented the
The
Civil
War.
.
.
."
83-year-old Carl
Sandburg said of the first Inauguration: "It was a great day in American history, of which we might say [
United
was arranged
temporary speeches be delivered
was
to occur
from the podium
States,
that the con-
This
first.
built in replica
of the stand that served Lincoln in
When
1861.
contemporary portion of the ceremony was completed with the Sandburg this
Chairman Schwengel, the Chief Justice, and others invited to the podium, withdrew to a section on the steps address, the speakers.
of the Capitol reserved for them, and the reenactment began. For this again the reconstructed
stand,
built
on the
Lincoln original, was the stage
XX]
lines
of
setting.
the
ARTISTS I86I SKETCH OF LINCOLN INAUGURAL PROCESSION PASSING CAPITOL GATES.
The
hstened
Lincoln— 10,000
to
now—settled down
then,
20,000
nalia
for the pageant of the
Chairman Schwengel, pointing
day, as
to the
narrator, signaled the beginning of this part
of the
was the presence of communication parapher-
audience, twice the size of that which
From
commemoration.
the time that
The
pertinence and dramatic effectiveness occurred at the mo-
refurbished for the event
as
Tredway Gill,
Jr.,
A.
Stephen
to
high hat and buggy whip was careful wear the expressionless stone face suitable
The procurement of the carriage one of the smaller achievements of the was to his part.
Columbia
District of
:
Civil
War
Commission's Chairman, Paul
E.
He
Douglas; William
obtained
it
Centennial
J.
through Fearson
Sedgwick. S.
Meeks,
whose grandfather made the carriage, Meeks Body Works having prospered in
Roger B. Taney; Clarence B. Hannibal Hamlin, the Vice Presi-
as
as
to the
up
in the
entourage Mrs.
Mary Todd Lincoln; Ralph
Jane Gill as
Becker
his
—drove
steps of the Capitol to take "President Lincoln" to the Hotel Willard. The coachman
the grand stone
of the crowds.
formed
of
—
podium, to the moment the old Grant carriage disappeared with this Ulysses Lincoln down Pennsylvania Avenue, the reenactment won the wholehearted approval actors that
touch
ultimate
ment when, the reenactment over, a horsedrawn carriage of the Lincoln period
stairs to the
The
changes wrought
by a century.
Richmond, Va., and the Fellow Community Actors came with slow and steady steps out
down
of in Lincoln's time that
in bold relief the
provided
the duplicate Lincoln, John C. Collison, of
of the Capitol and
undreamed
Ray Moore as President James Buchanan H. P. Newson as Senator Edward
area
dent;
for
more
than
a
the the
This,
century.
incidentally, was the very carriage that served A Ulysses S. Grant during his Presidency.
;
D. Baker of Oregon; Al Carwil as Henry Watterson, the journalist; and A. Tyler as
second carriage that
Senator James A. Pearce from
and was of a similar vintage was obtained
costume
all in
—gave
— Maryland
for the event
The Committee
pageantry and the drama derived fur-
ther charm — and authenticity, too— from the
to the toilers
kind of guard of honor,
all
appearance, around the
Guard,
a
as
podium and
pressure of
"crash
them came
Union uniforms, With some of them in what
from
realistic
carrying the actual
were
complete
of the Sharpsburg Rifle
of Sharpsburg, Md., in brilliant, dis-
tinguishable,
rifles
their ladies,
said to be actual
general
The
with
interesting
and
the
what
a
who had
to
arrangements under the is
— program" in
generally
known
this instance in
Saturday to a Saturday.
i
as
a
week,
There
is
must be added, were the on the staff and directorial level of:
Oustanding, services
it
David C. Mearns, Victor M.
Lloyd A. Dunlap, Earle D. Chesney, Paul H. Gantt,
color.
and exciting anachronism [
behind the scenes
person named anywhere in the hardly program who did not make a contribution.
costumes of the Lincoln
conviction
feels particularly grateful
a
of the period.
era or reproductions, the whole filling out the
scene
joined the parade
by Henry Brylawski, another member of the Commission.
the pageant an added
note of validity.
The
now
XXII
]
Birely,
••?Ti
m'^_^
'^
'
1
THE
S FIRST INAUGURATION WITNESSED BY HALF THE SIZE OF THE CROWD THAT CAME TO ATTEND THE RE-ENACTMENT A CENTURY LATER.
I86I SCENE OF LINCOLN
confidence and the a
command, factor
performance key success. Moreover he had been an especially contrived
that
in
made
the
his
event's
fortified
with
difficulty,
it
was [
to cover the situation by
diverting
attention
difficulty
developed.
to
his
The
narration.
No
writing of the
script, direction of the pageant, rehearsal of
script so that in the
event of some unforeseen
his responsibility
the principals, arrangement for the settings,
XXIV
]
were assigned by the Chairman
William
to
was involved and none
A. Coblenz, Public Affairs Specialist of the Legislative Reference Service of the Library
Resolution.
of Congress.
the
It
acknowledge
is
a pleasure gratefully to
his magnificent contribution to
The
The Committee cannot
from
pass
this
mentioned
in the
Committee on Arrangements of is
Congress
to accord
pleased
recognition to the District of
War
the exercises.
Joint
is
special
Columbia
Civil
Centennial Commission for conceiving
and inspiring the idea of the commemoration
reference to the assistance rendered by Mr.
fully 2 years before
Coblenz without expressing its deep appreciation of his work. As the warm, vibrant
working toward the event long before the Congress gave it its massive endorsement and
author and director of the tableau, he wove
contributed
into the
commemorative program
a spirit of
was
sion
disciplined imagination can create.
instance to the
idea for the
commemoration may
be said to have been inherent in history itself. The event obviously called for observance
and the homage to
occur
in
to
many
it
was bound
places
at
therefore
once.
The
atmosphere in Washington that constantly bathed the Capital with an intense consciousness of the Nation's past
demanded
annals as
the
the idea
first
was a
Lincoln Inauguration.
for the
Commis-
Chairman, Mr. Sedgwick,
broached the commemoration idea in the
from whence
it
Washington Round gravitated to the
who first
Table,
Commission
under
his chairmanship. Wyatt Dickerson and Earle Chesney were called in to assist the Commission and the Committee as was
Ralph E. Becker the
who
served as
Chairman
of
Committee on Arrangements. In due Commission created plans for its
course the
in
the
operation between the
growth among the several committees named in this document, but matured quickly and on a giant scale
when
powerful and original
reenactment, for the
parade, and for the luncheon at the Willard. There was thenceforward wholehearted co-
nition for so signal a chapter in the Nation's
Thus
its
participation
recog-
final fruition, thus
The prime mover
plans.
realism and natural color which only the well-developed talents of a fine mind and
The basic
own
its
its
joint
Commission and the
Committee on Arrangements of the Congress when it was called into being in Joint
the Congress, on the initiative of Repre-
February 1961.
Fred Schwengel, who introduced the resolution, took hold to give it a national
Hotel Willard downtown, and the luncheon
momentum
there immediately after the Capitol proceed-
The complete
sentative
stance.
from
It
the
gained
immense
immediate
and
wholehearted
Sam Rayburn and
ings,
closing ceremonies at the
seemed to be invested with the
less
the
solemn and more gala note that probably
minority as well as the majority leaderships in both Houses. Cooperation from nonbut the major
marked that part of the day a century before. There were addresses again mostly extemporaneous from Carl Sandburg, Chairman
sponsor was, of course, the Congress of the
Schwengel, and others, and some comments
cooperation of Speaker
Government groups was United
States.
No
total,
Federal
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
from John C.
appropriation [
XXV
]
Collison, the impersonator of
Lincoln,
all
of
it
under the
Diligent efforts were
toast-
skillful
made
crown
to
the
mastership of Robert V. Fleming. Toastmaster Fleming, it was explained, is himself a distant cousin of President Abraham Lin-
commemoration with a Lincoln Inaugural Ball for the evening of March 4, but the
Hanks branch of the family, Joshua Hanks and Abraham Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks
abandonment
having been distant cousins.
program without it.
coln through his relationship to the
The immense banquet
out to the elevators and the air was filled with the lighter and exultant note associated with the celebration of a political party enjoying a national triumph.
This was due in part
also to the sensation of seeking a repetition
down
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;of
menu Much of
even to the
a century ago.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
this occurrence
the felicity of the
Willard luncheon stemmed from the effort that
had been given the arrangements by the Columbia Civil War Centennial
District of
Commission under whose auspices
it
was
held in conjunction with the Metropolitan
nary
For the that this
note, but
added
a vital
and
a novel feature
business firms
by having present Washington that had been operating during and before 1861,
and
all
who
of
whom
were suitably recognized
are identified later in this report
its
great
the
accompanied
hope of
the
Committee
this
will serve as a footnote to
how
These, as we know, and the words, that perhaps
to deeds of greatness.
are the deeds
more than any other, immortalize the American story and make it enduring. Here, too, giving testimony to this reverence for a great
hour are the words of such respected and honored men of our time as will be found in the
ensuing pages. Finally,
this
Committee
most earnestly the hope that within of restraint and dignity, other his-
toric events in the annals of
American
his-
tory will, like Lincoln's First Inauguration,
become the
As
subject of renewal
representatives of the people,
tainly strive to that
and
we
end in order
revival.
will certhat our
people will forever derive faith and conviction
(p. 29).
to
no
left
our generation was in no small part touched by the eternal flame that moved Lincoln and his fellow-citizens
the limits
and singers of
it is
history revealing
mittee not only brought the U.S. Marine festivities,
rest
document
entertains
Orchestra into the
that
gratification
The Com-
Washington Board of Trade.
factors led
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;an omission that
disappointment in the light of the extraordi-
was crowded
hall
and other
lack of time
from
their
American
traditions.
The Committee.
[
XXVI
]
The Committee ment
inserts, at this
point in the report, the full account of the ceremony
as printed in the Congressional Record, Thursday,
March
9,
1961, pages
A
and
reenact-
iGyg-A 1682.
The 100th Anniversary of the Inaugural of Abraham Lincoln Extension of Remarks of Hon. Fred Schwengel, of Iowa, in the
House
Mr. Schwengel.
Mr. Speaker, on Saturit was the will of Con-
March 4, 1961, gress to commemorate day,
of Representatives, Thursday,
March
9,
796/
program, just as it took place, with the remarks of our beloved Speaker and
for the entire
the address of the distinguished
the looth anniversary
American
Abraham
author, Carl Sandburg, be printed in the
occasion took place at
appropriate ceremony for this 1 1 a.m. at the east front
Congressional Record so that it can be preserved for all time and made available to
of the Capitol.
others
was privileged to have a role in this ceremony and was pleased that we were blessed
of the program.
with good weather so that the some 20,000 who gathered there and those who saw and
include this
of the
first
Lincoln.
inaugural of President
An
I
Under
who
rience can testify that
program
it,
historic contributions to
one of the
we
Appendix
of the Record.
in
I
its
The
follows:
I
present the Reverend
W. Mayberry
of the St. John's Epis-
Mr. Schwengel.
Members could
appropriate, therefore, that
remarks,
conducting.)
Donald copal
Church
for the invocation.
Rev. Dr. Mayberry.
Let us pray.
Oh, God, who moves among the centuries and through faith in whom do we,
involved and because of other commitments. is
my
(Music: the U.S. Marine Band; Lt. Col. Albert F. Schoepper, U.S. Marine Corps,
Unfortunately, many not be present and thousands of others had to miss the event because of the travel distance
It
extend
PROGRAM
our heritage.
of the
to
commemoration ceremony
what we heard and saw
too, will take its place as
be interested to have a copy
THE LINCOLN INAUGURAL COMMEMORATION
shared in this rich expe-
on that day will be one of the highlights of the Civil War Centennial observance, and that
leave
entirety in the
heard the program on radio and television could relive this great moment in history.
Those of you
who may
as author,
provide
[I
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Z I o z o < OS D D <
Z o H Z z M Q Q -! W z
G o a.
^
living as in the chapters therein, find out our
We
Hves become rich.
Abraham
servant
honor
Lincoln,
this day, Thy who standing here
amidst a people torn and anguished did lift his spirit above the false strength of malice to
beyond factions and Thy perfect will, and in Thee found way and his Nation's way, so may we with simplicity of heart find Thee in the com-
Thy
and
spirit,
his will
strive to
his his
selves to
we
us,
way
it.
pray, the endurance to possess
and
no peer
Mr. Speaker,
leagues, distinguished guests,
my
my
had, just as
to
A man who
country.
and
he
in our heritage
wisdom and example
chairman
from
better kernels of
Abraham I
and
all
audience
to
meet and greet
of you in the radio
who
will
share
in
and
low any
This experience,
if
sort of
demonstration on
al-
this plaza.
here today for a special reason, and that is, to reenact the inauguration of one of the
moving,
greatest
meaningful, and momentous experience in our national life, which took place here loo years ago today.
welcoming you today on Capi-
inaugurate our Presidents here, and have for more than a century; but we meet
television
this
to join the
We
you here
of
am happy
committees of the Senate and the House
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;American
all
in
I
and
There are few occasions upon which the
to plant in the hearts of
Lincoln.
am glad
as
tol Hill.
with better prospects for good people results for the future than from the life and
most American
remarks
care to make.
fellow Americans,
now
experience of our
for such
of the committee, distinguished guests
the seed that
brings forth the harvest of the future."
no place
may
American
Speaker Sam Rayburn. Sam Rayburn. Mr. Chairman, members
Building here in the District of Columbia are inscribed these words:
is
to
knows now that I speak of Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and now I yield
a pillar to the entrance of the Archives
There
as
All of America
fellow coun-
to this great
which we can take more or
has served his people
the Congress.
col-
of you.
is
honor and
Nation extremely well, and longer Speaker than any other man ever elected
each and
heritage of the past
a great
his
trymen, speaking for the Congress, whose I am, I extend a cordial welcome to
"The
is
it
first,
me to present a man who has the man we honor with this pro-
gram, a tremendous influence for good in our
servant
On
an American
privilege for
our beloved Mr.
all
listen to
America.
in
Now, and
Amen. Mr. ScHWENGEL.
we
as a part of this
statesman and to an American sage, poet, and historian whose respect and reputation has
God's name.
in
it
and proper,
fitting
experience, that
Thy peace and may the blessing of God be amongst us and through us illumine
We ask
as
It is
distribute
the lives of others.
do
commemorated, can
our day to help us along our difficult we prepare ourselves to contend with
in
the struggles of our day.
our day. In the self-giving of ourThou has set out happiness. Give
plexities of
and
understood
much
Americans
one of the greatest
in
men
all
of
our history and
all
Prejudice, hate, agitation
the Civil War.
properly
[3]
I
time.
brought about
have always thought
if
it
had not been for hotheads
South and
in the
Abraham
that
his
fairness,
Lincoln, by great
his
justice,
statesmanship,
Our
country that needed.
after that
was
over,
so,
come upon
I
today
;
this platform,
I
presented a
resentatives
him
short
to the
House
War
ument
of
American
with
Mr. Sandburg. I
when
people
gotten
that
that hate,
and
I
am
occasion
prejudice,
we have
when we
heart, that
man
for-
silence
Beyond
there were
10,000
the words of the speaker
immediate audience
this
into
on
all
such questions
or that?"
Union.
Six States
Big
as,
"How will
be your policy?"
"What
will
on
this
you
act
had seceded from the
screaming
black
letters
in
Charleston, S.C., cried to the wide world.
celebrate the inauguration
"The Union
with a
with a heart of gold, and
an old reporter
fragments. During the 4 months since his election Lincoln had kept
forgotten
man
as
years ago to the day were 10,000
who hung on
shattered
and today we are proud indeed, happy to welcome you on this great
of that great statesman, that
I
of people
prevented, some terrible things happening in some parts of our beloved country. But
we have
that
wondering whether the American Union of States would hold together or be
that
he could have prevented, and would have
north, south, east, and west,
with
were 30 million people in 34 States who Over to know what he was saying. in the countries of Europe were more millions
the hearts
North
mon-
is
wanted
to assassinate Lincoln. in
100 years ago
of the day.
and the Southland was
in the
It
Sam Rayburn and
Here 100
saddest thing that ever happened to
and minds of the people
and
it
myself are agreed that the crowd here today is nearly double that
while ago, that Carl
Lincoln was strong enough
has
could offer the point of information that
Mr.
of Rep-
ing.
man
literature."
Perhaps
listening to Lincoln.
insane
has quickened
and eager expectancy
understood him better than any man who has ever written about him since his pass-
the border States
He
has lavished his
present the magnificent, the incomparable Carl Sandburg.
of
for an
telling.
Years," are acknowledged through-
Sandburg had studied Lincoln more and
The
its
He
it.
He
it.
grateful pride
and
many distinguished people and many out in front of me, to say to you as I have said when
and
out the world as constituting "a noble
he was
proud our great Union was preserved
inseparably identified with
life to
genius upon
you, Mr. Sam.
made it enduringly a part of ours. His "Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the
As a son of a Confederate soldier, who did what he thought was right, I say for him and for myself
speaker
devoted his
time was so sorely
at that
is
the Lincoln story
his
would
have prevented the Civil War which destroyed the flower of our young manhood in this
Thank
Mr. ScHWENGEL.
the inane and insane agitators of the North
is
dissolved."
papers had asked in
I
am
glad and I am happy, I am honored, to have the privilege of being a part of these
since
ceremonies.
and
you know you
States back, will
[4]
start a
effect,
"Mr. Lincoln,
can't coax the seceded
you go
bloody
Scores of news-
civil
so far as to use force
war?"
The General
of the
Army, Winfield
Scott, liad
for riflemen in squads to be hiding
Presidential
were:
carriage
"To watch
site side
and
His
passed.
fire
on the
There came from him
orders
Alongside squadron of cavalry. In front of carriage."
thousands of times, "Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after
a
much
marched
it
West Point cadets along with company infantrymen and riflemen from the District Columbia.
of
who
On
either,
refused to cheer.
Out over the Pacific
there be a
the country
from the Atlantic
to
its
was the everyday question, "Will war?" The new man, about to
become the
i6th President
sides,
and no gain on
cease fighting, the identical old
institutions,
inhabit
it.
belongs to the people
Whenever
they shall
their constitutional right of
who, in minutes, would take the oath be faithful to the Constitution, was draw-
States
their revolutionary right to
to
overthrow
The Government
assail
you.
it
Though
passion
any
In
this
he was speaking
knew well that as Commander in Chief he
Navy
somewhat
like a
man
thick velvet glove
in the best
However,
From
President he was also of the
of the United States.
with an iron hand in like a
Union
of these States
is
perpetual.
.''
Intelligence,
way,
all
still
competent
our present
to adjust,
difficulty."
a Capitol doorway, standing with
tor Louis T. Wigfall, of Texas,
a
who in his man in a
South Carolina years had killed a
solemn
oath he declared, "I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the
"Why
folded arms watching Lincoln and plainly wanting to be seen watching him was Sena-
Army and the He spoke, too,
and almost
better, or equal
favored land, are
a President,
majestic, kindly, understanding.
or
patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this
affection."
as
dismember,
or
it."
able can be lost by taking time.
have strained
may
it,
My hope in the world countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valu-
will not
You can have no conflict, without
must not break our bonds of
amending
should there not be a patient confidence in Is there the ultimate justice of the people.?
being yourselves the aggressors. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.
grow weary
Like an elderly counselor he asked,
ing to the close his inaugural address, saying, "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.
who
of the existing government, they can exercise
United
of the
you
on both
upon you." There were crimson shadows flowing from some of his sentences. "This country, with
who
cheered and people with stony faces
loss
questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again
were people
sidewalks
gnarled nug-
wisdom which in the lOO years since he spoke them have been spoken and printed
of
a
little
gets of
Presidential
carriage rode
the
express provisions of
will endure forever."
the
to fire
all tiie
our National Constitution, and the Union
the
windows on the oppoon them in case any attempt
made
should be
on the
Avenue when
roofs along Pennsylvania
tinue to execute
arranged
duel.
Plainly wearing contempt, defiance
Wigfall was saying now in pantomime what he had said in the Senate,
on
Con-
[5]
his
face,
name of Congress boldly avow
that the old United States of America, the
was how "to give it a decent burial." questioned the backbone of the Presidentelect
and
laughed some-
in Senate speeches
of fat merry clowns and
war meant
ture
neither
Tom
of Lebanon, Ohio, spoke in the
Corwin,
House
you
pro-
hold upon the throats of our wives and children, than that we should prove faithless to our trust and all our bright
had
Corwin wrote Committee
in a
of Congress
men then, appaHng we must dissolve and
comprehend Southern
war must
the
men
treme northern
is
follow.
madness
of
[sic]
I
these are piness.'
to all
in
in the air
mad
as the
of
O
-
62
His
creatures, to the
man. In
whole great family
their enlightened belief,
degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then
Ex-
living, but they
The
upon
reached forward and seized
the farthest posterity.
beacon
former.
around us everywhere.
to
They
erected a
guide their children and their
dren's children,
[7 8SI57
and the pursuit of haplofty, and wise, and
nothing with the divine and likeness stamped image was sent into the world to be trodden on, and
as
times.
are practical fools.
life, liberty,
This was their
noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. Yes, gentlemen,
long cannot
the
are created
;
a
are theoretically crazy.
men
latter are really quite as
Treason
equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
this
judgment: no more harmonious
men
"I
of
and opinions than these 35
civil
old Independence Hall, said to the
to be self-evident: that all
from nearly all this com-
representative
and bloody
being of service told in an ad-
It is
to
which Corwin was chairman and
is,
world leadership.
tives in
and north served on
"If the States are
the idea
story
Lincoln was a
dress in Illinois in 1858: "These representa-
which knows
letter for Lincoln's eye only.
have been for 30 days,
their feelings
and
whole world of men: 'We hold these truths
January i6 of 1861
he gave to Lincoln
When
Washington.
you
best wit
a vision of his country
in the
no coming dawn."
mittee, of
if
with
a threshold preparing his farewell. This i6th President of the United States
gers, lay
Members
think
it
live,
on
States south
horrid pic-
may take the oath." The last two sentences were addedly
deaf to our prayers; better than famine, with her cold and skinny fin-
Lincoln a
this
have been able to gaze on I
five
driving before
Now Corwin felt himself a presence lingering
God
hopes die out in that night
Four or
Congressman in Washington he and Corwin often had fun together with their stories.
"Better for us that the fruitful earth should
33."
I
teller in
be smitten and become dry dust; better that the heavens for a time become brass, and
On
till
secessionists.
acknowledged
fear can help us.
have looked on
in
and the public
it
are gone, others are I
Men
patriotism.
found coming from the
a bit-
ter grief:
the ear of
I
perfect calmness.
cadavers nor ashes. In contrast, Representative
alone
the gale.
as
Wigfall,
offices are full of
God
States
though the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were a quartet this
times,
goes by the
It
now He
Union, was a corpse and the question
chil-
and the countless myriads
who
should inhabit the earth in other ages.
Wise statesmen
as they were, they
knew
this:
tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they estabHshed these great self-evident truths, that
man, some
when
in the distant future
faction,
some
the doctrine that
up
He
might look up again to the Declaraof Independence and take courage to battle
which
their fathers began."
A ity
years later
well and deeply what he said 2 the smoke and blood of con-
"The
through which we pass, honor or dishonor, to
flict:
Party ticket:
the latest generation."
is
not often witnessed.
time; attacked from both
represented
have wanted us of the
under compulsion to
latest
face.
Lincoln came out of the pioneer time of America. He began his journey to the
charged with saying too much and saylittle, he slowly, conscientiously and
sides;
in
generation today to remember how he stood amid the terrific toils and turmoils he was
In every such
Misunderstood and mis-
down,
He would
passage of a nation there ought to be a char-
at the
fiery trial
will light us
transition,
acter like Samuel.
man and
amid
these long thoughts about Lincoln, the 1864 candidate for President of the National Union
change,
good
in political
stands before you a not perfect
He knew
preacher in Auburn, N.Y., having sagacand wisdom gave his listeners in the pews
"Such an epoch of perplexity,
His
yet
posterity
renew the
His growth
the
more precious than fine gold." As Lincoln spoke on that day which we memorialize now a hundred years later he knew death was in the air and so was birth. What was dying men did not know. What was being born no one could say for sure.
or
none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty, and die pursuit of happiness, their tion
consists in carrying out
knowledge, his steady movement are but the growth and movement of the national mind.
some
men
rich
executes the will of the people.
sense of the Nation.
interest should set
none but
He
wisdom
the
White House
honestly works out the mighty problem. He was not a founder of a new state of things
one-room log cabin with a floor of packed down dirt and one window and one door. Perhaps we can say now that
Moses; he was not a champion of the
there can be generations taking hold with
ing too
like
He
in a
stood
the loneliness and genius to struggle that
between the two; between the living and the dead; between the past and the present; be-
always dwelt in the hearts of pioneers, as
existing order of things like Elijah.
spirit
praise
from
healer binding spite of
itself;
partisans, but
is
probable.
dren â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
The
explanation of his every act
belongs to the
chil-
This means that they and their
tions dictated
age, in
own
by events not
any well accepted prophets.
the good surgeon knitting to-
peculiar direc-
now known The
to
living
might plan and blue-print a world for the unborn, who on becoming born and grown
gether the dislocated bones of the disjointed times.
yes.
Tomorrow
children will take their
the careful
up the wounds of the
restless
shall
exploits
the best hope for any permanent solution of the questions which torment it. He has but little
and venturing human perform again tomorrow with today declared visionary and im-
though the
tween the old and the new; with that sympathy for each which at such a period is
is
[8]
CROWD ASSEMBLES FOR LINCOLN INAUGURAL RE-ENACTMENT, EAST FRONT OF THE
MARCH
to
man
size
would decide
4, I96I,
morrow belongs
to forget the ar-
else.
With
and
are plenty of precedents."
There are
might do what they do in time, acting under wills, theories and
compulsions
unknown
to
the
will
they will muddle and while muddling some may look backward saying, "There
ancestors they their
They
Or
respect
for the elders
to the children.
mold that tomorrow with care and wisdom.
rangements made for them while they were unborn. Starting in on their own they
might shape something and affectionate regard
CAPITOL,
BEFORE CEREMONIES BEGAN.
careless generations
dawdle, decay.
marks
Founding
Still
others leave
who
drift,
tall
lantl-
of liberty, of discovery, invention,
and
of achievement
at
Fathers.
culture,
This has happened across history. More than once this has precisely happened. To-
which no succeeding generation can take a
setting
targets
horse laugh of derision and belittlement.
[9
"All the
Hem
That's Fit to Print'
r"
"""'"'
^bt ^«to jflflrk ^mt$.
'
Story of Lincohis ji,
to,™. t.„™.
New
Serale Meets
f/iuit^iira I
li«oi« tWE«f»'
orrukWA, wtrttLO to. Bt *
W *C
P.
NOBRIS
A FRAGMENT OF THE ENORMOUS IMPACT
ON COMMUNICATION MEDIA MADE BY THE
5;M:ubd^' K<lii„
''.
Star
iriBi
"^-^-^^^.
^pover
' :'"v^--
.1,,
'itl^t'S
Uli\
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'•'""//.
Cen^e
iMaU'. Medallion
^a,tr«™<»p»s'
To Garnish Lunch Al
Limohi nhnW 1
tt
t'ndo
'^
.„.
IBT
f
™
^^^ Stor 100
r
<W^//«
f AtV
Lite
,„,-—-
I
What
the
autumn wind, and
young people want and dream
blossoms,
springtime
across the next loo years will shape history
dying time and birthing hour.
more than any other motivation to be named. Youth now living and youth as yet unborn
a privilege to face this magnificent audience, I hope it has been worth your while. I thank you. Mr. ScHWENGEL. My friends, to try to com-
unfolded in the shapes to come. None shall look back on this hour and say we did not have hope and faith.
ment on
shall
a magnificent address like that
impossible but
man and take on new
of justice between
man, nation and nation,
has been
and
hokl the seeds and secrets of the folds to be
The mystery
It
that all of
it
must be
America and
is
Mr. Sandburg,
said,
liberty-loving people
everywhere are grateful for
this
eloquent,
phases.
appropriate, meaningful, and moving
Dreamers of deep sacred dreams, finders and welders, sons and daughters of burning
ence that you have helped to create for us so
quests, shall
come. of
actions
In
courage
and
endurance
magnificently today. My fellow countrymen, what size
today in this
program
is
experi-
we empha-
not the conflict,
lighted with inner humility, lighted some-
but the tragedy, that at frightful cost enriched
times with a fine balance of motives as be-
and made
tween freedom and
phrase, "Conceived in
clothe
human
discipline,
they
shall
dignity with wider meanings.
Youth when
lighted and
sporting chance
strong for
is
and given a struggle and
alive
not afraid of any toils, punishments, danWhat shall be the course gers, or deaths. of society
100 years
?
and
civilization
across the next
For the answers, read,
if
you can,
the strange and baffling eyes of youth.
As
the
new
night in the White House, his inaugural address had gone by telegraph to
Pony Express relays were rushing West with it. They would be 7 days and 17 hours reaching Sacramento, Calif., Joseph, Mo., and
with his plan for the east and west coasts, the Great Lakes and the gulf, the Rio Grande
and the Penobscot
to
belong to one
common
was
liberty
and dedicated
men
to the proposition that all
a great
day
in
American
history, of
which we might say it was sunset and dawn, moonrise and noon sun, dry leaves in an
The
tradition.
are created
equal," acquired a magnificent
meaning dur-
ing and since the war for
of us and for
With
time.
all
under
God was
divide.
What
all
the result that our Nation
and made strong beyond any power again to separate and unified
has emerged
now
is
the
mankind.
last
The
fragment of history we show so humbly today may furnish an insight into the tumult, the bitterness, that in the
end cleared the
the triumph forever of the for justice
From our and from
American genius
early revolutionary beginnings
this
Lincoln heritage
country's leadership in a
all
is
world of
forged our this hour,
freedom
for
mankind everywhere.
And now
the reenactment of the Lincoln
inaugural in 1861:
[12]
air for
and freedom.
a leadership that gives promise of
country. It
American
great hope of an imperiled
President, loo years ago, slept
his first
St.
clear the
LINCOLN INAUGURAL REENACTMENT, Narrator: Roger
Abraham
1
"The
86 1
Mudd.
Lincoln, President-elect of the
United States: John C. Collison. Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the PresidentMrs. Jane Gill. Stephen A. Douglas, Senator from
Roger William Tredway. Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the
United States: Clarence B.
Edward D. Baker, Senator from Oregon: Henry Watterson,
journalist:
Capitol
"The
New York
Herald reported that
Al Tyler. Mr. MuDD.
Capitol, with
its
unfinished
dome surmount-
ed by gaunt derricks, braced with ropes of
"The model dom,
of the statute of
Armed
there in the grass,
among
a litter of
marble
about the
guests, ladies
and
gentlemen, you actment of the opening act in the greatest
American
history
—the
War
"This platform and the scene about to be
happened 100 years slow and dignified walk
way its
it
to the
platform for the ceremony of inauguration. "Shortly before this entrance, the Senate
was
called to order
and the oath of
President, by the outgoing Vice
President, John C. Breckenridge.
played before you, constitute not a precise, but a reasonable approximation of the prop-
"This, that you are now about to see inauguration is the main event.
and what happend in this very Capitol plaza, here, on the steps of the east front of
of the hour,
—the
—
"Of
erties
course, this
"Here
the Capitol of the United States, just lOO years
is
is
a
condensed reenactment
done almost
in capsule form.
the President-Elect
Abraham
Lin-
coln, escorted by the President, James Buch-
to the very day.
"The platform,
was
office
administered to Hannibal Hamlin, the in-
coming Vice
States.
— — ago
the Lincoln Presidential party
is
beginning
"Honored
Free-
destined for the dome's apex, stood back
"Here
are about to witness the reen-
ago
a
crowd of 30,000 gathered where you are now and they saw the spreading structure of the
Al Carwil.
James A. Pearce, Senator from Maryland:
Between the
the
blocks.
Newson.
of
match
steel.
Gill, Jr.
James Buchanan, President of the United States: Ray Moore.
tragedy
to
now,
;
Taney, Chief Justice of the United
States:
P.
as
oflwhite,
Illinois:
Ralph Becker.
H.
were provided only for the central group under the simple wooden canopy made of rough boards and painted an Building.
elect:
B.
guests remained standing through
out; the chairs
the small table
which you
anan, a former Minister to Russia and Senator
may
from Pennsylvania.
recovery
on
"Immediately behind them are Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln, flanked by Henry Watterson,
at-
on your right, the famous Kentucky journalist, and Senator Stephen Douglas, of Illinois.
see up front there, and the chairs taken from the U.S. Senate are a nearly authentic
March
of
the
scenic
background
4, 1861.
"But on that occasion, extensions were
tached to either side to hold the distinguished guests.
"It
was
in the Illinois senatorial
campaign
of 1858 that Mr. Lincoln had forced the Sen-
[13I
RE-ENACTMENT CROWD.
MASSES ON
MARCH
4,
I96I,
WERE DOUBLE THAT
WILLARD HOTEL LUNCHEON AFTER RE-ENACTMENT CEREMONIES
C
DUPII
i
DRAMATIZING LINCOLN
S
INSPIRED
FESTIVE SCENES IN LINCOLn's
HOLD ON THE IMAGINATION OF AMERICA.
OWN
DAY AFTER THE INAUGURAL EVENT.
which wrecked
ator to take a political position
coln was greeted by cheers as he approached
Douglas' chances for the White House.
to deliver his inaugural. "
'He then put down
"Directly behind Senator Douglas on the left is
Taney, Chief Justice of the
B.
Roger
United
another
gural; and Mr. Lincoln's great friend
journal,
pockets and
States, participating in his ninth inau-
from
his
'claps
hands
in
his
pulls out a pair of steel-bowed
This
spectacles.
his manuscript,' said
a signal for
is
A
merriment
Oregon, Senator Edward D. Baker, who will introduce the President-elect for his inaugural
eyed fellow cries out: "Take off them spec-
address.
tacles,
"And
finally to the rear
President Hamlin, and Pearce, of Maryland,
on your
Vice
right.
who is
a
member
"That's the party. 4
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 100
years
warm
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
sunshine and the crowds were
by what the reporter of the York Herald called an overwhelming
and debris
had no
just
street
and
New dust.
had been scraped of its the day before and the
and that
it
city
far
too, participated actively
from
this
and
hold the President's Senator Baker.
tree.
A
little
man
dressed part of the
fell
Mr.
Lincoln.
United
oratorical
"One newspaper
reported that Mr. Lin-
citizens,
I
intro-
the
of
citizens
the
compliance with a custom
Government
itself,
I
appear
ters
is
States,
by the President 'before he en-
on the execution of
"It
to
your presence, the oath prescribed
by the Constitution of the United his Office.'
72 years since the first inauguration
of a President under our National Constitution.
"Hecklers and well-meaning enthusiasts took small liberties with the ceremonies.
"Fellow
"Fellow
States, in
to be taken
out of a
flourishes.
" hat.'
before you to address you briefly, and
with red whiskers ad-
crowd with
today's tableau
duce to you, Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect of the United States of America."
take, in
platform and on the
plaza grounds, one youngster
"
the principals in
as old as
noisily in the inaugural.
"Not
remarked another,
have happened. In any event, sometime Senator Douglas reportedly said: later. if I can't be President, at least I can 'Well,
was 'heard by
thousands.'
"The crowds,
"I didn't
"You see Mr. Lincoln fumbling a little with his hat and Senator Douglas gracefully relieves him of it. This may or may not
dirt
sprinkling system.
distinct'
glasses,"
your eyes."
dent-elect.
"All reports say Mr. Lincoln's voice was 'clear
he wore
"Now,
Pennsylvania Avenue, from the White House to Capitol Hill,
to see
hawk-
lusty,
have ceased chatting with each other. Senator Baker is about to introduce the Presi-
ago began as a But when Lincoln
afflicted
we want
ain't in the picture.'
"they
of the
cloudy and raw day. stepped forward to speak, Washington was beset by what one report called an unseasonably
one portion of the crowd.
know
Senator James A.
inaugural committee on arrangements.
"March
in
During
that period 15 different
and
greatly distinguished citizens, have, in succession, administered
the executive branch
of the Government.
They have conducted
[16]
APPROACHING INAUGURAL RE-ENACTMENT PLATFORM. CARL SANDBURG WALKS BETWEEN SPEAKER SAM RAYBURN AND CHAIRMAN FRED SCHWENGEL WILLIAM MILLER, ON LEFT. ;
L. TO ALMIGHTY FATHER REV. DONALD MAYBERRY GIVES INVOCATION AT RE-ENACTMENT. CHAIRMAN SCHWENGEL (LEFT), SPEAKER SAM RAYBURN, CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN. .
R.
it
many
through
now
I
precedent,
upon the same
enter
under great and peculiar ruption
term of 4
now
is
"I hold, that in
is
extent of
formidably attempted.
contemplation of universal
Union
upon me,
Union
my
this will
only
is
unbroken;
ability,
shall
I
itself
in
all
and, to the
take care as enjoins
expressly
that the laws of the
executed
fully
of
therefore con-
I
perpetual.
Constitution
the
dis-
view of the Constitution and
sider that, in
the laws, the
years,
the
Union be States.
faith-
trust
I
not be regarded as a menace, but purpose of the Union
as the declared
that
it
maintain
will
constitutionally
and
defend,
itself.
Government,
in the short space of 4
years.
"My countrymen, one and and
upon
well,
this
whole
all,
think calmly
subject.
valuable can be lost by taking time.
admitted that you
who
are dissatisfied, hold
the right side in the dispute, there single
good reason
Nothing it were
If
still is
no In-
for precipitate action.
telligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this
favored land, are
still
competent to ad-
the best way, all our present difficulty. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous just, in
The Government
issue of civil war.
will not
You can have no conflict, without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no assail you.
should there not be a patient con-
ernment, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it.
who
its
institutions,
inhabit
it.
fidence in the ultimate justice of the people
In our present differences,
is
either
am
"I
?
there any better, or equal hope, in the
world.'*
jure the
oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Gov-
longs to the people
Is
of wickedness or folly, can very seriously in-
be-
"This country, with
"Why
"While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme
heretofore
law, and of the Constitution, the these States
task
A
difficulty.
Union
the Federal
only menaced,
this scope for
all
for the brief constitutional
of
with
perils; and, generally,
Yet, with
great success.
but
friends.
Though
We
loth to close.
We
passion
are not enemies,
must not be enemies.
may have
strained,
it
must
the
not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every bat-
the North, or on yours of the South, that
heart and hearthstone,
party without faith of being in the right
?
If
Almighty Ruler of nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of truth,
the
and that
judgment
justice, will surely prevail,
of this great tribunal, the
tlefield,
ican people.
vided for the return of that
hands
at
little to
very short intervals.
their
own
all
over this broad
when
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Mr. MuDD.
"By the frame of the Government under which we live, this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, pro-
patriot grave, to every living
land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union,
by
Amer-
and
"It
is
at this
Lincoln took the oath of
point that Mr.
office
old Chief Justice Taney. ports reveal
stood ists
18]
from
81-year-
Contemporary that when the oath was given,
up and took
all
The journalnew President
off their hats.
that day wrote that the
re-
THE
THIS IS THE SCENE AS ACTOR JOHN LINCOLN ACCEPTING OATH OF OFFICE.
I96I LINCOLN TAKES OATH.
EFFORT WAS DILIGENT TO
MAKE
I96I
RE-ENACTMENT OF LINCOLN
AS POSSIBLE LIKE
S
THE ORIGINAL.
FIRST
C.
COLLISON DUPLICATES
INAUGURATION
AS
EXACTLY
repeated the oath after the Chief Justice in 'firm but modest voice.'
(The oath of office)
Lincoln.
"It
do solemnly swear
"I
"And
will you, to
"And,
I
all his
guration
is
now
on the edge
drama
great
ended.
A
nation
of the great abyss.
President, the
new
First
words, they will serve to
festivities at
and de-
of the inauis
teetering
The new
Lady, the ex-Presi-
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;many of them not tableau â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are preparing to
horsedrawn carriages
Willard's Hotel
gaiety, the elegance,
to the
downtown.
all
and the gran-
Nor, by the same token,
who
have had a part
we thank
all
of you
We hope you feel And now
I
it
program and
in this
good people for coming. was a worthwhile effort.
present the Reverend George
Docherty, pastor of the
New
M.
York Avenue
Presbyterian Church, for the benediction.
Rev. Dr. Docherty. Let us pray.
O, God of the nations, the wounds of the Nation have, indeed, been bound up and the have healed and in unity will live one In our day nation, indivisible under God. us and generation grant such courage and scars
deur of the inauguration and its subsequent events cannot be completely captured for this reenactment.
lift
the ages."
Mr. ScHWENGEL. Ladics and gentlemen,
great galaxy of notables
depart in their
mankind through
the committee, the Congress, are grateful to
dent, the Chief Justice, the Senators, and a
to be seen in this
life.
will, to the
ability, preserve, protect,
"The
has
enemies' became, of course, the main theme
"Like
fend the Constitution of the United States."
Mr. MuDD.
place.
President
"Yet the words he spoke today: 'We are We must not be
the moral tone of
States?"
my
same
this
spoken will be remembered more than the words he spoke today.
and defend the Constitution of the United
Abraham Lincoln.
that
of his Presidential
the best of your ability, preserve, protect,
"The
words
"Other
not enemies, but friends.
dent of the United States.?"
best of
this
is
the reenactment today in the
to faithfully execute the Office of the Presi-
Chief Justice Taney.
and blackberry pie and demitasse. same menu that will be served at
lied potato,
:
Chief Justice Taney. "Do you solemnly swear to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States?"
Abraham
ket of corned beef with green cabbage, pars-
is
it
self-sacrifice as
that
we may
we do
day commemorate, labor until across the whole this
and highly possible charged atmosphere of impending doom,
world every child of the earth shall know a full life, enjoy liberty, and seek that happiness
which, in
that
to
the
reenact
this hour,
hung
tense
like a pall over the
Nation.
"But they were there. "For this is the eve of disunion and tragedy. "The inaugural party, then as now, returned to Willard's Hotel for the luncheon.
The menu was mock
and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest upon and is
the blessing of
all
abide with each one of us and children everywhere,
now and
Am.en.
turtle soup, special bris-
[20]
all
God's
forevermore.
(Music: the U.S. Marine Band.)
The Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade, William H. Press, Executive Vice President, presented to the Committee on Arrangements, its otvn concise and complete summation of the events of the commemoration largely under its charge, from the conclusion report of the Committee follotvs verbatim.
of the exercises
on the Capitol Plaza.
This
Reportâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Lincoln Inauguration Centennial March 4, 1961
THE recnactment of the Inaugural Ceremonies at the Capitol, Abraham _ AFTER
red, white,
Lincoln proceeded toward the Willard Hotel
The menu for the luncheon consisted of mock turtle soup, special brisket of corned
drawn by two smartly groomed Army horses, loaned by Fort Myer. He was
in a carriage
followed by another carriage in which were Mary Todd Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas.
burg
Rifle
They were escorted by the SharpsGuard in authentic Union Army
uniforms.
Followed
gressional
Committee
the
by
Joint
New
there proceeded
Jersey
down
Avenues and from
green
cabbage,
parsley
blackberry pie and demitasse.
menu
potato,
This was the
that Lincoln himself requested at the
Willard Hotel 100 years before. The head table guests included:
Mr. C. Wyatt Dickerson, Cochairman the
Lincoln
Inaugural
of
Com-
Centennial
mitttee;
The Reverend Donald W. Mayberry, D.D.,
Police at the intersection of Inde-
pendence and
with
beef
Con-
in cars, the procession
was joined by the National Capital Park
Mounted
filled
and blue bunting and flags, was with a sellout crowd of 600 people.
Rector of
Pennsylvania Avenue.
St.
John's Episcopal
Church
;
Mr. Harry McGill, Administrative Assiststaff of the Clerk of the House; Mr. William H. Press, Executive Vice
Thousands of people lined the streets to watch the small, but dignified, parade. Both
ant on the
Washington Post and the Evening Star reported that the crowds numbered 20,000.
President of the Metropolitan Washington
the
Upon
arrival
at
the Willard
Hotel, the
portrayers of the key figures in the Inaugural Ceremony and the Sharpsburg Rifle Guard
with their wives and children
in
costumes of
the period proceeded to the ballroom for the
luncheon.
The
ballroom,
decorated
with
Board of Trade
;
Maj. Gen. Charles K. Gailey, ing General of the Military
Washington Mr. Ralph
CommandDistrict
of
;
E.
Becker,
Chairman
Committee on Arrangements Inaugural Centennial;
[21]
of the
of the Lincoln
HERE
IS
THE
I96I IDEA OF
CROWD.
HOW
MAY HAVE LOOKED WAVING TO THE FROM FELLOW COMMUNITY ACTORS.
LINCOLN AND HIS SON, TAD,
CAST TAKEN
Brig.
Gen. Fred
J.
Clarke, Engineer
missioner of the District of Columbia
The Honorable
man from
Peter F.
Com-
Lincoln Inaugural Centennial Committee;
;
John C. Collison, portrayer of Abraham
Mack, Congress-
Lincoln
the State of Illinois; J.
Mr. Carl Haverlin, President of Broadcast Music,
Inc., of
New
Civil
York;
Mr. John C. politan
War
Washington Board
the luncheon guests
the District of Columbia;
gress,
;
-
62
and
and plate and
and Members of Con-
reissues of
contemporary
COMMEMORATION SHOWS LINCOLN AND HAMLIN.
[23 O
of Trade;
newspapers. The plate is centered by a drawing of Thomas Nast's sketch of the Inaugural
The Honorable Winfield Denton, Con-
88157
lo, 1962;
Each of the luncheon guests received a commemorative medal made especially for
McLaughlin,
I96I
Commis-
Pyles, President of the Metro-
President of the Board of Commissioners of
MEDAL STRUCK FOR
Centennial
Church.
;
gressman from the State of Indiana
;
Betts, Executive Director of
The Reverend George M. Docherty, Minister of the New York Avenue Presbyterian
Board of Riggs National Bank; The Honorable Vance Hartke, Senator E.
S.
Mr. Betts died on June
sion.
Committee on Arrangements; The Honorable Robert V. Fleming, Toastmaster at the luncheon, and Chairman of the
The Honorable Robert
Centennial Commission
the National Civil
the Joint
State of Indiana
War
Mr. Karl
Mr. Carl Sandburg; The Honorable Fred Schwengel, Congressman from the State of Iowa, and Chairman of
from the
;
Mr, Henry Dudley, member of the D.C. Civil War Centennial Commission; Mrs. B. Y. Martin, member of the D.C.
Sedgwick, Chairman of the D.C. Civil War Centennial Commission;
Mr. Paul
Earle Chesney, Cochairman of the
Mr.
Ceremony showing Abraham Lincoln being sworn
in
The
by Chief Justice Taney.
bor-
ably in so
many capacities including the porof Senator trayal Stephen Douglas, did a tre-
der depicts various scenes of the Inauguration and a beardless Lincoln and Hamlin as they
mendous
appeared during the election campaign.
so that
The commemorative medal Lincoln
Inaugural
and the D.C. sion
is
a replica of
Committee
Centennial Commis-
an 1861 medal issued for
This
the Inauguration.
the
is
first
The
reverse
medal was suspended by a
is
blank.
red, white,
Mr. Becker also furnished the draw-
terity.
ings for the design of the
from
plate
commemorative Amer-
his collection of Political
icana at the Smithsonian Institution.
medal
showing Lincoln with a beard and the first medal with jugate busts of a President and a Vice President.
meaning to this historical occasion mementoes will be preserved for pos-
significant
issued by the
Centennial
War
Civil
job in bringing authenticity and
Capt.
Earle
White House
Chesney,
formerly
of
the
and Cochairman of the
staff
The
Lincoln Inaugural Centennial Committee, devoted much time in coordinating and
and
managing
the great
number
of people
who
blue ribbon bearing the gold inscription: "Lincoln Inaugural Centennial 1861-1961." The official medal struck for the com-
participated in this event.
Captain Chesney
daily followed through on
many
memoration of the Centennial
the same,
President of the Metropolitan Washington
but the reverse has the inscription, encircled by palm leaves: "In Commemoration of the
Board of Trade and business community
Centennial of dent."
is
Abraham Lincoln
as
Presi-
This medal was especially engraved
and struck
in bronze, a limited
sterling silver
and one
in
number
in
gold for presenta-
tion to the President of the
United States
John F. Kennedy on September
6, 1961,
and
another to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Arrangements Fred Schwengel.
This medal was struck by
Political
Her-
itage, Inc.
This luncheon was made possible only by the herculean efforts of many people and organizations
who managed
in a very brief
space of a few weeks to re-create the rich
experience of so those
memorable an event
who attended were
moment
that
able to relive a great
Mr. William H.
Press, as Executive
leader, provided his able staff
of the
numerous
tickets, seating,
details.
who
took care
details in connection
with
bookkeeping, distribution of
the plates and medals,
etc.
Maj. Gen. Charles K. Gailey, Commanding General of the Military District of Washington,
was on hand
at all times to see that there
was unity and cooperation accorded by the military units of the metropolitan area.
The
Committee depended a great deal on General Galley's wisdom and guidance in bringing about this historical occasion.
knowledge and complete press handled by Mr. William A. were coverage Public
Ring,
who
is
the Public Relations Director
of the Metropolitan
Washington Board
of
Trade.
Mr. Henry Dudley of the D.C. Civil
in history.
Mr. Ralph E. Becker, Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements, who served so
Vice
War
Centennial Commission provided valuable assistance
[24]
and cooperation from the Commis-
LINCOLN COMMEMORATIVE PLATE: I86I-I96I.
sion
and was
in charge of the decorations
furnished by Lord & Taylor of New York. Mr. Paul J. Sedgwick, Chairman of the
D.C.
Civil
War
Centennial
arranged plans for the
one of the contributions of the Nation's Capital to the National Civil War Centennial
commemoration. Mr. Victor M. Birely of the Lincoln Group
Commission,
commemoration
as
of
[25]
Washington served
as a consultant to the
THE
Joint
I96I PARADE PROCEEDS
Committee and was
DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE TO WILLARD INAUGURAL LUNCHEON.
Assisting these people
of assistance in
connection with the participation of the Lincoln Group in the event.
ginia
Without Mr. John C. CoUison and his Fellow Community Theater Actors, the reenact-
reenactment.
ment would not have been
Abraham stirring
possible.
As
He
this
of
costumes for
New
all
York who provided
Miss Meyer even
them up brought them
to
Vir-
the
those participating in the
made many
especially for the occasion
of
Washington
and
personally.
Chief Robert V. Murray and Deputy Chief
Lincoln, John CoUison recreated a
and believable living image of
Meyer
was Miss Helen
Howard
Covell provided the cooperation of
tab-
Department so that the parade, though small, would carry with it the dignity and seriousness of the occasion.
leaux presented at the luncheon followed the historical drawing of Nast pictured in the
Mr. Robert A. Miller, head of Newspaper Americana of New York, the organization
great national figure.
and expense unselfishly ticity
of this
center of the
devoted both time
to insure the
memorable
occasion.
commemorative
plate.
authen-
The
the Metropolitan Police
that contributed the reissues of the
26]
New York
THE
I96I LINCOLN
WAVES TO CROWDS AS THE REAL LINCOLN
Herald Tribune, distributed both at the Capitol and the luncheon, made the trip to Washington
with his
staff
members
to
insure
Mr. Toke Nelson, Promotion Living History, Inc., was responsible for sendDirector of
ing of the 600 Harper's
Weekly
Iowa which were distributed
The commemorative
reprints
at the
from
luncheon.
were provided which is Authentic Inc., Distributors, by headed by Mr. Thomas Woroniecki of Massapequa,
Long
Island.
plates
The
medals
were
provided by Political Heritage, Inc., for Authentic Distributors. Mr. Charles Mc-
CENTURY BEFORE.
president of Political also be noted here that
Sorley of Closter, N.J.,
Heritage.
may
It
is
the plates were jointly designed by
Reighart
proper delivery.
DID A
of
Kettlespring
Kilns,
Mr.
J.
F.
Alliance,
Ohio, and Mr. Ralph E. Becker, mentioned above.
Mr. McSorley, Mr. Woroniecki, and Mr. Reighart performed the almost impossible task
of
producing
and
souvernirs in the limited available.
The
plates
had
delivering
amount to
these
of time
be carefully
packaged and sent by motor freight from Ohio, while the medals were personally delivered only
[27]
i
day early by Mr. McSorley.
THE RE-ENACTMENT LINCOLN IN THE CARRIAGE THAT ONCE BELONGED TO PRESIDENT GRANT
Lord & Taylor of sentative to
New
York
sent a repre-
a full 2
Washington
weeks
in
advance of the Centennial to make preparations
for
the
extensive
decorating of
Willard Hotel ballroom without cost
the as
a
contribution to the Commission.
possible the use of the material and articles plates
in every
Mr. Harry Megill, Administrative Assistant on the staff of the Clerk special note
is
Mr. Megill was responsible the beautiful and informative programs
of the House.
presented
to
each
These are truly
guest at the luncheon.
collectors' items
and provided
to the activities.
meaning Finally, the Committee was fortunate
special
to
have on hand the U.S. Marine Band and
In this connection the Library of Congress
terial
Of
and
medals.
and the National Archives
and cooperated
appropriate way.
for
Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with his staff made
needed for the design of the
torical significance
also provided
and background needed
ma-
to insure his-
Orchestra for ceremonies at the Capitol and at the luncheon. They rendered music that
was
[28]
fitting
and appropriate
for the occasion.
NOTHING QUITE CAUGHT THE IMAGINATION OF THE I96I CROWDS
Also honored
at the
100 years or more.
They
Washington
Ballantyne
Baltimore
&
& Ohio
D.C.
H. W. Fisher & Sons, Inc. FrankHn & Co., Opticians
are as follows:
D. Ballauf Manufacturing Co.,
Wm.
Firemen's Insurance Co. of Washington,
luncheon were those
firms having been in business in
AS THIS CARRIAGE SCENE.
Inc.
Gait
Sons
&
Brother, Inc.
Joseph Gawler's Sons, Inc. Geier's Sons Co.
Railroad Co.
Frank
Joseph F. Birch's Sons
Z.
D. Gilman
Brink's, Inc.
Harvey Restaurant
Butler-Flynn Paint Co., Inc.
Jacobs Transfer Co., Inc.
Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Lansburgh's
A. Eberly's Sons
J.
William Lee's Sons Co.
C. Engel's Sons, Inc.
Marlow Coal Co.
The Evening
Melvern-Fussell Ice
Star
Newspaper Co. [29]
Cream Co.
Mutual Benefit Insurance Co. of Newark, N.J.
National Bank of Washington
thought for themselves in the giving of their time and aid to make the Lincoln Inaugural Centennial observance a most memorable and
Oriental Building Association
Riggs National Bank Sealtest
Foods Division of National Dairy
Products Corp. J. H. Small & Sons
Thomas Somerville
The Committee on Arrangements is again pleased to make its acknowledgments for extremely valuable services to members of
Bros. Brick Co.
the District of
Western Union Telegraph Co.
tennial
Willard Hotel
As
nificant
illustrated in the above, a great
of people gave both time
number
and expense
in the
organization and management of the Lincoln Men, many of Inauguration Centennial.
whom
known both locally and nationally, and others who worked and traveled from other cities in order to make this event are well
possible,
were able
meaningful historical occasion. The luncheon was self-sustaining. This completes the verbatim report of the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade.
Co.
Tophams, Inc. W. H. Turton & Sons Washington Gas Light Co.
West
events of the past. These people provided invaluable assistance and cooperated without
to
do the tremendous job most important
of re-creating one of the
Columbia
Civil
War
Cen-
Commission, whose work was sigand outstanding, and who include:
Henry A. Dudley, Elden
Billings,
Eller, Mrs. B. Y. Martin, Col.
Adm. E. M. J.
Gay
Sea-
bourne, Hon. Sigurd Anderson, William H. Press,
Henry Brylawski,
Col.
West Hamilton,
Judge Alexander Holtzoff, Roger Robb, and Lyle Kendall man-
Chairman Sedgwick.
aged problems of transportation and was the Marshal of the Sharpsburg Rifles and of the Parade under Col.
J.
Gay Seabourne.
The following i()6i,
and
is
its
editoyial
from The Washington Post on the day
of the reenactment, Saturday,
reproduced here because of its pertinence, its information, superb comment on Lincoln's ti'ords in the inaugural:
its
perspective after a
March
hundred
4,
years,
Centennial
HAD BEEN nothing rcsembUng blizzard THERE
in those early days of
we can make
1861; yet as far as
much
a
March,
out nearly
was spent in tamping and out the dirt roadway of Pennsylsmoothing vania Avenue between the White House and as
the last
still
effort
uncompleted Capitol
as
was expended
January in getting rid of the
snow.
The
inaugural weather was about normal for time of year, which is to say damp and
this
rather
alternating cloudiness and
windy with
high passion might be described as interested but unenthusiastic.
some days the town had been seething with rumors about plotted assassinations, abductions and what not, and many, for
Still,
including General Scott, took them quite seriIndeed, Mr. Lincoln himself had ously. slipped into
having changed Washington's his eastward itinerary when he was met at Harrisburg by Allan Pinkerton with a story of
worse while waiting for the ceremonies has
murder him.
how
The
is
usual on such occasion,
a
a barber
escaped recording. as
mob
in Baltimore, putatively led
named
Inaugural, however, passed without
any incident
more untoward than
a
few
regulars out of sight of the
hallways or wherever else they could find
though he had them moving along
from the
them were ardent
cold.
A
good many
of
new Presiwho had followed him from the Midwest. Some were fanatical secessionists prepared to make trouble if the opportunity offered; but most of those who formed the partisans of the
dent
crowds along the Avenue and in the eastern grounds beside the Capitol were permanent residents, whose attitude even in that day of
by
Ferrandini, was preparing to
was swarming with visitors, many of whom had been sleeping in the railroad depot or in shelter
on
surreptitiously
Birthday, after
sunshine; but the precise number of persons who caught influenza or even something
Our town,
town almost
jeers.
General Scott was prevailed upon to keep
main
his
procession, parallel
routes so as to be ready in case of trouble, and
the job of guarding the President was
left
ostensibly to the District militia.
How many
of those at the Capitol actually
heard the Inaugural Address delivered by the
new
President in his
somewhat
shrill
accent
and highly nasal twang there is no way of knowing. It was not, except for the preoration,
[31]
one of Mr. Lincoln's more eloquent
was merely on which he
For the most part
utterances.
it
a restatement of the principles
made
his
it
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;at the â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Seward con-
Mr.
said, of
is
nature.
There,
we
submit,
is
an example of
not enemies but friends
are
may have
passion
must not break the bonds
The
tion.
Being ... I
cannot
.
it
fail.
.
.
.
that
any language or by any passage from Demosthenes or Cicero or Mirabeau or Burke or Webster. After a hundred years the nobility and emotional power of the phrasing
with no mento con-
by any hyper-
."
seem
all
it ?
law, and of the Constitution, the these States
is
perpetual.
safe to say that
ever
had a provision
own
termination.
.
is
greater than
all
the real ones you
.
of
."
its
organic law for
its
.
.
its
memories, and
we cannot
separate.
We
cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall
"A husband and
wife
may be divorced, and
go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our
."
the destruction of our national fabric, with benefits,
from?
between them."
"Before entering upon so grave a matter as
its
fly
Will you risk the commission of so fearful a ." mistake
no government proper,
in .
.
Union
step,
any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence ? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, are
.''
contemplation of universal
why we
Will you hazard so desperate a
"Physically speaking, "I hold, that in
the greater.
not be wise to ascertain precisely
it
do
while there
."
and with no purpose
reservations,
Divine
With
succeed.
strue the Constitution or laws, .
.
of our affec-
"I take the official oath today,
critical rules.
strained,
of that
assistance
cannot
I
.
mystic chords of memory,
"Without the
is
political
rhetoric unsurpassed in
Though
"It
and
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our
embattled sections.
tal
and
when
Union,
it
and reconciliation between the angry and
assistance
battlefield
hearthstone, will yet swell the chorus of
cluded with a magnificent plea for peace
We
from every
patriot grave to every living heart
for election; but
campaign
insistence,
stretching
its
hopes,
country cannot do this."
all
would
"Though
passion
may have
must not break our bonds
[32]
strained,
of affection."
it
Here, from the files of the Library of Congress {Call No.: FigS.Wj^) is a set of the actual arrangements made in 1861 for the original Lincoln Inaugural by the Inaugural Committee of that crucial year.
as It
follows verbatim :
Arrangements for the Lincoln Inaugural
TITLE: Arrangements of
the
States,
AUTHOR:
for the Inauguration
President
United
the
of
on the Fourth of March,
Washington,
D.C.,
1861.
Inaugural
Treasury, Treasurer, Commissioners, Judges,
and
The Mayors
of Washington and Georgeand the town, reporters in the Senate.
All of
1861.
Committee,
Library of Congress Call No.: F198.W35,
The
PP- 1-3
SUBJECT: LINCOLN
Washington, D.C.
Inaugural Committee, 1861.
The doors opened
of the Senate
Chamber
at 11 o'clock a.m. for the
will be
admission of
and others who, by the arrangement of the Committee, are entitled to
whom
will be admitted at the north
door of the Capitol. families of the Diplomatic Corps will
enter at the north door of the Capitol,
conducted to the diplomatic gallery. Seats will be placed in front of the Secretary's
United States and
the
Justice
and Associate Judges of
Supreme Court.
The Diplomatic
Corps, Heads of Depart-
ments, and Ex-Members of either branch of Congress, and
Members
Officers of the
left,
for
the
Committee
Arrangements. The Chief Justice and Associate
Ex-Presidents and Vice-Presidents.
The Chief
and, on their
PRESIDENTS of the the PRESIDENT elect;
the
table for
Senators,
admission, as follows:
of Congress elect.
Army and Navy who,
and be
of the
Supreme Court
will have seats
of
Justices
on the
right of the Chair.
The Diplomatic Corps will occupy seats on the right of the Chair, next to the Supreme Court. Heads of Departments on the left of the Chair.
by
name, have received the thanks of Congress. Governors of States and Territories of the
Army and Navy who, by have the thanks of Congress; received name, Governors of States and Territories of the
Union, and Ex-Governors of
Union,
ant
Secretaries
of
States.
Departments,
Assist-
and
the
Assistant Postmaster General; the Comptrollers,
Auditors, Register, and Solicitor of the
Officers of the
Ex-Governors of
Secretaries of Departments,
States,
Assistant
and the Assistant
Postmaster General, Comptrollers, Auditors, Register, and Solicitor of the Treasury, Treas-
[33]
urer, Commissioners, Judges, and the Mayors of Washington and Georgetown, will occupy seats on the right and left of the main
will
entrance.
After a short pause, those assembled in the Senate Chamber will proceed to the platform
Members
entrance, and
will
Arrangements in the Senate Chamber.
Members elect, Chamber by the main
occupy
scats
on the
left
on the central portico of the Capitol
of
who
The The The The The
galleries will be reserved for the ladies,
will enter the Capitol
from the
terrace,
by the principal western door of the central building, and be conducted to the gallery of the Senate.
The Rotunda,
shall be closed,
and the
pas-
sages leading thereto kept clear.
o'clock the
PRESIDENT
and the
of the Capitol, and entering
proceed
to
the
PRESIDENT'S elect
will
him on
be
Arrangements
accompanied to the Capitol by a member of the Committee of Arrangements, and conducted into the
VICE PRESIDENT'S
rear of the
Next
room,
take the seat pro-
the front of the platform.
the the Justices of
Supreme Court will enter Chamber a few minutes before
PRESI-
DENT elect. The Senate will assemble at 12 o'clock. The Senate being ready to receive them,
PRESIDENT
and the
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT
Committee
of
in the
elect.
Chief Justice
in the rear of these the
Justices of the
on the
seats
Supreme left, and
VICE PRESIDENT, Secretary and Mem-
bers of the Senate, those
on the
The Diplomatic Corps
the Senate the
the
occupy a position
Court will occupy the
VICE PRESIDENT.
the
will
and the Associate
and afterwards into the Senate Chamber, where the oath of office will be administered
The Diplomatic Corps and
Secre-
of the portico, the
The PRESIDENT and
The VICE PRESIDENT
States
of Departments, Governors of States
vided for
room.
by the
of Arrangements.
On reaching the front PRESIDENT elect will
will proceed in a carriage to the north door of
wing
Committee
and Territories, the Mayors of Washington and Georgetown, and other persons who have been admitted into the Senate Chamber.
elect, accompanied by two members of the Committee of Arrangements,
there will
Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate.
Heads
PRESIDENT
the north
of the United States.
The Members of the Senate. The Diplomatic Corps.
arrangement, will be kept closed. II
Supreme Court
tary of the Senate.
other doors and entrances to the Capiexcept those to be open under this
At
in the
Marshal of the District of Columbia.
PRESIDENT of the United and PRESIDENT elect. The VICE PRESIDENT and the
The tol,
of
them
following order:
the Chair.
The
Committee
introduced by the
to the seats prepared for
of Congress, and
will enter the Senate
be
right.
will
occupy the
Supreme Court. Heads of Departments, Governors, and ExGovernors of States and Territories, and Exseats next in the rear of the
the
Members
of the Senate, Ex-Members, and
elect
Members
elect of the
[34]
House
of Represent-
the rear of the
in
atives
Members
execution of these arrangements; and aided
of the
by the police of the Capitol, will preserve
Senate.
Such other persons preceding
the
All horses and carriages will be excluded
in readiness, the oath of office
from the Capitol square. Should the weather prove unfavorable, the
will
arrangements
and the residue of the
steps,
by the Chief Justice;
clusion of the
Members
of
PRESIDENT
Senate,
ceremony of the Inauguration in the Senate Chamber.
and on the con-
PRESIDENT'S
the
occupy
portico.
All being wil be administered to the elect
order.
included in the
as are
Solomon Foot,
address, the
preceded by
Committee
at-Arms, will return to the Senate Chamber,
PRESIDENT,
Committeee to the
of
L H iSCHiU
-'>' ^'
"""^y
^
of Arrangements.
accompanied by the
Arangements, House.
will
proceed
PRESIDENT'S
The Sergeant-at-Arms
Here
of the Senate, with
the Marshal of the District, are charged with
is
a sketch of the
the seating arrangements
podium
itself
and
taken from the
1861 records.
W.
dour Sciiaic C'liamlicr.
L35J
..
~-f^\j^>^ •//
James A. Pearce, Edward D. Baker,
the
VICE PRESIDENT, Secretary, and Sergeantand the
will take place
««.
Epilogue LINCOLN INAUGURAL COMMEMORATION
THE project from the birth of the idea down to the last
word
in this report
is
regarded by your Joint Committee on Arrangements as
report.
others, to the Prints
and Photographs
merely
chronological
included in these pages, and to the experts in
Rather the object was to obey fully
Typography and Design of the Government
It
was decided,
not
permitted,
routine,
among
Division of the Library of Congress for materials about the Lincoln Inauguration period,
a labor of love. talent
photographs, not only of Lincoln's time but especially of the event in 1961 that paid him homage. The thanks of the Committee go,
mechanistic,
to
insofar as
a
and
the implied injunctions of the Congress and to produce a
report that
would have the
amplitude, integrity, and reverence,
reflecting
Printing
for
Office
There was
tribution to this report.
con-
invaluable
their
the intent to create a report that
overall
might prove
throughout the powerful impact, inspirationally and pictorially, of the ceremonies
useful perhaps a century hence to evoke a
March
memoration and
4, 1961,
that duplicated
on the
steps
of the East Front of the Capitol the
first
Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Thus the aim of the report basically is to be accurate. It
seeks to avoid the dreary uniformity of a
tabulation of events without doing too
much
violence to the needs and the format of an
acceptable government print. that a preponderant emphasis
Yet
had
it
was
to be given
commemoration itself and to its participants because the commemoration was the light that zoomed into better view in 1961 memorable day
now being
a
century before that was
The letter size of the report, as distinguished size,
ferred by the Joint
report
more
was
deliberately pre-
Committee
to
make
to provide suggestions
perhaps a model,
future
for
memorations, not only from
and
com-
the steps of the
Capitol but from places of vantage anywhere in the country.
For here was the most positive testimony by speech, by tableaux, by the distinction of the
by the response of the people and the communication media, that there had been indeed since Lincoln's
personalities taking part,
day the fulfillment of the prophecy that "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth
so devotedly recalled.
from document
ideas,
com-
felt
to the
the
truthful feeling of the atmosphere of the
of freedom
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and
that
government of
the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish
from the
earth."
the
The Committee.
inviting to the pictorial contents,
Fred Schwengel of Iowa, Chairman.
allowing for the desired use of sketches and
[37]
U.S.GOUERNMEM PRINTING
OFFICE. 1962
O
68157