"What an Immense City": Julia Wilbur Visits New York in July 1863
/Julia Wilbur does New York City--early July 1863. I follow her footsteps--late June 2017.
Read MoreBlogging about abolitionist Julia Wilbur, the Civil War, Alexandria, women's rights, and more
Julia Wilbur does New York City--early July 1863. I follow her footsteps--late June 2017.
Read MoreNotes from a talk about Theodore Roosevelt Island by NPS expert Brad Krueger, who also spurred my visit there last weekend.
Read MoreA Maine woman made life less miserable for thousands of soldiers in Alexandria, VA.
Read MoreThree years after the Civil War ended, the Union veterans group, called the Grand Army of the Republic proposed May 30 as Decoration Day, a day to decorate the graves of military dead. A large observance took place at Arlington Cemetery.
May 30, 1868, fell on a Saturday. Julia recorded the afternoon across four pages of her diary. Here are a few excepts.
In Washington that morning, Julia Wilbur joined a "Ladies Committee" to make wreaths, crosses, and bouquets out of flowers. True to form,
A basket full of flowers from the Ex. Mansion I made into bouquets & brought one away to decorate if opportunity offered some Colored Soldier’s grave.
With some friends, she rode in a carriage across the river, joining thousands of others. By the time they arrived,
It was 2 P.M. & Gen. Garfield had begun to speak from a platform extending from the Piazza. Here in front of the Platform were seats for a great many. Many drove up as near as possible & remained in their carriages & thousands stood or strolled around. The Piazza was decorated with flags, & badges of the different Corps. were suspended on a rope extending from the Flag staff to the roof of the Mansion
In addition to speeches, sad music, prayers, poetry, and a reading "Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, Nov. 1863," there were--
Seated in front were Gen. Grant & staff & gen. Long, & Gens. Howard & Hancock & Ekin & other invited guests, including 54 orphans of soldiers & sailors...
A procession led by the children strew flowers on graves.
Nothing happened to mar the solemnity & beauty of the scene. It was unlike anything I ever witnessed before. Many a tear fell on those graves. There was no unseemly noise or mirth in all that vast crowd, 5,000.
Yet (why should this be a surprise?), the official ceremony only passed by white soldiers' graves. Julia went to the what she said was the northeastern part of the property (now called Section 27) where U.S. Colored Troops lay:
The programme did not seem to apply to this portion of the Cemetery but I understood that a few persons white & colored had been there with flowers & a prayed been offered. I was not satisfied to leave without going there. We drove there & entered. The grass had not been cut, & it is very tall. A small part seemed to be allotted to colored soldiers & flags & flowers were on all these graves.Here I left a bouquet from the White House on the grave of an “Unknown” & a few others, separating it for this purpose. It seems a pity that a part of the Cem. must be detached from the rest.
Julia commemorated Decoration Day many more times, but the first time probably meant the most to her.
Julia Wilbur drew a picture of Nine Partners Boarding School, which she attended at age 14--and I recently got a look at it.
Read MoreThe courtroom where Mary Surratt and 7 others were tried--then and now.
Read MoreHow did people in the mid-19th century take care of their teeth?
Read MoreAbout 500,000 left slavery during the Civil War. As Chandra Manning's new book details, they took enormous risks in their search for freedom.
Read MoreJulia Wilbur records what she felt and saw the day after Lincoln's assassination.
Read MoreClara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office was lost for decades. Here's how it was found.
Read MoreParagraph 6 of the Emancipation Proclamation ushered in a new era. Here's how.
Read MoreAt Signature Theatre in Arlington, high school students learn how century-old suffrage protests resonate today.
Read MoreAbolitionists sought to "grab your wallet" through non-slave labor products like sorghum.
Read MoreJulia Ward Howe & Julia Wilbur traveled in different circles--but they did connect at least once.
Read MoreA few notes from Heroines of Mercy Street, by Pamela Toler.
Read MoreThe story behind 6 Mathew Brady photos of Civil War, Alexandria.
Read MoreWell before Facebook and Twitter, 19th-century activists still connected and mobilized.
Read MoreA month or so ago, I got a peek at episode #1 at a roundtable with the producer.
Read MoreStaying warm took ingenuity--including a contraption called a Crimean Oven.
Read MoreCharleston and Savannah, History and Food!
Read MorePaula Tarnapol Whitacre's website with a focus on her forthcoming biography on abolitionist Julia Wilbur.