The Miscegenation Ball
The Miscegenation Ball
- Description
- This hand-colored print depicts a fictionalized account of a Republican campaign event dance that occurred at the Lincoln Central Campaign Club in New York Sept. 22, 1864. The caption at the bottom of the work swears that the event is accurately portrayed in the above illustration, in which high level Republican leaders are shown vigorously dancing, conversing, and fraternizing with fashionably dressed black women. No white women are present in the scene and Lincoln supporters seated on the sides of the room are seen kissing and scandalously embracing black women. Northern Democrats opposed abolition by playing upon fears of widespread miscegenation, or racial mixing, that they argued would inevitably occur if Lincoln were re-elected to a second term. A campaign banner reading, “Universal Freedom / One Constitution / One Destiny / Abraham Lincoln Pre..st” hangs above the proceedings. This banner and portrait of Lincoln on the wall suggested to viewers that his re-election and racial mixing went hand-in-hand.
- The series of prints critical of potential miscegenation were initially published in a New York daily newspaper, The World. The paper was established in 1860, was religiously orientated, and supported Lincoln’s policies. After losing money, however, it was sold to a group of New York City Democrats, who openly attacked Lincoln after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Known for printing falsified information and accounts, the paper was temporarily shut down in 1864 after publishing a report that Lincoln planned to draft 400,000 more men for the Union armies.
- The print was the fourth, last, and largest in a series of anti-Lincoln prints by New York lithographers Kimmel & Forster, published by Bromley & Company. Christopher Kimmel was born in Germany around 1850 and after immigrating to the United States, was active in New York City from 1850 to 1876. He was part of Capewell & Kimmel from 1853 to 1860, and then partnered with Thomas Forster in 1865, forming the lithography firm of Kimmel & Forster, which was active until 1871. Although this print offers a harsh criticism of Lincoln, it was most likely produced as a commission, since the firm produced several prints celebrating the President after his death.
- The signature in the lower right corner of the illustration reveals that this scene was imagined by the artist Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904), who specialized in lithography of the American theatre, which accounts for the work’s dramatic imagery. In the lower left corner, the print includes an advertisement for publisher, copyright holder, and distributer, G.W. Bromley & Co.. Black and white copies were sold through the mail for 25 cents and hand colored copies cost 34 cents. Copies could be purchased at discount prices if purchasing multiples of 5, 50, or 100.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1864
- copyright holder; distributor
- Bromley & Co.
- maker
- Kimmel and Forster
- artist
- Thomas, Henry Atwell
- place made
- United States: New York, New York
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 12 5/8 in x 20 1/2 in; 32.0675 cm x 52.07 cm
- ID Number
- DL.60.3341
- catalog number
- 60.3341
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- subject
- African American
- Courtship, love
- Political Parties
- Chronology: 1860-1869
- Adornment
- Glasses
- Dancing
- Music
- Political Caricatures
- U.S. National Government, executive branch
- Communication, newspapers
- Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
- Civil War
- related event
- Civil War
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Clothing & Accessories
- Domestic Furnishings
- Art
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
