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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

The amazing story behind the only photograph of President Lincoln in death

The only photograph of Abraham Lincoln in death almost never survived.

When the assassinated president was laid out in his coffin in the rotunda of New York's City Hall for a viewing attended by 120,000 people on April 24, 1865, his widow, Mary Todd Lincoln, explicitly banned shutterbugs to preserve the privacy of the solemn moment. But Brig. Gen. E.D. Townsend, who attended the viewing, let a local photographer take a picture of the slain Lincoln.

Just before the doors opened to the public, photographer Jeremiah Gurney Jr. and his assistants were allowed to come in and set up their equipment and take a daguerreotype photo of the solemn moment.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The assassination of Lincoln was the beginning of the downfall of America, his plan after the war was to reestablish the freed african slave in Liberia. Just imagine how different this country would be today without the burden of feeding, housing, educating 11 million African-Americans.

Anonymous said...

AMEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It would still be a strong financial windfall for the U.S. to do it today. I am willing to forgo my tax return if it would help.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for Nothing Lincoln.

Anonymous said...

I've been saying the same thing for years. No need for hatred, violence or inhumanity. Just take them back to where they claim to be descended from. Now show me how many "African-Americans" can actually find Africa on a world map.

Anonymous said...

I Have A Dream....