|
Visitors view Lincoln Photo Collection
inside pavilion.
SOURCE: Film still from
"World's Fair Encounter"
 |
|
Before reaching the pre-show
area for "Great Moments" visitors were greeted by an
impressive display that reproduced every photograph of Abraham
Lincoln known to exist. The photos came from the celebrated collection
of Frederick Meserve (1865-1962) who had begun collecting historic
photographs in 1902. With the help of his friend, Carl Sandburg,
Meserve assembled more than 100 Lincoln photographs in a collection
of Civil War era photos that numbered in the tens of thousands,
forming a history of America's greatest President from 1846 to
1865.
Meserve's collection consisted
mostly of posed portraits, but he also had tracked down all public
photographs taken of Lincoln by newspaper photographers and other
amateurs. The results were first published in a 1911 book, Photographs
Of Abraham Lincoln, which was updated in 1944 to reflect
new discoveries.
Placing all of the known
images of the real Lincoln could only have helped enhance the
ultimate impact of "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln"
on Fair visitors. With the images of the real Lincoln burned
greatly in their minds before entering the theater, viewers could
see more clearly how much care had been put into the Audio-Animatronic
figure to make it as lifelike as possible.
Below are a sampling of
the historic photographs Fair visitors would have seen in the
pavilion display.
|
|
#1 This is the oldest
known photograph of Lincoln. Sources date it as either 1846 or
1848 during his single term as Whig Party member of the U.S.
House of Representatives.
|
 |
|
|
#2-A Matthew Brady portrait of Lincoln
taken on February 27, 1860 in New York City. |
|
#3 November 25, 1860,
three weeks after Lincoln's election as President. This is also
the first photograph that shows him bearded. After being "scrupulously
clean-shaven" all his life, according to one friend, Lincoln
had grown the beard in response to a letter from a young girl,
Grace Beddell, who had said "you would look a great deal
better for your face is so thin."
|
 |
|
|
#4-A February 1861 portrait taken
in Springfield, Illinois just prior to Lincoln's departure for
Washington for his inauguration. This photo is usually compared
with 1865 photos to show the toll the Civil War took on Lincoln. |
|
#5 The President confers
with General George McClellan on October 2, 1862 at Antietam,
Maryland not long after the infamous battle that represented
the first major Union victory in the Civil War. Two years later,
McClellan would be the Democratic nominee against Lincoln in
the 1864 election.
|
 |
|
|
#6 Taken the same day at Antietam.
This is one of the few pictures to show Lincoln wearing the famous
stovepipe hat. |
|
#7 An Alexander Gardner
portrait, taken on August 9, 1863.
|
 |
|
|
#8 With youngest son Tad, February
9, 1864. Tad is the only one of Lincoln's family that he appears
with in a photograph. |
|
#9 Also taken by Matthew
Brady, February 9, 1864. This photo served as the basis for the
portrait of Lincoln on the penny.
|
 |
|
|
#10 This February 9, 1864 Brady
portrait was incorporated on the $5 bill design from 1933 to
1999. |
|
#11 Lincoln delivers
his second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
|
 |
SOURCE: The Photographs
Of Abraham Lincoln, compiled by Frederick Meserve (1944)
|
|
#12 April 10, 1865. The last photo
taken of Lincoln before his assassination four days later. The
glass negative cracked, accounting for the line through the top. |
|