University of South Carolina Scholar Commons University South Caroliniana Society - Annual South Caroliniana Library Report of Gifts 4-2012 Caroliniana Society Annual Gifts Report - April 2012 University Libraries--University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/scs_anpgm Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation University of South Carolina, "University of South Carolina Libraries - Caroliniana Society Annual Gifts Report, April 2012". http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/scs_anpgm/3/ This Newsletter is brought to you by the South Caroliniana Library at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in University South Caroliniana Society - Annual Report of Gifts yb an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE UNIVERSITY SOUTH CAROLINIANA SOCIETY SEVENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING __________ UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Saturday, April 28, 2012 Mr. Kenneth L. Childs, President, Presiding __________ Reception and Exhibit ..............................................................11:00 a.m. South Caroliniana Library Luncheon.....................................................................................1:00 p.m. The Palmetto Club at The Summit Club Location Business Meeting Welcome Reports of the Executive Council...................... Mr. Kenneth L. Childs Address......................................................................Dr. William A. Link Richard J. Milbauer Chair in History, University of Florida PRESIDENTS THE UNIVERSITY SOUTH CAROLINIANA SOCIETY 1937–1943 .......................................................................................M.L. Bonham 1944–1953 ...............................................................................J. Heyward Gibbes 1954 ............................................................................................Samuel L. Prince 1954–1960 .................................................................. Caroline McKissick Belser 1960–1963 .............................................................................James H. Hammond 1963–1966 ............................................................................Robert H. Wienefeld 1966–1969 ................................................................................. Edwin H. Cooper 1969–1972 ................................................................................Claude H. Neuffer 1972–1974 .................................................................................Henry Savage, Jr. 1974–1978 .....................................................................William D. Workman, Jr. 1978–1981 .................................................................................. Daniel W. Hollis 1981–1984 .................................................................................... Mary H. Taylor 1984–1987 ................................................................................... Walter B. Edgar 1987–1990 ................................................................................... Flynn T. Harrell 1990–1993 .......................................................................... Walton J. McLeod III 1993–1996 ....................................................................................... Jane C. Davis 1996–1999 ..................................................................................... Harvey S. Teal 1999–2000 ..........................................................................Harry M. Lightsey, Jr. 2001 ........................................................................................ Ronald E. Bridwell 2002–2005 ...................................................................................John B. McLeod 2005–2008 ....................................................................................... Steve Griffith 2008–2011 ............................................................................Robert K. Ackerman 2011– .......................................................................................Kenneth L. Childs 75th ANNUAL MEETING ADDRESS BY HAROLD HOLZER LINCOLN BEFORE WASHINGTON: THE PRESIDENT-ELECT AND THE CRISIS OF SECESSION A century and a half ago, placing his hand on the very Bible that President Barack Obama later used for his own swearing-in, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as the sixteenth President of the United States. Other scholars have dealt with the exceptional words he delivered before being sworn in (yes, in those days, the inaugural parade came first, the address second, and the oath third and last). So I would like instead to set the scene by talking about those words—and for some time before that, the lack of words—that preceded the inaugural, during Lincoln’s long, lonely, four-month wait for succession in isolated Springfield, Illinois, during which time he seemed to some to be unable, or unwilling (or both) to intrude himself on the national debate over slavery and secession, even as the crisis widened and deepened. And then I’d like to comment on the words he ultimately did speak en route to Washington to re- introduce himself to an American public he had not addressed in a full year. I think, for the most part, they have been vastly under-appreciated. To the consternation of many critics who believed that after his election, Lincoln should not only offer conciliatory re-assurances that might arrest the momentum for disunion, but, as one advisor suggested, even travel here to South Carolina to offer such assurances in person, Lincoln instead stayed home from November through February (except for brief excursions to Chicago and another Charleston: Charleston, Illinois). Moreover, he steadfastly refused to say or write anything new for public consumption, and remained firmly committed to a policy he and his supporters called “masterful inactivity.” Lincoln’s policy of silence did not appeal to everyone. “He laughs and jokes,” worried correspondent Henry Villard. He “gulps down the largest doses of adulation that a village crowd can manufacture, and altogether deports himself with the air of one who fails to comprehend the task which abolition fanaticism has thrust upon him.” Silence had its dangers. The truth was, Lincoln was not only fully aware of the crisis—though of course he did not blame it on abolitionism—but enormously frustrated by the tradition that compelled his silence. As he confided: “Every hour adds to the 2 difficulties I am called upon to meet…compelled to remain here, doing nothing to avert [it] or lessen its force when it comes to me.” And yet he said nothing, unwilling, he confided, to beg for acceptance. His loyal assistant secretary John Hay put it this way, in response to what he called “the holy army of self-appointed union savers” plaguing Lincoln with demands for conciliatory declarations: “Mr. Lincoln will not be scared or coaxed into any expression of what everybody knows are his opinions until the will of the people and the established institutions of the government are vindicated by his inauguration.” Then, Hay promised, “if anybody doubts his integrity, his liberality, his large-hearted forbearance, and his conservatism, their doubts will be removed. Until then, let them possess their souls in patience.” Lincoln’s policy of silence would dramatically change—not only with his inaugural, but first during the long journey that preceded it. Traveling to Washington, he would deliver a truly remarkable, not to mention exhausting, 101 speeches in eleven days. He spoke to more people than had ever seen or heard an American leader. Some of the remarks proved brief and perfunctory, others thoughtful, some controversial. Some were casual and extemporaneous, others drafted in advance. And while a good deal has been written about their impact—then as well as now, mostly negative—I would like to offer a somewhat different assessment as I invite you to travel along with Lincoln from Springfield to Washington. First consider the pressures: this would be no pleasure trip, no valedictory journey. Lincoln had yet to finalize his Cabinet, was juggling hundreds of requests for federal jobs, many from persistent friends and family, was still at work on his inaugural message, and by the day he departed, faced the ugly fact that seven states had quit the Union, formed their own country, and elected an alternative President in defiance of the election result in November. Yet at 7:30 A.M. on February 11, 1861, after breakfasting at his hotel, he boarded a gleaming three-car train hissing at the ready: a modern locomotive crowned by a towering funnel stack, a capacious baggage car, and bringing up the rear a bright-yellow passenger car “festively” adorned with patriotic bunting. Crowding the depot was a “vast concourse” of a thousand neighbors huddled against the mist and steam to properly see him off, “almost all of whom,” Lincoln proudly testified, “I could recognize.” After tearful farewells, Lincoln followed his inaugural journey manager, the mysterious and officious William S. Wood, toward the tracks. The crowd parted 3 respectfully as they passed, many offering final handshakes along the way. Who else was on board? To some, it seemed like the whole town. John Hay joked that the guest list for the voyage had ballooned to such an extent it now embraced “members of all the political parties, with the exception of the secessionists.” Mary’s cousin Lockwood Todd would be on board, along with her brother-in-law William Wallace, a doctor. Longtime