© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2009 University of Chicago Library
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Lincoln Collection. American Historical Portraits, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Rev. William Eleazar Barton (1861-1930) The Rev. William Eleazar Barton (1861-1930) was one of the early twentieth century's most prominent writers and lecturers on the life of Abraham Lincoln. Born in Sublette, Illinois, in the same year Lincoln assumed the presidency, Barton grew up in an environment heavily influenced by reverence for Lincoln. After pursuing undergraduate studies at Berea College in Kentucky, Barton earned his divinity degree from the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1890. He served parishes in Tennessee, Ohio, and Massachusetts before becoming the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Oak Park, Illinois, a position he held until his retirement in 1924. Four years later, Barton accepted an appointment as lecturer at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, where he also organized and served as pastor of the Collegeside Congregational Church.
Barton's work as a writer produced a number of denominational manuals for church organization and a series of books presenting the wisdom and parables of a character he named Safed the Sage. For the last ten years of his life, however, Barton was best known to the public as a prolific author and lecturer on Abraham Lincoln. His publications about Lincoln included The Soul of Abraham Lincoln (1920), The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln (1920), The Life of Abraham Lincoln (1925), The Great and Good Man (1927), The Women Lincoln Loved (1927), and The Lincoln of the Biographers (1930).
In the course of compiling material for his writings and talks, Barton visited Lincoln sites in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois; interviewed surviving Lincoln relatives and acquaintances; and traveled as far as California and England to collect information and conduct genealogical research on the ancestry of the Lincoln family. While acquiring a large collection of books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, and ephemera related to Lincoln and the Civil War era, Barton also purchased privately or at auction historical materials amassed by other Lincoln collectors such as John E. Burton and Osborn H. Oldroyd.
This collection is made up of materials compiled by William E. Barton. A pastor in Oak Park, Illinois, Barton published and lectured on Lincoln extensively. He also maintained connections with fellow Lincoln experts and carried out multiple research projects that delved into the many different facets of Lincoln’s life, times and family history.
The majority of the materials in this collection are portraits of political figures; statesmen and soldiers. Included among these are a small number of non state affiliated professionals, such as writers, clergymen, naturalists, and artists. This collection has been organized in consideration of the material’s size and aimed to make portraits of individuals readily accessible to researchers.
This collection is organized into three series: Series I: Individual Portraits, Series II: Group Portraits and Series III: Oversized Portraits.
Series I is arranged alphabetically and contains individual portraits of presidents, statesmen, abolitionists, clergymen, artists and writers. Series II is an arrangement of group portraits; engravings and photographs, whose subject matters centers on the Civil War. These include group images of the Union and Confederate armies represented under central themes, such as Naval Officers or a General with his Officers of Staff.
Series III contains oversized materials and is organized into two subseries; mirroring the two prior series. Subseries 1 are oversized individual portraits, arranged alphabetically. There are also presidential portraits accompanied with a biography of the individual housed here. Subseries 2 contains oversized group portraits of Presidents, United States Independence Anniversary, and Carrier’s of the Press. Please note there are also three photographs picturing William E. Barton housed here.
This series is composed of engravings, lithographs, and drawings of historical American figures. They are arranged alphabetically for accessibility.
This series is composed of engravings and lithographs of group portraits. The subjects of these groups include Union and Confederate Officers and soldiers as well as Presidential portraits.
This series is composed of lithograph and engraved portraits of historical American figures. The materials housed here are divided into two subseries according to the portrait’s size. Subseries 1 houses individual portraits and Subseries 2 group portraits. Please note that there are additional portraits of some historical figures in BOXes 1-3 housed in this series.