Series 3: Brooklyn and Long Island Fair, circa 1799-1866, 1964, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
This series contains records relating to the Brooklyn and Long Island Fair in Aid of the United States Sanitary Commission (also known as the Sanitary Fair), held in 1864. Approximately half of the series concerns financial aspects of the Fair and donations of goods to it. The other half concerns the Fair's events and exhibits.
Financial and donation records include a cash ledger, numbered invoices, subscription books recording donations of goods (principally to the Fine Goods Committee), and correspondence of the Finance Committee. Of particular interest is Invoice 149, from George Templeton Strong, Treasurer of the USSC, acknowledging $300,000 sent to that organization as a result of the Brooklyn Fair.
The printed forms and documents related to planning the event include a handwritten letter from Henry Ward Beecher in support of a proposal to collect autographs in an album to be auctioned at the Fair. The Committee on Art, Relics and Curiosities contains catalogs of the artwork and other items that were exhibited at the Fair. The Business Committee material contains a handwritten memo from Mrs. J.S.T. Stranahan (President of the Women's Relief Association) providing the women with "hints" regarding how best to interact with the business community and coincidentally offering posterity an interesting insight into nineteenth century behavior norms. The series also holds floor plans for the Academy of Music Fair site, stereographs of the New England Kitchen exhibit taken by photographer W.E. James, and programs, announcements, and admission tickets for various events. There are several posters, placards, and broadsides advertising Fair events or events held in the weeks leading up to the Fair; among these is the string of numbers used by the Treasurer to announce the Fair's final receipts tally of $400,000. The folder for dramatic events includes a handwritten copy of a scene from "Jem Bags in The Wandring Minstrel" and the script of "Woman in History" performed by Packer Collegiate Institute. The series includes a full run of the Fair's daily newspaper, Drum Beat, as well as a scrapbook and clippings concerning the Fair.
The series also includes a variety of items that were exhibited and auctioned at the Fair, or believed to have been so. One of these items is an album of autographed writings by such nineteenth century literary notables as William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (The complete list of contributors is noted in the series container list below.) The album also includes a page from manuscripts by James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving. The album was compiled by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt specifically to be auctioned at the Fair. Another item, less certain as to its relation to the Fair, is a set of Mexican War-era correspondence, in Spanish, between Maria Forises and her husband, Juan, at San Luis Potosi. Other artifacts include a strand of George Washington's hair, a piece of Henry Clay's coat, a scrapbook of poems/lyrics from the Confederate states, a printing plate for a leaflet from the Fair, ribbons worn by Fair officials, and sheet music for a song also called "The Drum Beat."
A folder in the series includes material from the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) concerning its effort to attract donations of items acquired at the Fair. The folder also holds a historical account of the Fair written by Harriet Stryker-Rodda in 1964 to commemorate its centennial anniversary.
Arrangement
The series is arranged with financial and donation records first, followed by material concerning committee activities, Fair events, artifacts, images, and ephemera. At the end of the series is a folder of material concerning the Long Island Historical Society (now Brooklyn Historical Society) and the Fair, including a 1964 booklet authored by a librarian from the Society.
Conditions Governing Access
Although the series includes originals of the newspaper, Drum Beat, because of its fragility, researchers will be required to use the photocopies in the collection. Researchers desiring access to the originals need to write to the Director of the Library and Archives requesting permission and explaining their need.
Financial Records: Vouchers 1-214 (2 folders), 1864-1865, inclusive
Financial Records: Cash Book, 1863-1865, inclusive
Subscription Books (4 folders), 1864, inclusive
General
Most of the books relate to the Ladies' Fancy Goods Committee.
Subscription Book: Southampton, Long Island, 1864, inclusive
Committee on Finance and Donations, 1863-1864, inclusive
Receipt Book for Donations of Goods, 1864, inclusive
Letter from William H. Seward re: Donation of Material (copy), 1863, inclusive
Committee on Art, Relics and Curiosities, 1864, inclusive
Business Committee, 1864, inclusive
Committee of Dry Goods Merchants, 1864, inclusive
Committee of Grocers and Hardware Merchants, 1864, inclusive
Committee on Internal Arrangements, 1864, inclusive
Committee on Manufacturers and Mechanic Arts, 1864, inclusive
Committee on Post Office and Newspaper, 1864, inclusive
Committee for Queens and Suffolk Counties, 1864, inclusive
Refreshments Committee, 1864, inclusive
New England Kitchen Committee, 1864, inclusive
Floor Plans at Academy of Music, 1864, inclusive
Posters, Placards, Broadsides, 1864, inclusive
Ribbons, 1864, inclusive
Events: Dancing, 1864, inclusive
General
Includes Calico Ball and dance cards
Events: Dramatic, 1863-1864, inclusive
General
Includes a handwritten copy of a scene from "Jem Bags in The Wandring Minstrel" and the script of "Woman in History" performed by Packer Collegiate Institute.
Events: Gymnastic, 1864, inclusive
Events: Music, 1864, inclusive
The Drum-Beat, sheet music by Samuel O. Dyer, circa 1864, inclusive
Events: New England Kitchen Stereographs, 1864, inclusive
Events: Admission Tickets, 1863-1864, inclusive
General
The folder includes some admission tickets to events other than the Brooklyn and Long Island Fair, including to other events in Brooklyn and to other relief initiatives.
Bills of Fare, 1863-1864, inclusive
Credit Receipts and Tokens, 1864, inclusive
Printed Forms and Documents, circa 1864, inclusive
The Drum Beat, daily newspaper (photocopies), 1864, inclusive
The Drum Beat (originals; restricted), 1864, inclusive
General
Because of the fragile state of these documents, access to these originals is restricted and requires approval of the Director. Researchers are directed to the photocopies in box 3 or additional bound copies in box 6.
The Drum Beat (originals; bound), Feb. 22-Mar. 5, 1864, inclusive
Walter T. Hatch Account Book for The Drum Beat, 1864, inclusive
Clippings (unbound scrapbook), 1864, inclusive
Clippings (loose), 1864, inclusive
Clippings (oversize), 1864, inclusive
General
Includes pages with images from Frank Leslie's Illustrated, New York Illustrated, and Harper's Weekly.
Poetry: Manuscript by Marion Grey The Mission of the Hour, 1864, inclusive
General
This item was intended to be read at the Fair's opening ceremony, but such a ceremony was not conducted.
Poetry: Print Matter, circa 1864, inclusive
Poetry: Print Matter (oversize), circa 1864, inclusive
General
The printing plate for the document in this folder is also in the collection, in box 12.
Stereotype Printing Plate, 1863, inclusive
General
This plate is associated with the oversize poetry print matter in box 7.
Advertising Leaflets for Commercial Products, 1864, inclusive
Exhibits: Mexican War Era Correspondence, 1846-1847, inclusive
General
These documents are in Spanish.
Exhibits: Strand of George Washington's Hair, circa 1799, inclusive
Exhibits: Samples of Broadcloth Used for Henry Clay Suit, 1844, inclusive
Exhibits: The Rights of the Legal Voter, and the Law and the Penalty of Fraudulent Voting (Henry Clay campaign material), 1844, inclusive
Exhibits: Fragment of the Ellsworth (?) Flag, undated
Exhibits: Scrapbook of Confederate Song Lyrics, 1861-circa 1864, inclusive
Exhibits: Album of Autographs Collected by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, circa 1830-1897, inclusive
General
The album includes a page from James Fenimore Cooper's manuscript of Water-Witch, Chapter 6 (circa 1830), and related correspondence from Susan Fenimore Cooper (1886). There is also a page from Washington Irving's manuscript of The Life of George Washington, Volume 4 (circa 1858). Other contributors, represented by an autographed note or poem, are: Lewis Agassiz, George Bancroft, Henry Ward Beecher, George H. Boker, William Cullen Bryant, Richard Henry Dana, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edward Everett, James T. Fields, Fitz Greene Halleck, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry W. Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Donald G. Mitchell, Wendell Phillips, Epes Sargent, Jared Sparks, Charles Sprague, Edmond C. Stedman, Richard Henry Stoddard, Charles Sumner, Bayard Taylor, George Ticknor, J.T. Trowbridge, John G. Whittier, and Nathaniel P. Willis.
