Scope and Contents:
This album contains photographs of numerous white and African American people, including several notable abolitionists, dating to the 1860s-1880s. The bulk of the photographs were created by photographers located in Quincy, Illinois, including Catherine McCormick Reed (1818-1900) (also known as Candance McCormick Reed). The compiler of this album likely resided in or near Quincy.
Quincy, Illinois was a hub of early abolitionist activity during the nineteenth century. The city was also home to several photographers, including Catherine McCormick Reed. Catherine began business in 1848, in partnership with her husband Warren A. Reed. After Warren’s death in 1858, Catherine opened a new studio, the Excelsior Gallery, where she would continue to work as a photographer until 1888. Although the compiler of this album is unknown, the photographs contained in this collection reflect Quincy’s heritage as a center of abolitionism.
This collection consists of one photograph album containing twenty-two cartes de visite and tintypes. One postal envelope sent to Sheriff George R. Dyer in Joliet, Illinois from Owen Lovejoy, brother of Elijah Lovejoy, is also present. Many photographs are of unidentified individuals, both white and African American. However, photographs of identified abolitionists are included, such as Owen Lovejoy, Wendell Phillips, Anna E. Dickenson, and Dr. Reverend J. Ewing Kuykendall. In addition to local persons and abolitionists, photographs of Abraham Lincoln, Tad Lincoln, George Washington, and Martha Washington are present as well.
The Library purchased this collection in 2023 with support from Friends of the Library.
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