Digitized Content from Abolitionist Photograph Album | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The digitized content of the Abolitionist Photograph Album consists of a photograph album depicting numerous white and African American people, including several notable abolitionists, dating to the 1860s-1880s. The bulk of the photographs in the album were created by photographers located in Quincy, Illinois, including Catherine McCormick Reed (1818-1900) (also known as Candance McCormick Reed).

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.

The digitized content includes digitized versions of 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. Photographs of identified abolitionists include 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 Abolitionist Album was completely digitized in 2026. The item is available online at the University of Illinois Digital Library. A preservation copy of the item is available to IHLC and digital preservation staff at the Library Digital Repository: https://medusa.library.illinois.edu/collections/2523