Of Note: Lincoln Reelected. Simple Message, Complex Messaging System

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This guest post is by Manuscript Division historian and Civil War and Reconstruction specialist Michelle A. Krowl. Of Note is an occasional series in which we share items that have caught our eye.

Handwritten message on printed telegram form

Cassius Marcellus Clay to Anson Burlingame, November 23, 1864, Box 2, Anson Burlingame and Edward L. Burlingame Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

Sometimes a document catches your eye for the complexity behind the simplicity. On November 23, 1864, Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810-1903), the United States envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Russia, sent a telegram to his counterpart in China, Anson Burlingame (1820-1870). The message was simple enough: Abraham Lincoln had been reelected president.

Burlingame standing between two seated unidentified Chinese associates with photo studio backdrop

Anson Burlingame and unidentified Chinese associates, undated carte de visite by Mathew Brady studio, New York, Box 2, Anson Burlingame and Edward L. Burlingame Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

What prompted me to linger on this telegram was not the content of the message, but its context. Clay sent the message from St. Petersburg, Russia, using a telegraphic form printed in Russian. He directed it to be delivered by mail to Burlingame in Peking (now Beijing), China. The message itself was written in French, the language of diplomacy and diplomats in the nineteenth century. Thus, this one little telegram involved two American ambassadors, serving in two different nations, based in cities located on two different continents, communicating in two different international languages (or perhaps three languages, considering the Morse code used to transmit the text), all to confirm the news that Abraham Lincoln had won the 1864 presidential election back home. A momentary intersection of communications technology, domestic politics, and international relations all contained in a roughly 8.5” x 10.5” piece of paper.

This telegram is now housed among Anson Burlingame’s State Department and diplomatic documents in container 2 of the Anson Burlingame and Edward L. Burlingame Family Papers, in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

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Live! at the Library: Reflections from the Past, Present and Future with Mosaic Theater

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This guest post is by Adrienne Cannon, historian of African American history and culture in the Manuscript Division. On September 22, 2022, the Manuscript Division partnered with the Exhibits Office and Mosaic Theater to present Live! at the Library: Reflections from the Past, Present and Future with Mosaic Theater. A recording of the event is […]

Libraries, Self-Determination, and Collaboration: Virginia Mathews and the 1978 White House Preconference on Indian Library & Information Services

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In 1978, Native American library professionals from across the country gathered for the first time to hash out their visions for tribal libraries. The papers of Osage literacy advocate Virginia H. Mathews document the significance of that meeting in the history of Native librarianship.

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In honor of Georgia O’Keeffe’s November 15 birthday, transcriptions are now available in the Manuscript Division’s online Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz collection, allowing researchers to delve into the digitized documents in new ways.