Experience Rhode Island in the Time of Lincoln

WOONSOCKET - In 1860, newcomer to the national political scene Abraham Lincoln made a brief visit to Rhode Island that left a lasting impression.

In late February of that year, straight from his famous "Union" speech at the Cooper Institute in New York, where he incisively laid out the newly created Republican Party's viewpoints on slavery and the state of the nation, Lincoln arrived in Providence where he delivered a similar address.

Days later, after trips to Boston and New Hampshire, Lincoln returned to Woonsocket to deliver a rousing speech to a full house at Harris Hall on March 6, 1860. In its newest exhibit, Rhode Island in the Time of Lincoln, now on display at the Woonsocket Museum of Work and Culture, the Rhode Island Historical Society remembers Lincoln's short but influential visit to the Ocean State.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the society created an exhibit that features but doesn't focus on the Civil War that defined Lincoln's tumultuous presidency. Instead, the display reveals what the people, places, and attitudes were like in Rhode Island during the time of Lincoln's visit and his rise to political power.

The exhibit features a wide variety of items including a ladies' hat made by the "Clayville Hat Lady" at a textile mill that was ultimately razed to create the Scituate Reservoir, a child's doll in excellent condition except for its thin, worn hand which had clearly been held and caressed, and a series of newspaper photographs and story excerpts which reveal poignant historical images as well as text containing a casual bigotry that would¬ shock to today's readers.

"We've left the newspaper quotes just as they are," said Kirsten Hammerstrom, RIHS deputy director for Collections. "Race, at the time, was a complicated issue. It was possible to be against slavery and still be a racist. Attitudes about race were evolving, and these¬ quotes reveal the attitudes of the times."

She added, "This is not a message-heavy exhibit. Its purpose is to lead to an understanding of Rhode Island in the past because the past is always with us; it reverberates in our lives today.¬ The decisions and the attitudes of the past inform the present."

Hammerstrom noted that a new artifact to the exhibit, which recently moved to the museum after enjoying a long run at Aldrich House in Providence, is a Civil War era military dress uniform that once belonged to Martin Smith, an officer with the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery regiment who lived in North Scituate.

"That's one of the items in the exhibit that I really like," said Hammerstrom. "We found it in the collections when we were cataloguing recently, and I think it's a wonderful addition to this exhibit."

J.D. Kay, RIHS assistant registrar, identified a rather gruesome item as his favorite in the exhibit collection. "Although the exhibit isn't primarily about the war, it does contain war artifacts, and one I find particularly interesting, although it may seem a little grisly, is a field surgical kit."

The kit contains tiny scalpels that military medical personnel used to remove bullets and perform other procedures on the battlefield. The scalpels are in near-perfect condition despite their age. "Look," said Kay, showing off a small knife, "it's still sharp."

Dana Signe Munroe, RIHS registrar, said she is drawn to a small woman's shoe. The shoe, hand-stitched in red plaid cream silk, appears delicate from a distance, but closer inspection reveals a sturdy heal, showing it was a walking shoe, and a gash on the side that required a repair.

"It wasn't a party shoe, which would have been a more delicate slipper, but it wasn't a sturdy winter shoe either," said Munroe. "It was a regular walking shoe made for a really thin, small foot. It¬ was probably made to match a dress, coat, and bonnet. It would have been part of a larger ensemble." Munroe said she is intrigued by the clothing in the exhibit, "because clothing tells the stories of people's lives."

Sponsored by the Rhode Island Foundation and the Rhode Island Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the gallery exhibit will be on display at the Museum of Work and Culture, 42 South Main St., until Feb. 14, 2010. Call 769-9675 for hours and admission information.¬ 

Cover photo by Bruce McCabe: Museum of Work and Culture Civil War exhibit registrar Dana Signe Munroe, at left, and Deputy Director of Collections Kirsten Hammerstrom prepare the coat of 2nd Lieutenant Martin Smith for display.