Artifacts featured in their joint publication. In this, they discuss objects relateded to the july 1863 draft riots in new york city. This conversation took place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New York Historical society provided the video. Good evening, everyone. Im delighted to again have the opportunity to talk with my good friend and professional colleague, Harold Holzer. Before we get started, i want to remind you, you can ask questions anytime during the program by using the q a button at the bottom of in my case, top of your screens. Well get to your questions after our conversation. And now lets turn our attention to some objects that help us describe the civil war. In the history museum, objects do a lot of heavy lifting and standing in for larger historical narratives beyond the characteristics that define the object itself. So, lets just talk for a moment about the book, civil war and 50 objects, which inspired this program. Harold, tell us about it and how did the objects can help tell the complex story of the civil war. Extraordinary, really, because when we undertook this project eight years ago, it was difficult to find the objects, although we think they tell the story more. So its a story of art as you mentioned, artifacts, art, and objects stand aing in for the larger story. The story about race, the story about militarization, the story about dissent, soldier life, civilian life, but its also a story about collecting and about the New York Historical society as the trove of the citys lore from the revolutionary period to today. So i think its a double story. Absolutely. Lets start with our objects of the evening. Tonight, our topic is remarkably aligned with current events. The new york city draft riots during the civil war have been considered the largest civil disturbance and the most rationally charged in American History and here are two objects that bore witness to this event, which took place over four days in july 1863. We have a wooden lottery wheel and bible. And if we go to the image of our first object, the 19th century draft wheel. On july 10th, 1863, followinging the Union Victories in gettysburg and vicksburg, the New York Times praised the immediate enforcement of a new draft. There were 300,000 new recruits fwere needed to shore up the union army and beat the now struggling con fed federacy. So days later, the first names of draft eligible men were drawn from wheels just like this one. Harold, tell us about this object. Its unusual. But think of it as a large, hand cranked device. Look at the an rature at the top. So in this wheel were the names of conscripts. Now the draft is employed when recruitment does not equal state requirements. So by july, new york had to begin conscription. The First Military draft in American History. So its not the most popular event in recruiting. This wheel was used at a draft office on the Lower East Side of long island that contained a number of names and it would be cranked by a marshall in public then someone would open that lid, stick his arm in and the first unlucky draftees name would be called. Young men would be lined up outside and they would go right from that office into the union army. So its not a popular object, to be sure, and it was a time of tremendous anxiety. Absolutely. And this object came into the collection the New York Historical society soon after the end of the war. You say in your book that within this object were an ethnic tapestry of names and occupations and the object actually came with many little draft cards with names. If we can see the image of that. All handwritten. Just like this. So i think we assume that the draft riots that well be describing interrupted the calling of names. We dont know how many were removed and announced, but there were plty left in the wheel whet came Historical Society, and l val, as youll remember, in our exhibition, we strung out the names and in sort of like a clothesline fashion. It was a huge cluster of names. You see william, im just gue guessing, a german american. Joseph, probably a jewish shoe maker from 1st avenue. A paper box maker from east 7th street. So this is the neighborhood. Willingly or unwillingly about to see action in the civil war. The federal inscription act was passed by congress in march of 1863. Explain to us exactly what it was and what its flaws were. So, it is again for want of rerecruits, a way to swell the ranks of the union army. Think at the same time that africanamerican troops are being recruited in the border states and in new england, they didnt have a great record on that. We didnt raise our first africanamerican flag for the next year and a half after this event. So, the law is passed, but yes, val, it has a flaw, and as well see, kind of a fatal flaw. And that is if you paid 300 for a substitute, but its really an exception from the draft, you can buy your way out of the draft. So that led to before the actual draft begins, a huge amount of criticism in the democratic press that this is a, a rich mans war and a poor mans fight. 300 was, otherwise, all men 25 to 45 are eligible for inscription and 300 was the average annual wage of a laborer in new york. So this is a big lift and in the days leading up to the first names being called, while the Republican Newspapers in new york like the times and tribune are saying its our patriotic duty to go through the with the draft, the democratic press, copperhead press to some degree, is saying we will never fight an n word war. We will not fight for africanamericans. Remember, the emancipation patriotical patriotical proclamation is only twos ald and the democrats whip the opposition into a frenzy. New york is a largely democratic town. It voted more than 67 against lincoln in 1860. And we have a lot of Irish Americans in the city who are not only angry about the 300 exception, but have been told by i guess an early form of the journalism, that if they go to fight for the union, that africanamericans who are free, will come into new york city and compete with them for their jobs on the docks and in the factories by accepting lower wages, having never been paid any wages. So a great deal of racial hatred is being stirred up in this population as well. And its a hot period. Its ugly. And thats the foundation of what occurred on july 13th. And you know, its literally hot. Its the summer. And talk us through these first few days of the draft. What unfolds over the weekend and then starting on monday the 13th . Right, so it starts you know, proceeds okay. Then the sabbath, the sunday, the 12th, theres a pause. According to the new york culture and tradition. Then it resumes on a particularly hot day, monday, july 13th. And new yorkers can really visualize these streets because it begins around 2nd avenue in the 40s. 46th, 47th street. Un neighborhood, and just before the, off the Marshalls Office reopens, someone throws a where i can or cobblestone through the window of the draft office and then sets the draft office on fire. And that is the opening round in the defiance. The mob grows. And grows. Excuse me. And the protestors as it were, begin to march downtown. And disrupt the draft in other places. And then this demonstration just, it me tma tas sizes all o manhattan. You called it race riot. Thats what it turned into. Who were in these mobs and who did the mobs target . So, the targeting and this is going to sound familiar. When an angle boils over, irrational decisionings sometimes are made and Brooks Brothers for example, was targeted and looted. Stores were targeted. The homes of abolitionists and pro leading republicans were targeted. Ytwd. Police officers were beaten up. Newspapers were attacked. Republican papers. But as you said, val, the ugly truth is that it turned into a hideous race riot early on. An africanamerican child was beaten right near city hall. Chamber street. And broadway. And then the mob, as it grew, as it intensified, began attacking prostitutes who were known to entertain black men as clients. Interrational couples who lived in the Lower West Side of manhattan. And ultimately, africanamericans were just dragged from carriages, chased down the street. Some were driven off the docks and just drowned. And in this infamous scene, one africanamerican was lynched. Set afire and [ inaudible ] it was hideous. There was sexual mutilation going on. Open you know, blatant murder without punishment. And any time the police did try to intervene to protect new yorkers of color, the mob turned its wrath on the police as well. We have another image, actually. Of the police at the tribune office. Describe some details from these four days and by july 17th, what happens . It was also an anti press riot. The two papers are silling just north of City Hall Park. Its called newspaper row. And here, you see a crowd being disper dispersed. Both newspapers arm themselves. Henry raymond, the founder of the times, was on the roof of his building with his investor, leonard jerome. If that name sounds familiar, he had a 9yearold daughter, jenny, who was destined to be the mother of winston churchill, but leonard and henry were on the roof of the times with a gaveling gun aiming at protestors who were threatening the paper. It was a new building. The new york tribune armed itself with munitions and grenades from the Brooklyn Navy yard and eventually, this mob, and you see that some of the caricatures are blatantly antiirish caricatures. Eventually, they did crash through the downstairs rooms of the tribune, which were reserved for buying subscriptions and papers and ads and they set fire to this room. Its called the counting line. Then an army of new york police came out of the darkness, down from City Hall Park south and attacked the mob. And dispersed them. So the attempt to interfere with progressive newspapers was play datant, also a. This is just one of the scenes that took place in july. As you point out, it ended only, by the way, it was a a male and f female riot. Dug cobblestones. 59th street, there was a lot of rioting across 59th street. Central park was being built then. So ultimately, Abraham Lincoln was totally silent on this. The governor was sort of friendly to the rioters. He called them my friend. Lincoln authorized the deployment of federal troops. Who were dispatched from the gettysburg area north of trains, and they ultimately fired their weapons downtown and that ended the riot. Ended the riot. We have other images, actually, or one more image of fires that, there were lots of burning buildings and other such riots. Heres the army facing off against the rioters. I think the rioters here are a little better on than they were in the city, but it gives you a sense of the chaos. There werent many, so, well never know the mortality rate. They say there were 120 deaths and and 8,000 injuries. A lot in 1863, but i dont believe the 120 figure. I dont think africanamericans were you know, pushed off the docks or hounded. People whose bodies were burned were counted. So i would say it was ten times as high as we believe. Sure. What happened to that 300 bo n bounty bounty provision in the aftermath of these riots just as the code . So the bill was corrected. Before it was corrected, the democratic mayor, the new democratic mayor of new york city passed a bill in the city council to have new york city pay the 300 bounty to anyone who didnt want to serve the 300 exception fee. So the city ultimately bore the expen expense. Raise its first troops. These riots its really amazing that this draft wheel survived and then the buildings might have been torn down. New structures took their place, but want to look deeper. The second object of the evening really does speak to this in a very poignant and very emotional and tragic way. Can we see our second object . It is a rare book and give us some background for this, please. Harold. And this is an emotional story to be sure. This bible is an orange oal bible that was used at the socalled colored orphan asylum. An institution for africanamerican orphans that was founded about ten years before the draft riots and was considered a model for the care of children. The gardens and sleeping quarters with very big windows to provide ventilation. It had good food. It had teachers. And it had a population of orphans who actually, one of them went on to fight in the 54st massachusetts regiment that achieved glory at ft. Wagner. At the same moment africanamericans died in huge disproportions. It was used inside the asylum, but i wont yet give away the story of why. So, the orphan asylum was founded by quaker women from the new york munition society in the 1830s and then moved to this wonderful location in 1843. It was 5th avenue and 43rd street was the northwest corner. The biggest landmark nearby was not the New York Public Library but the big reservoir. People would look at this Model Institution as a charitable good work of which many people had. We have an image of some of the Children Play ng the garden there. Pretty famous in the collection. Historical. Its probably before the draft riots. Talk us through july 13th, 1863. That was the initial afternoon of the rioting and what happened at the asylum. On july 13, a large mob of maybe 1,000 or more people, massed outside of the orphan asylum. If we can see the next slide, youll see what happened. The building was breached. Looted. Rioters carried off the beautiful beds and mattresses. Not before they took enough straw out of the mattresses to use as kindling because they set the building on fire. And here is an artists rendering of this horrific scene. If if you wonder where the africanamerican children are, that is the agonizingly heartbreaking horrific story. There were 233 children and they were all trapped inside when this blaze began. With rioters outside taunting the teachers to bring the kids outside so they could be killed. Thats the moment when round up the children. Yeah. Thats the moment when we dont know whether it was a teacher or little girl. There were many legends about what happened next, but i like to think it was this one precious, brave little girl who said, isnt that the bible that you always told us to follow . Then the teacher picked it up and said, with smoke in the room, to children follow me out. If you follow the good book as you always have. They got outside and again, they just filed outside very quietly and these children heard unba unbarely horrible taunts as they made it outside, but there were a few people who sheltered these kids. Some of them just dispersed and were taken in by white families in their brown stones. A young irish kid took some of them down to a police precinct. And we dont know that there were any casualties except the near miss, the near disaster and the emotional scars that this day undoubtedly left on so many people. Just harrowing, the images. We have another image that looks a little more benign than this, but it shows the bucolic nature of the site. Yeah, i guess you have to imagine that that, those are not clouds over the trees. Those are flames and smoke, but here, and its not quite as vivid and dramatic, the great shame on the city. I should say there are religious leaders that try very hard to stop this from me tas sizing the way it did. Protestants and catholics, protestant churches were highlight ed. Henry highland garnet was a great black liberator who lived in manhattan. His daughter, when she heard of the rumblings, went outside and pried his name plate off of his door, which probably saved his life. Horace greeley, the editor of to the crowd, his look alike was beaten up instead, so, but this is the worst. This is the low point new york history, i think. Yes. A lot of times you dont learn about it in history books but it bears repeating. And i think this is a serious problem for us in memory. As weve heard as we speak of more confederate statues of being earmarked for removal, there is no monument or plaque, that took on the honor and civility and the lives of new york and new yorkers. I think we have to have a movement to remember even on pleasant parts of our history because at least they struck appropriate shame into the hearts of progressive new yorkers. Absolutely. Just a couple more questions before we go to our q a portion. The children three days later taken by boat. Escorted by guards to a house across the east river and blackwell island, which is now roosevelt island. And were all the children saved . Its not answering in the text and i think its hard to tell, isnt it . Its very hard to tell. We assume there were no casu casualties, but again, how can i say this . Black lives didnt matter. In 1863. Even in new york. Particularly childrens lives. I dont have any faith in the actuarial counts. We think that most of the young, of the children, were rescued. Nearly all the children. So, one important thing was in fact saved and it was this bible. Yeah. So we have the inscription blown up so you can see the inside of that object. There was something almost chilling and immediate about seeing the chart and this inscription inside. Yeah. It is said this bible was in the asylum before the destruction. On 5th avenue by the rioters. And this, it is charred. Around the edges, which is, can testify historically and emotionally to events. I dont think theres a more powerful relic in the collection than this. And the entire records, all the records of the colored orphan asylum went to the New York Historical society. I got to read so many of the minutes of the meetings before and after the riots. One can almost imagine the Child Holding this bible and what were witnessed to. I find it, sends chills up your spine and down your spine to imagine that. Hold up the bible and it will do you some good. Its not just a photo opportunity. I hate to say that. Just think of a Child Holding this bible as a beacon for people to go through smoke and flames, escape, into another mob. Its just unimaginable. We should take a peek at the site today. If we can, look at the next slide, because im sure there are memories of the century club on our call and zoom today. That read brick wall in the background of this photo. Is the century club. By the way, the orphan asylum never built here. It decided midtown manhattan was not safe for an africanamerican institution so they moved progressively uptown, to harlem. They became aer care agency. Then moved to riverbail daly and the colored orphan asylum building in riverdale ultimately became the hebrew home for the aged. So its just a multigenerational generation, but always devoted to care. So were ready right now. For our q a, and the first question was paying your way out of the war done in revolution or was the civil war the last time that was acceptable . So, there was no conscription in the revolutionary war. The draft was introduced. And again, the rich mans exception was a a big mistake and never employed again. Another question, did the wealthy people flee the city during the rye riot. There wasnt as much mobility as there is now and val, when we did the lincoln in new york exhibition, we came across wealthy people who were terrorized and hid in their attics and most of the rioters who went after private homes were interested in property and we found a great story of finding engraved portraits of lincoln in someones home and throwing them out the window and seeing them trample nd the streets. So i dont think people have the mobility that they do today. Horace greeley was one who did. He got out of town and went to his country home in chappaqua. Why were black men not eligible for conscription . They were eligible for conscription and enlistment. The new york culture was not yet ready to organize black regiments. So you dont just join the union army. You had to sign up with a regiment and new yorks early civil war tradition was ethnic. The eirish brigade. That was the elite regiment of wealthy people. You had to attach yourself to a regiment and not until the Union League Club organized in 1964. By the way, they had to be trained on Governors Island because people were so petrified of the idea of africanamericans arming themselves in what was essentially a white dominated town. Around the same time, march 1863, when congress legislates the desire expressed in the emancipation proclamation to open the services to africanamericans. Next question. Is it not true that new york state contributed more soldiers and suffered more casualties during the civil war, north or south . Yes. 10 of the casualties or so came, of the union casualties, came from new york state. Also material. Many the south was visited because of the war. But it reminded people that the war could come backyards in northern cities. Its certainly the worst, the worst civil disturbance safe of the civil war itself, but there was draft riots in connecticut. In the midwest. No one wanted to be drafted. Especially with that rich mans exception there. So, ours just got out of hand most violently and most, most horrendously. Yeah. And it was r reported, too. If youre going to riot, dont do it where its going to be recorded. And this is a question about the irish. Did the treatment of the irish by the english contribute to the irish rage . Lets talk a little bit about irish rage in the draft riots. Not pretending to be an expert, but yes, these are survivors of the famines and the oppression of the english in starving people in ireland. Many had come to new york and the new world seeking opportunity. They were treated badly. They were treated as second class citizens. The Democratic Party pushed them to register in the Democratic Party and as a result, many elites demonized the entire party as a party for rough yans. And all of the canards and cliches about the irish about drinken, were created during this period. Was it a largely Irish American riot . One would have to say it was. But it was a largely Irish American population that was being subjected to this draft. The racism of course inexcusable and people who were experiencing prejudice should not have vis visited previsi visited prejudice, but it happens. Absolutely. Next question. Were they able to raise the 300,000 soldiers that were needed . Yes. They were able to raise the troops and then they raised another 400,000 the following year. There was almost equipment. Soldiers that was needed. And volunteer iing and it was a war spirit. New yorkers contributed to that fight as did Irish American brigades. The Irish American troops fought at gettysburg, so, you know, we dont want to tarnish an entire group here. The courage was manifest across all ethnic minds. Absolutely. How did the mayor and governor of the state respond then and does that shed any light on how they should respond now . Well, the mayor was attacked pretty early. Mayor updike. Governor tilden was a democrat. And he was opposed to the draft and had spoken out pretty viciously. Its political. He can say what he wants, obviously, but during the outbreak of the riots, he, to his credit, an act of bravery, he came into the middle of one of the demonstrations and tried to quell the riot. But did it with an unfortunate parlation that came back to haunt him. He started by saying my friends and after that, all of the Republican Press around the country branded him as an appeaser, as a rioter. My friends phrase followed him all the way to his president ial candidacy 13 years later when he won the popular vote, but was kind of robbed of the electoral vote in florida talking about history. Interesting. Repeating itself. Florida was the decide, and the Supreme Court decided. So tilden, both were on the scene. They do not see eye to eye which is another new york tradition, i suppose. Apparently so. Question. Are there any photographs of the riots and if so, are they in New York Historicals collections . So, val, i dont know about you, but ive never seen a photograph and heres the thing we have to keep in mind. Civil war photography was booming, booming industry. Its the first war to be recorded by the cameras, but ive only seen one or two battle photographs of the entire civil war. When a battle was raging and bullets were fire iing and artillery was firing, it was not a good idea to put your head under a covering and peer into a glass lens. That was dangerous, so all of the photography we see of portraits and camp scenes and bure rallal scenes and no paragrapher went out into this craziness to try to take a picture. Although you know, ive been proven i dont think before. If anyone out there has ever seen one, let us know. The Historical Society needs that image for the collection. Absolutely. But there is no talk about photography in that period for these reasons. No. Did confederate government have anything to do with stirring up the rioters . Lincoln said after after the draft riots, that we have two voe viola canoes to deal with. I dont think, i dont think it was the confederacy encouraged it. They were doing a draft as well. They were drafting older people and younger people. If you could walk reasonably well, you would be drafted. In the confederacy. So, i dont, you know, there were, those who opposed emancipati emancipation as a new rationale for the war and they were violently opposed to a draft that was going to be used to fight for africanamerican freedom. By the way, i forgot one amazing detail about lincoln. A couple of days before the draft, a week before the draft riots, while the battle of gettysburg was raging, mary lincoln was in a carriage accident outside their summer home near washington. She was thrown from the carriage when the wheel fell off. I believe it was an assassination attempt against lincoln. But she hit her head on a rock and the wound became infected and Abraham Lincoln was fighting master mind action, waiting for news from vicksburg and she was in serious trouble. So he wired his son at harvard, come home, your mothers been in an accident, she needs you. And Robert Lincoln left cambridge, came down to new york city and when he got here, well, all this excitement was happening. So he just stayed. And watched the draft riots. By now, he knows that these disturbances are taking place and says why did i not hear from you . The answer is a 20yearold young man, not quite 20, if he had to choose between an exciting event or taking care of his mother, chose the exciting event and he finally left when the rye rots were just about over. Some things dont change, right. I know. Last question. Do we know from letters or diaries of any soldiers who were already serve ing in the army heard about the riots and if they did sh what did they think . Theres a terrific question. I wish i had a terrific answer. I havent really seen any diary or references to disturbances around the country. But the people around the field would, i think, have been horrified by what they would perceive as a lack of patriotism and union and to free the slaves. I wish we could have ended on a question where i have some real evidence. Heres one more question. This is one that we anticipated. Was the depiction of the riots and the gangs of new york accurate . Thank goodness you got to that one. The answer is no. It was wildly exaggerated. Although, i have to say, a scene of barnhams museum was attacked, but i dont think there were that many animals that were running across midtown manhattan. And there were no gun boats firing from shore. Thats an exaggeration. The union navy did not order ships to fire on the city. That would have been totally crazy. So there was restraint. By the way, i was sort of a behindthescenes adviser to gangs of new york, although i didnt have as much to do with it as the lincoln movie, but in case anybody ever saw my name, sorry. We wont blame you, harold. I see were about out of time and i want to thank you, Harold Holzer, for being such a terrific partner, as always, in these programs. Thank you, val. This is so enjoyable for us to revisit this wonderful book and these great objects. 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Next, on the civil war, historian Harold Holzer and Valerie Paley talk about artifacts featured in their joint publication, the civil war in 50 objects. In this program we discuss objects