The Fifteenth Amendment. Celebrated May 19th, 1870 Poster Art - Downloadable Image

Another of several large commemorative prints marking the enactment, on March 30, 1870, of the Fifteenth Amendment and showing the grand May 19 celebratory parade in Baltimore. Here the central image shows the parade crossing a green in sight of Baltimore's Washington Monument.

A float, carrying four young women wearing crowns and sheltered by a canopy, leads the parade by being drawn with four white horses. The float is followed by a troop of Zouave drummers, two rows of men in top hats, ranks of troops, and other floats. The parade scene is surrounded by several vignettes.

In the upper corners appear bust portraits of President Ulysses S. Grant (left corner) and Vice President Schuyler S. Colfax. In the top center are three black leaders: Martin Robinson Delany, author and the first black major in the U.S. Army; abolitionist and U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia Frederick Douglass; and Mississippi senator Hiram Rhoades Revels. At the sides are (left, top to bottom) a young black man reading the Emancipation Proclamation, three black men with Masonic sashes and banners ("We Unite in the Bonds of Fellowship with the Whole Human Race"), an open Bible ("Our Charter of Rights"), and a bust portrait of Lincoln. In the lower left corner is a classroom scene in a black school labeled "Education Will Prove the Equality of the Races." In the lower right corner a black pastor preaches to his congregation with the motto "The Holy Ordinances of Religion Are Free" below.

To the right of the central scene are (top to bottom): two free blacks who "till our own fields;" a black officer commanding his troops ("We Will Protect Our Country as It Defends Our Rights"); a bust portrait of John Brown; and a black man reading to his family ("Freedom Unites the Family Circle"). The bottom row shows three more scenes (left to right): a black wedding ceremony ("Liberty Protects the Marriage Alter"); a black man voting ("The Ballot Box Is Open To Us"); and a Senator revels in the House of Representatives ("Our Representative Sits in the National Legislature").

Kelly, the publisher, also issued a much smaller version of the print (no. 1870-5).

Information presented by the Library of Congress is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. No known restrictions on publication. Use of appropriate attribution is requested. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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