Lesley Lathrop-Vitu

All photos courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.*

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and bearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." --First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861)

"The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act…Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty." --Address at the Sanitary Fair, Baltimore (April 18, 1864)

TELL SOMEONE, as I did, that you are going to poke through the hair clippings and blood-stained artifacts of a dead president and the most likely reaction you will get is: "Eewww!" For many, the thought of coming into direct contact with detached body parts - let alone the post-mortem fluids - of another has as much appeal as clearing months-old leftovers out of the refrigerator.

However, those who collect and work with these relics believe that they aren't morbid at all. Fascination with relics of the dead has been part of civilization for thousands of years. As long ago as the 5th century, Augustine of Hippo wrote, "If a father's coat or ring, or anything else of that kind, is so much more cherished by his children,... in no way are the bodies themselves to be despised, which are much more intimately and closely united to us than any garment; for they belong to man's very nature."

Of all our modern-day heroes, it is perhaps Abraham Lincoln whose relics and artifacts hold the greatest sway over the affection of the vast majority. His place in the hearts and minds of Americans was apparent barely a generation after his assassination, when a gang of counterfeiters and grave robbers led by "Big Jim" Kinealy plotted to steal his body for a ransom of $200,000, a hefty sum of money in those days. Fortunately, they didn't succeed. But the fact that they recognized the lengths to which this country would go to preserve the almost-sacred body of its martyred president speaks volumes.

Today there are collectors, both public and private, whose archives include personal artifacts from Lincoln's murder. The souvenirs of his autopsy are preserved at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, part of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. And the Library of Congress' American Treasures exhibit houses several items from the assassination, including the contents of his pockets at the time he was shot. The Chicago Historical Society has an extensive collection of Lincoln material. Although not on display, their archives include numerous boxes of assassination relics - a sleeve from the undershirt he was wearing at the time, hair clippings, pieces from the death towel, swatches from Mary Todd's dress and the dress of Clara Harris, who accompanied the Lincolns to the theatre. Far from gruesome, it is a powerful and moving experience to hold in your hand the handkerchief he was carrying at the time, to see up close the dark brown stains that cover nearly half the square of once-white fabric. One expects these things to be different, somehow, perhaps to feel heavier than normal, or to emit the sweet smell of perfume long ago associated with the relics of Christian saints. But they don't.

And there are hair clippings, too. One of them is in a frame, long strands tied with a neat little bow and bearing an inscription announcing its original owner. Another is haphazardly folded into a makeshift envelope, stuffed inside another, larger envelope, with no legend at all. Some of the hair is long, some short; and parts of it are clumped together by some substance, maybe blood, but more likely hair oil. The difference in presentation between the one item and the other is striking.

But all these things meant something important to those who possessed and took care of them over the years. One item, fragments of the drapery that hung in the East Room while the President's body lay in state awaiting the funeral, was especially moving. Carefully mounted on a small piece of board, the white drapery was accompanied by a touching letter from the woman who donated it. In the letter she describes how she came to have it, that a relative had been one of the young men charged with guarding the slain president's body and that he had taken the drapery as a personal memento. She describes how inspiring it had been to her family, how much they cherished it over the years, and how she hoped that the historical society would hold it in the same high regard.

THE NOTION THAT individuals could embody and reveal ideal qualities for others has its roots in the classical tradition of the ancient world. The Greco-Roman world held that social and political problems could be expressed and rectified by the elite of society. The monotheistic religions which developed in the Mediterranean world, Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, adopted this concept and added an emphasis on the role of the saint as the nexus of a precise point of contact between God and man. Through the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their lives and deaths the saints seemed to make real the potential of humanity. The saints, their relics, and their shrines served as moral exemplars for the religious communities of Late Antiquity.

During the Middle Ages, the veneration and trade of relics became a kind of lodestar for Christian religious observance. The most significant of events at any church or cathedral was the installation of its relics. So great was the demand for relics that theft and fraud became big business during the Central Middle Ages, and in the thirteenth century the Catholic Church addressed the issue by requiring that "newly discovered" relics be authenticated by the local bishop, or even the Pope himself.

The collection and preservation of relics and other memorabilia from Abraham Lincoln's life began almost immediately after he died. Termed "Lincolniana" by those familiar with it, by the end of the nineteenth century it had become a substantial cottage industry. A few wealthy collectors dominated the trade and were known as the Big Five. The circle included Judge Daniel Fish of Minneapolis, William H. Lambert of Philadelphia, Charles W. McLellan, a former member of the Confederate army who later settled in New York, Judd Steward of Plainfield, New Jersey, and Joseph B. Oakleaf of Moline, Illinois. Together they amassed thousands of pieces, many of which were later sold at auction or donated to libraries and museums. Many of these items were simple letters or other documents penned by the late president himself. But a small percentage came straight from - or in direct contact with - Abraham Lincoln's body. They included everything from clippings of hair, to the bloody handkerchief he was carrying when he was shot, to the bed sheets upon which the president had died.

In today's world of collecting, Lincoln relics are hot items. Artifacts from the 16th president consistently fetch the highest bids. Whereas a letter from Albert Einstein in which he first mentioned his theory of relativity sells for $395,000, and a letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington about establishing the Constitution of the United States goes for around $525,000, Abraham Lincoln's handwritten letter to Grace Bedell - the little girl who suggested that he grow a beard - has changed hands for as much as $850,000. Trade in Lincoln and Lincoln-era artifacts has even gone digital with several of the Internet auction sites hosting a brisk trade.

It is now well-known that on the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln were attending a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when the president was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. Two doctors, Dr. Charles A. Leale and Dr. Charles S. Taft, who were present at the theatre, rushed to the president's box and tried desperately to save his life. Dr. Taft, attempting to access the bullet wound, cut away a small patch of Lincoln's hair and held on to it throughout the night as the president lay dying first at Ford's Theatre and then later at the Petersen house. After Lincoln finally passed away on the morning of the 15th, Taft approached Mary Todd and tried to give her the lock of her dead husband's hair, but she refused telling him that he should keep it as a gift for trying to save the president's life. Those strands of hair passed through many hands in subsequent generations. Several of them were even set into a ring and given as a gift to President Theodore Roosevelt.

About 130 years later, ten of the strands became available through a reputable East Coast memorabilia dealer; and collector, Michael Braun, of Chimacum, Washington, leapt at the opportunity to buy them. A longtime collector with an extensive Civil War collection, he paid $3,500 for the Lincoln relic and it is an item he treasures above all others. Braun says there are two reasons why people collect this kind of thing: first, to preserve a memory of someone or something significant; and second, to effect an emotion by getting closer to a person. Relics, he believes, aren't at all morbid, and he enjoys taking the strands of hair to area schools to show children "something that was literally a part of someone important." He says the piece makes him feel like a "custodian of history." Braun doesn't regard the Lincoln artifact as just another item in his extensive collection. Although he regularly buys and sells memorabilia, the Lincoln relic is something he will never part with. He plans to leave it to family members after he's gone. Braun says he wanted the item because of what Abraham Lincoln stood for and what he went through in his life. "Whenever I look at it, it reminds me of what everyone should aspire to."

THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE AGES, people traveled hundreds - even thousands - of miles to venerate holy relics and worship at the shrines of martyred saints. Santiago de Compostella, Spain, and Jerusalem were two of the most hallowed destinations, but there were many such sites scattered throughout Western Europe. Believed to be places where extraordinary visions could be seen or miraculous healing summoned, pilgrimage sites received a multitude of medieval Christians.

In our own time, there continue to be stories of divine healings and holy visions that may, or may not, lend themselves to simple explanations. From Lourdes in France, to Fatima, north of Lisbon, Portugal, to the small town of Knock in Ireland, these places attract thousands of religious pilgrims every year. But there are also secular "shrines" which draw masses of visitors, each, in some way, hoping to connect with the heroes of the past.

Museums, memorials, and historical societies house collections, sometimes small, sometimes vast, of Lincolniana. That many of these collections are considered shrines by their visitors is evidenced from the mild uproar that took place when the Chicago Historical Society dismantled an exhibit devoted exclusively to Lincoln in favor of its current "A House Divided" exhibit, which depicts Lincoln in the much larger context of slavery and the Civil War. Eric Foner, a co-curator of the exhibit, said in a 1990 interview with the Illinois Humanities Council that "the old Lincoln Gallery was sort of a church, basically. People came in to worship Lincoln".[and it had] almost this religious aspect -- Lincoln's top hat, Lincoln's this or that, objects which had no real historical significance, but nonetheless were associated with Lincoln."

Fortunately for those of us who wish to see Lincoln artifacts, many collectors bequeath their collections to museums. Dr. Weldon Petz, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, recently donated almost 40,000 items to the Plymouth Historical Museum. He began his collection in the 1940s while performing with the big bands in New York, although his fascination with the man began when he was a boy of 8. He says that Lincoln was a person with whom he was "absolutely fascinated," and he was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Lincoln biographer, Carl Sandburg. With a collection that size, he says he would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. But some items did have special significance. One was a coronet that a relative had played at the dedication of Gettysburg Cemetery. Another was a peach pit in the shape of Lincoln's head and face. Carved by a man serving time in prison, Dr. Petz was struck by the fact that someone going through such a difficult time had carved the image of Lincoln. He kept the carving when he donated most of his collection to the museum. He says that it was important to him that others, especially children, be able to see the artifacts and that he knows they are being well-taken care of. "It's satisfying to have them in a museum where other people can enjoy them."

IF AMERICA IS A RELIGION, then Abraham Lincoln is its patron saint. Every generation since his assassination has reinterpreted and reevaluated his deeds and words. Whether one believes he was Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator, or just an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, one cannot deny the influence he has had - both personally and commercially - on the many who have owned, touched, and viewed the relics and artifacts of the man himself.

Before a recent trip to Washington D.C, a friend of mine asked if it is possible to climb onto Abraham Lincoln's lap at the Lincoln Memorial. In fact, it isn't. Not only is the statue too tall and elevated too high, but there is also a rope surrounding it and ever-watchful guards nearby. However, the question illustrates what a lot of people wish they could do. To many, he represents wisdom and patience; he is the "Father Abraham" immortalized in the books of Ida Tarbell and Irving Bacheller. The designers of the nearby Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial seem to have had an awareness of the public's wish to be close to its fallen heroes. The site includes a semi-life-sized statue of the much-loved president sitting in a chair with his dog at his feet. Thus, it is possible to stand next to him, to put your arm around him, and, yes, even to sit on his knee. However, as if to demonstrate the old entertainment-industry maxim that one should never appear with children or animals, more hands reached out to touch Fala than FDR on the day I was there.

With the recent discovery of genetic proof that Thomas Jefferson fathered several children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, the relics of legendary figures and heroes may soon take on a new significance. Already it has debunked the late Anna Anderson Manahan's claim that she was really Anastasia, the daughter of Czar Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra. Today researchers are evaluating the role that genetic testing and other high-tech procedures may play in determining several longstanding historical mysteries. Did, for example, Emily Dickinson carry on a love affair with her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Dickinson? Could a lock of Beethoven's hair reveal the mysterious identity of his so-called "Immortal Beloved"? And could Lincoln have contracted syphilis as a young riverboat worker, as some have speculated?

None of these technological uses for relics, however, explain their significance for the many Lincoln collectors. Nor do they account for the multitude of people who visit Lincoln memorials and exhibits. A few days after President Lincoln died, a memorialist in the New York Times wrote, "A nation's jewels are the virtues of its illustrious dead. Its cities may crumble, its masterpieces of industry and art may moulden into nothingness; but these are heirlooms that defy time." Relics of the dead can remind us that human virtue does exist. One man who has a handwritten letter from Lincoln to Seward hanging near the entrance to his home recently told me, "I look at it each day and think of its author." I suspect that most of us would respond in the same way. Particularly in this era of cynicism and irreverence, we see the relic, think of the man to whom it belonged, and are inspired by the possibility of what one person can become.

*Left to Right: Mary Todd Lincoln's cape, which she wore to Ford's Theater on the evening of the assassination; Framed lock of Lincoln's hair; (bottom) Blood-stained handkerchief Abraham Lincoln was carrying at the time he was shot; Drapery fragments from the East Room of the White House where Abraham Lincoln's body was held for viewing.