They Knew Lincoln, first published in 1942, captures impressions of Abraham Lincoln by African Americans who personally knew and interacted with him in Springfield, Illinois, and Washington, DC. Dr. John Washington, an African American collector of Lincoln memorabilia, who grew up in the shadow of Ford's Theatre in the late 19th century, gathered stories through personal interviews with Lincoln's African American acquaintances or their children. They include Lincoln's barbers, White House servants, waiters, doorkeepers and others. A large section is devoted to Mary Lincoln's African American seamstress and confidant Elizabeth Keckley. Washington conducted research in collections across the Southeast and Midwest; he interviewed elderly African Americans in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia; and he reached out to the foremost Lincoln scholars and collectors of his era, hoping for new leads and new information. This remarkable book was originally published by E.P. Dutton, including a strong introduction by the famed poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg. The "collection of Negro stories, memories, legends about Lincoln" seemed "to fill such an obvious gap in the material about Lincoln that one wonders why no one ever did it before." Even in the twenty-first century, They Knew Lincoln remains unsurpassed as a study of the African Americans who knew Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. In recent years historians have regularly turned to Washington's book as a crucial source of information about the Lincolns' domestic world and about black Washington in the Civil War era. Yet the book has never been reprinted and remains largely unavailable. This reissue reproduces the original text in full and the rare photos that appeared in the original book (as well as some additional ones of John E. Washington), along with a significant original essay by Kate Masur about the publication of the book, its author, and the subjects covered by this unusual work.

About the Author
John E. Washington (1880-1964) was a Washington, DC public school teacher and collector of Lincoln memorabilia. He published They Knew Lincoln in 1942. Kate Masur is Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University. She is the author of An Example for All the Land: Emancipation and the Struggle over Equality in Washington, D.C. and the co-editor of The World the Civil War Made.

Reviews
Masur provides an essential introduction to Washington's world in the nation's capital and to his research methodology in creating the original book....Having this work back in print will allow readers to understand sides of Lincoln that informed his thinking about race and will help demystify the mythical Lincoln. * Randall M. Miller, Library Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190270964
Author John E. Washington
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 576g
Dimensions(mm) 145mm * 211mm * 33mm