Chicagoans have the chance to see the original 13th Amendment along with other Civil War-era artifacts until Friday at Heritage Auctions Chicago, 222 W. Hubbard St.
In honor of Black History Month and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Heritage Auctions, a multinational auction house, will have some of the rarest artifacts of the Civil War era on display before the historical items head to Heritage’s Dallas headquarters for bidding.
The Chicago preview will include vaulted lots of 530 artifacts from the Lincoln era.
Those who want to take a chance at keeping a copy of the original 13th Amendment or other collectibles such as letters written by Abraham Lincoln and an engraved pocket knife once owned by the 16th president will have the opportunity to do so.
“People can bid interactively on our website,” said Curtis Linder, a director of Americana at Heritage in Dallas and an expert in collecting areas of Americana, political memorabilia and the Civil War.
On Feb. 12, Lincoln’s birthday, bidders can also attend the auction in person in Dallas, or dial in by phone.
The auction will be online only on Feb. 13.
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Both events start at 11 a.m.
Linder highlighted some of the Civil War-era artifacts that will be up for action.
Among them is the original 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution signed by more than 109 members of Congress.
The one-page document is on parchment in the manuscript with a ruled border marked “Duplicate” at the heading, according to a description on the website.
Some of the text and signatures are hard to read as the vellum used for the documents absorbed the ink. Four faint senators’ signatures, including Charles Sumner and John P. Hale, are written on the left margin.
“We have a letter written here by Abraham Lincoln to the Army of the Potomac, which is the Union Army,” Linder said.
He said the letter was written after the Union Army was defeated at the Battle of Fredricksburg. The Union Army, Linder explained, believed the Confederates were a “ragtag bunch” but were proven wrong in Fredricksburg, Virginia, when the Union Army had twice the number of casualties compared with the Confederate army.
“So, Lincoln wrote this letter to the Army of the Potomac just basically saying you’re still a great army, the country is proud of you (and) you will prevail,” Linder said. “He knew he had to do something like that to build their morale back up because they were expected to win in that battle.”
Linder said it is one of the most historic letters Lincoln penned.
Another collectible is from the United States Sanitary Commission, an agency that aided families of soldiers who died or were wounded. The group supported families by helping with finances, food and boarding.
Between 1863 and 1865, an event called the Sanitary Fair would take place in populated cities including New York, Chicago and Boston to help raise funds for the commission.
In 1864, Lincoln went to the Sanitary Fair in Philadelphia.
“There, a gentleman presented him with a beautiful pocket knife with beautiful engravings on the blade,” Linder said.
The knife, which will be up for auction, will come with a letter from Lincoln thanking the gentleman who presented the gift to him.
“So when you hold this knife in your hand, you’re holding something that our 16th president held at one time,” Linder said. “When someone buys something like this, it may not be seen for another 50 years. You may never know.”
Linder explained that some buyers may pass their collectibles on to their children and they can get passed along from generation to generation without any public viewing.
Others may set up a private display for their local area.
“When someone wins something from our office, they take possession of it and then some people donate things to museums and other institutions while other people build their own museums,” Linder explained. “Most people put it in their collection and they put it in a safety deposit box or they frame it and put it on the wall and they enjoy it that way.”
But for now, Chicagoans have a few more days to see the public display before the historical items become private possessions.
For those interested in visiting Heritage Auctions to see the Civil War-era artifacts, the office will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“All are welcome to our office on Hubbard Street,” Linder said.
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