Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

325 c   (POLITICS.) Murrell,William. Letter offering to “organize the colored people” of WestVirginia for the Republican Party. Letter Signed to Stephen Benton Elkins. 4 pages, 10 x 8 inches, on 4 sheets of printed letterhead from the Colored National Press Association; mailing folds, minimal wear. Washington, DC, 26 June 1884 [400/600] William Murrell was the general manager of the Colored National Associated Press, and claimed to “have under my control . . . 126 newspapers run by colored men throughout the United States.” Here he writes to Stephen Benton Elkins of West Virginia, executive chair of the Republican National Committee, a few months in advance of the Cleveland-Blaine presidential election. Murrell states that he had been visiting West Virginia and found that “there were hundreds of colored people who have never registered or taken any part whatever in politics. . . . If these people are looked after and registered, it is the unanimous opinion of all classes that we can carryWest Virginia. . . . I would like to go toWest Virginia quietly and organize the colored people.”Murrell also warns of a shadowy new anti-Catholic group called the American Union run by J.F. Lipphard, a “dangerous institution” which would cost the Republicans votes.We don’t know if Murrell was put to work, but the Republicans lostWest Virginia by four thousand votes, and lost the overall election to Grover Cleveland by just 37 votes in the electoral college. 326 326 c   (POLITICS.) Who’s a Democrat? Photogravure, 18 x 12 1 / 2 inches; minimal toning, matted and framed. Cincinnati: Rombach & Groene, 1891 [400/600] An enigmatic image of a young boy in ragged clothing, fists clenched and looking upward defiantly. It was likely intended as a Republican political piece targeted toward black voters. A later version of the same image was produced by the Colored Division of the Republican National Committee in the 1930s, with the addition of a newspaper at the boy’s feet, reporting on two lynchings. The boy is apparently ready to fight anyone who insults him with the term “Democrat.” The present example seems to be the original version of this enduring image, as it bears an 1891 copyright statement.