CHESTER – The newly restored 1860 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Banner was unveiled at the Delaware County Historical Society Thursday, following a yearlong fundraising campaign to fix the local and national treasure.
The 75-by-64 foot banner was donated to the historical society by Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge William Broomall, who also served as society president from 1913 until his 1927 death.
The banner had been made for a nomination rally in front of the Media Courthouse to support the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln and his vice presidential candidate Hannibal Hamlin. Four years later, the banner was used again – this time with Andrew Johnson’s name painted over Hamlin’s.
For years, Broomall had the banner hung in his office in the Delaware County courthouse.
On Thursday, the Delaware County Historical Society held an Open House to celebrate the banner’s restoration and note the passing of their 125th anniversary.
“We were founded in 1895 and have been collecting parts of mainly Delaware County history, but American history as well,” Laurie J. Grant, DCHS executive director, said. “One of our most treasured pieces being the 1860 Abraham Lincoln Presidential banner, which he used right here in Media, Delaware County.”
She explained that when she arrived at DCHS three and a half years ago, the banner was in a very deteriorated state.
In fact, DCHS board member Sandra Tutton said, “The banner has been something that we have treasured for years and could never even show to the public because it was so fragile. You couldn’t breathe on it.”
Expert restorer, Nancy R. Pollak from Art Care Associates in Maryland, meticulously worked to restore the artifact and built a custom-made box to store the banner, providing DCHS staff with video instructions on how to property fold the banner for long-term preservation.
To raise the funds necessary, the historical society embarked on a year-long fundraising campaign, asking residents to donate whatever they could towards this effort.
Officials declined to say how much the restoration cost or how much money they raised for it.
“One of my first efforts was to do the Pennies4Lincoln campaign to earn the funds to restore this rare and unique piece of American history and piece of Delaware County history,” Grant said.
Launched on President’s Day 2019 and ended a year later with the standing room-only discussion led by Princeton University professor Dr. Allen Guelzo, a renowned Lincoln expert, the campaign collected everything from bags of pennies to a $10,000 check to restore the banner.
“We’re so grateful to the public who donated to help us do this,” Tutton said. “We really thank Delaware County citizens for the help that they gave us in accomplishing this because this is unique. There are none of these.”
In fact, Guelzo himself said that this 1860 banner “is mostly likely the rarest, most unique Abraham Lincoln artifact in the country, if not the world.”
Visitors to the open house could view the front side of the banner stretched across a table and under a sheet of acid-free plexiglass. A picture of the banner’s back was also on display.
The front features an oval portrait of a beardless Lincoln and the back displays a shield reading, “Media/Delaware Co.”
“This is such an important part of the county’s history,” Kevin Madden, Delaware County Historical Society board member and county councilman, said. “It’s really an invaluable piece of our past and the work that the community has done led by Laurie Grant and the Delaware County Historical Society to restore it, it’s just a priceless piece of our past.”
The next phase of the fundraising campaign will be to raise revenue for a custom-made two-sided plexiglass container to display the banner in a way people can see both sides.
The structure would have to be environmentally controlled and have air. In addition, Grant explained that technology would have to be devised for it since the banner is too weak to be held by its original poles and would have to be supported from both the bottom and the top while also be free-floating.
“We are the keepers of history and we also restore local and national treasures,” Grant said. “We also advocate for the preservation for historic sites, for example, the 1724 courthouse.”
At the open house, Madden also presented a county council resolution proclaiming September to be “International Underground Railroad Month.”
“We wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge a very important part of Delaware County and the country’s history,” he said of the Underground Railroad as he noted the homes, mills and farms that were vital parts of the Railroad network and the abolitionists and formerly enslaved persons who risked their own freedom to help freedom seekers along the route.
He explained that September was chosen to encourage learning more about the Underground Railroad by such a resolution because Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman both escaped from slavery during September.
