By Isabelle Samudio, M.A. ‘25, Museum Studies
Alongside maps and prints in the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection are copies of historical sheet music. Most compositions in the collection are patriotic military marches. For example, there are several marches composed in the late 1800s by famed conductor John Philip Sousa (such as “The Stars and Stripes Forever!” or “El Capitan”).
A broadside advertising “The Nation in Tears” is emblematic of a grim moment in American history. This piece was composed by Konrad Treuer and published by William Jennings Demorest in 1865, honoring President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination. Other works composed and published by this duo include “The National Jubilee Prize Song,” “Kiss Me While I’m Sleeping,” and “Every Body’s Love Song, or Love in Every Strain.”
The piece’s design is intentional: a black border signified to contemporary audiences that this somber music was in memoriam of the late president. During the Victorian era, stationery bordered with a black band indicated that the sender was grieving. Lincoln himself used such stationery four days after the death of his son Willie Lincoln — the thick border implying that the passing was recent. Such markings are not found on other works published by Treuer and Demorest in 1865.
A similar black band is found on the cover of the April 15, 1865 issue of the Evening Telegraph, a newspaper based out of Philadelphia and popular in the mid-19th century. No similar markings appear on other Evening Telegraph publications from the same year, signaling to audiences that an especially high-profile death had occurred. The issue details the state of the nation immediately after Lincoln’s assassination, focusing on D.C. in its coverage. It also reports on the president’s final moments, and the initial reactions of other states who heard quickly about the president’s death, due to news traveling faster than ever before.
The Evening Telegraph described a devastated national capital. “The flags over the departments and throughout the city are at half-mast,” the publication notes. “Scarcely any business is being transacted anywhere, either on private or public account.
Our citizens, without any preconcerted action whatever, are draping their premises with festoons of mourning.” Reporters witnessed “strong men weep in the streets” and “widespread, and deep” grief, “a strange contrast to the joy so lately manifested over” the Civil War’s end.
With such a profound outpouring of grief, it is no surprise that composers, both amateur and professional, were moved to write pieces mourning the late president. However, “The Nation in Tears” is not a purely instrumental piece. A copy found at the Library of Congress showcases the musical notation. The piece could be sung either as a solo, duet, trio or full chorus by sopranos, altos and tenors, with each vocal range assigned different lyrics to sing.
But who wrote the lyrics? The cover page attributes the “words” or lyrics to someone with the initials “R.C.” In the very same 1865 Evening Telegraph, a dirge written by a “Richard Coe” appears with lyrics that match the sheet music.
It is easy to imagine Treuer reading about the tragic event in the Evening Telegraph and being moved by Coe’s dirge. According to one source, this “Dirge,” having been published on the Saturday of Lincoln’s death, was already set to music and sung in many Philadelphia church choirs by the very next Sunday morning. It then spread to Washington, D.C., New York, Boston and other cities. Although it is unclear if they sung this particular composition, there is no doubt that this piece is an important memento of a presidential assassination.
About the Author
Isabelle Samudio is a graduate student in museum studies at GW. In 2023, she graduated from GW with a B.A. in archaeology with a minor in Classical and Near Eastern Studies. Interested in exhibition development and archival work, she is currently a curatorial assistant at the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies.
Header image: “The Nation in Tears,” (detail) undated. Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection AS 2016.42.