Partner with the Genealogical Society of Bergen County
Civil War Envelopes
Propaganda on an Envelope
Shortly before and in the first years of the Civil War, many envelopes in both the South and the North were printed with patriotic emblems, cartoons, and sentiments. The envelopes in the collection at the Ridgewood Public Library were collected by Lt. George Williams of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and donated to the Library by Rebecca Hawes, his niece, a Ridgewood resident, and an early supporter of the George L. Pease Memorial Library and its history collections. The envelopes were never used, but kept as souvenirs. There are only a few Confederate examples in the collection.
First Confederate Flag
Patriotic Symbols
Lady Liberty with National Symbols including the Liberty Cap, made popular during the American Revolution, and the fasces, a symbol of authority.
Confederate Symbols
Symbols include ships, a train, munitions, and agricultural products
Caricatures and Cartoons
The Croakers in Council
("croakers" are grumblers or doomsayers)
The Union Rooster vs. the Piratical
(and puny) Confederacy
Zouaves were Union soldiers
Jeff is Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy
F.F.V. (First Families of Virginia )
being decimated by cannonballs
African Americans are shown standing up against slavery.
Secession
The War was fought on the seas, as well. The Confederacy was portrayed as a pirate--acting outside the law.
