On February 12, 2013, Lincoln's 204th birthday, the Enoch Pratt Free Library is displaying a Presidential Appointment signed by Abraham Lincoln in the Main Hall of the Central Library. The display will only be available only for one day due to the sensitivity of the document to light.
The document is the appointment of Walter Graham of New Jersey as Consul of the United States of America at Cape Town, January 19, 1863. It was signed by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward. This was a gift to the Pratt Library by Mrs. William F. Bevan in September of 1940.
Walter Graham was a native of Scotland and a naturalized citizen of the United States. He served as Consul of the United States to Cape Town, South Africa from 1863 to approximately 1866.
The Lincoln document is part of the Pratt Library’s Special Collections Department. Special Collections provides access to the Library's unique and historically significant documents, rare books, and ephemera. You can find manuscripts, prints, photographs, posters, post cards, greeting cards, 19th century travel books, the history of wine and beer, the history of printing and lots more.
