Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Men of Color: To Arms! Now or Never... [recruitment broadside]

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC10021 Author/Creator: Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Place Written: s.l. Type: Broadside Date: 1863 Pagination: 1 print : framed Height: 137 cm, Width: 102 cm Order a Copy PDF Download(s): PDF copy

One broadside entitled Men of Color: To Arms! Now or Never. dated 1863. Dramatic oversize recruitment broadside appealing to free African-Americans to enlist for three years. The broadside asks "Are freemen less brave than slaves[?]" Subscribed in type by Douglass and fifty-four other African-American leaders, including William Forten, Rev. William T. Catto, Rev. Stephen Smith, Rev. J.C. Gibbs, and many others. Per David Blight letter, it appeared Spring 1863. (This broadside reprints a Douglass editorial.)

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources