Friday, March 4, 2011

Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address March 4, 1861

The people began arriving at the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington City before dawn on March 4, 1861, 150 years ago today. They gathered in front of the East Portico of the Capitol, where in only a few hours, Abraham Lincoln would at long last be sworn in as the 16th President Of The United States Of America. The image above was taken 150 years ago today during Lincoln's First Inauguration ceremony.

In those days (and until 1933 when the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified), presidential inaugurations were held on March 4th. It had been nearly four months since Lincoln had won the 1860 presidential election over three other opponents, garnering only 39% of the popular vote. Since his election, seven southern states had seceded from the Union.

Lincoln had remained publicly silent about the secession crisis while he was President-Elect. Even during his Inauguration Journey when he gave over 100 speeches over the course of 13 days from Springfield to Washington, he had said barely anything of substance about the turmoil rocking the nation. He had claimed that the crisis was "artificial" and that the south had nothing to really "complain" about, but he had not given many hints about what his policies would be toward the rebellious states. As winter turned into spring, Lincoln's long public silence was about to end. The crowd, estimated at 30,000, waited along with the nation, north and south, to hear Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural Address.

The crafting of the Address had begun back in Springfield, where Lincoln had been working on it since his election. An initial version of it had been set in type by the Springfield newspaper Illinois State Journal at Lincoln's request. Lincoln shared this first draft with various friends and leaders, seeking their opinion as to how it should read. Upon his arrival in Washington, Lincoln asked his designated Secretary of State, William H. Seward (his main rival for the GOP nomination the year before in Chicago), for his own inputs. As Lincoln scholars such as Harold Holzer have pointed out, the speech which had been strong in tone in Lincoln's first draft, became progressively more conciliatory to the southern states as others suggested corrections.

Outgoing president James Buchanan accompanied Lincoln on the ride from The Willard Hotel (where the Lincoln family had been staying since its arrival in Washington on February 23rd), riding in an open carriage. They were surrounded by soldiers on horseback, who would hopefully keep Mr. Lincoln alive long enough to take the oath of office. There were numerous death threats already against Lincoln, including some which had arrived in Washington City just days before. Supposedly during the carriage ride, President Buchanan said something along the lines to Lincoln "If you are as happy entering office as I am to leave it, then you are the happiest man in the world." Buchanan's presidency had been an abject failure as he sat and did nothing as the nation tore itself apart.

Lincoln might have been personally gratified at winning the election, but one cannot imagine that he was "happy" to be entering office during this national crisis. In fact, he was rather apprehensive about it, having been up before dawn that day. Along his recent Inauguration Journey, he had admitted many times that he felt a greater burden upon becoming president than any of his predecessors, including the burden which faced Washington to help establish a new nation. Lincoln's burden, of course, was to try to save that nation.

The usual dignitaries were waiting Lincoln's arrival at the Capitol. On the platform near to him were Senators and Congressmen, other high ranking government officials, and the Chief Justice Of The United States, Roger Taney. Seated very close to Lincoln was Stephen A. Douglas, the northern Democrat Lincoln had defeated four months before. As Lincoln rose to speak, he looked for a place to rest his hat. When he could find none, Douglas graciously took the hat from Lincoln and held it for him, saying that if he couldn't be President, he could as least hold the President's hat.

Security was extraordinarily tight as Lincoln was on the platform waiting to speak. Sharpshooters had been stationed on the top of the Capitol and every soldier who could be spared in Washington had been. Police ringed the grounds of the Capitol, eyes constantly scanning the crowd. The U.S. Secret Service was not yet in existence this day and everyone feared Lincoln would be killed before he became President. Fortunately on that day, at least, Mr. Lincoln would survive.

Lincoln opened his Address with pleasantries to those gathered before him, then immediately began discussing the national crisis. He began by quoting himself from a former speech, again stating that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." He stated that his stance had not changed.

The Fugitive Slave Law, by which escaped slaves were required to be returned to their owners was also addressed by Lincoln. He stated that he and the Congress would continue to enforce that law; fugitive slaves would continue to be returned to their masters. He told the crowd, but really speaking to the Southerners, that it was the law of the land. This section of Lincoln's First Inaugural Address is perhaps the most surprising to modern eyes when people first read it.

Lincoln went on to address the concept of secession. He said "I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments." In Lincoln's view, the Union which had been entered into by all of the states could not be destroyed by only some or one of those states.

After a few more paragraphs, Lincoln next addressed the issue of potential war. Lincoln said that there would be no violence against the rebellious states, unless it was "forced upon the national authority." He said clearly that under his administration, the Federal government would "hold, occupy, and possess" its property and places and would continue to collect the duties. But at the same time, he said that there would be no "invasion" beyond this pledge to hold onto property.

Then Lincoln got to what was really at the heart of the national crisis, (contrary to claims of neo-Confederates and the Sons Of The Confederacy): the extension of slavery. Lincoln stated: "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute." Lincoln explained how in his opinion, how disunion would weaken the Fugitive Slave Law and would revive the then-abolished foreign slave trade.

A few more paragraphs of the Address consisted of Lincoln encouraging patience of the people, explaining how the people gave the duties to the President, and even pledging to support the notion of a new amendment to the Constitution, protecting slavery for all time where it already existed. Another surprise for people who think Lincoln tried to eradicate slavery at the beginning.

Lincoln then moved to his closing statements. He told the South that "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."

Finally came some of the most beautiful writing Abraham Lincoln ever committed to paper, his closing paragraph. The idea and suggested phrasing had come from William H. Seward, his designated Secretary of State. But Lincoln recast Seward's stilted language into the famous words: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The image below is of this closing paragraph in Lincoln's handwriting:



(If you have never read the complete text of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, you may find it here. It's worthwhile to take a few minutes to do so.)

With Lincoln's First Inaugural Address completed, Chief Justice Taney arose to give the oath of office to Abraham Lincoln. It was one of the most ironic moments in U.S. history, for Justice Taney and his fellow justices had ruled in the 1857 Dred Scott decision that slaves had no rights as persons, and weren't even persons in the eyes of the law. Further, his court also ruled that Congress had no jurisdiction under the Constitution to interfere with slavery anywhere in the U.S. or its territories. It was, of course, a decision which helped to further tear the nation apart.

The Bible used that day by Abraham Lincoln to pledge to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution was not the Lincoln family Bible. That was still in the Lincolns' possessions which had yet to arrive from Springfield. Instead, a Bible from the Supreme Court was provided. After the ceremony that day, the Clerk of the Supreme Court wrote in the back about what it had been used for and later sealed it. It is the same Bible which President Obama used two years ago at his own inauguration. Below is an image of the Bible, which is held by the Library of Congress.


After completing the oath of office, Abraham Lincoln surprised many in the crowd by bending to kiss the Bible. He was not known to be particularly religious and had never before joined a church. The crowd erupted into a roar after Lincoln turned to face the crowd as the newly created 16th President Of The United States.

It was a brilliantly sunny day in Washington City 150 years ago today. But there were ominous clouds far off on the horizon, bringing with them the threat of Civil War.




Desert Design District March Design Walk March 4


Don't forget this evening's Desert Design District's Walk, featuring the best in the Desert's Interior Design, which runs from Noon-8Pm. Participants are eligible for a $1000 shopping spree with participating vendors. Simply get this form signed or stamped at each retailer, and you'll be entered to win!

Palm Springs Modernism Show











Interior design fans in Palm Springs probably know about the Modernism Show that takes place in February- it's one of my favorite events the whole year, and it takes place around Valentines's Day every year at the Convention Center in Palm Springs. The show highlights midcentury modern artwork, accessories, and furnishings as well as some great vintage jewelry, clothing and fabric...have fun looking at my snapshots of some great home interior items!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Braniff Airlines Pucci Display in Palm Springs








During Modernism week a fantastic collection of Pucci and Halston Braniff Airines stewardess uniforms was on display at the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs. Though not entirely interior design related, Braniff Airlines wanted to create an visually uniform experience for its customers, a revolutionary approach to airlines which is now common practice in business.

The collection is available on ebay with an opening bid of $250K.

A little background on Braniff Airlines from Wikipedia:

To overhaul the Braniff image Lawrence hired Jack Tinker Associates, who assigned advertising executive Mary Wells as account leader. First on the agenda was to overhaul Braniff's public image — including the red, white, and blue livery which they perceived as "staid" (although, "The El Dorado Super Jet" Braniff livery from 1959 had won design awards). New Mexico architect Alexander Girard, Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci, and shoe designer Beth Levine were called in, and with this new creative talent, Braniff began the "End of the Plain Plane" campaign.

At Girard's recommendation, the old livery was dropped in flavor of planes painted in a single color, selected from a wide palette of bright hues. Girard wanted the planes painted from tail to nose in colors like "Chocolate Brown" and "Metallic Purple." He also favored a small "BI" distinctive logo and small titles. Braniff engineering and Braniff's advertising department modified Girard's colors, enlarged the "BI" logo, and added white wings and tails. This, ironically, was based on the 1930s Braniff "Vega" Schemes, which also carried colorful aircraft paint with white wings and tails. The new "jelly bean" fleet consisted of such bold colors as beige, ochre, orange, turquoise, baby blue, medium blue, lemon yellow, and lavender (lavender was dropped after one month, as lavender and black were considered bad luck in Mexico). Girard also outfitted the interiors with 57 different variations of Herman Miller fabrics. 15 colors were used by Braniff for plane exteriors during the 1960s (Harper & George modified Girard's original seven colors in 1968). Many of the color schemes were applied to aircraft interiors, gate lounges, ticket offices, and even the corporate headquarters. Art to complement the color schemes was flown in from Mexico, Latin America, and South America.

Pucci used a series of nautical themes in overhauling the crew's uniforms. For the stewardesses, Pucci used "space age" themes, including plastic bubbles (resembling Captain Video helmets) which the stewardesses could wear between the terminal and the plane to prevent hairstyles from being disturbed. However, the "space bubble" was dropped after about a month because the helmets cracked easily, there was no place to store them on the aircraft, and jetways at many airports made them unnecessary. For the footwear, Beth Levine created plastic boots and designed two-tone calfskin boots and shoes. Stewardesses were called "hostesses" at Braniff and were attired with uniforms and accessories composed of interchangeable parts which could be removed and added as needed. In 1969, Pucci designed "Pucci IV", for the intro of "747 Braniff Place" (1971). The collection was debuted at the Dallas Hilton by Pucci himself, in 1970. Today all of the vintage Pucci attire designed for Braniff is valuable.

In 1968, under the leadership of Mary Wells and Jack Tinker, Braniff expanded the advertising campaign that showed the likenesses of Andy Warhol, Sonny Liston, Salvador Dali, Whitey Ford, the Playboy Bunny, and other celebrities of the time, all flying Braniff. It became one of the most celebrated marketing efforts Madison Avenue had ever produced, blending style and arrogance. One advertising slogan was "if you've got it — flaunt it!" Although management considered the campaign a success, Braniff's core customers were outraged by the grandiose behavior and perceived "bragging", causing many corporate accounts to leave Braniff.

Blue Sky Homes









At Salon for the Parched, fantastic event coordinated by Kurt Cyr, we met Dave McAdam who is the owner of Blue Sky Homes, which is using a fantastic light steel construction method to build custom prefab homes. These are different from other types of constructions in that they are totally designed to straddle a site/lot and not interfere with landscape, or to be placed on a lot which would be prohibitively expensive or impossible to place a home on.

Rock Reach House is the first home utilizing the Blue Sky Building System. It was built in the Southern California desert community of Yucca Valley. Rock Reach House was completed in eight weeks, and we expect that future homes of this design will be finished in approximately six weeks (once footings are in place). These homes maximize the house’s spectacular location at 4,000 feet above sea level amid massive weathered boulders and ancient piñon and juniper trees.

In terms of pricing, Blue Sky Homes anticipates that a base model of the Yucca Valley prototype will cost about $275,000 (the prototype is 1,000 square feet and has over $75,000 in upgrades). In addition, the price excludes all site-specific items such as land costs, surveying, soil engineering, permitting, utilities, and footings (but Blue Sky will work with prospective buyers to provide price guidance on these items).