Date: July 8, 1881 Creator: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper Medium: Engraving
This engraving shows President Garfield’s bedroom at the White House, where he was brought after he was shot. First Lady Lucretia Garfield is at his side. Mrs. Garfield may have worn a similar dress to the one depicted here during her mourning period.
White House Historical Association/White House Collection
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Tragedy at Washington - The Night-Watch Before the Executive Mansion
Date: 1881 Creator: Thure de Thulstrup Medium: Engraving
This 1881 wood engraving depicts the vigil outside the White House as President James Garfield fought for his life due to an assassination attempt. Thousands gathered again to witness his funeral procession to the Capitol Rotunda to lie in state after the president succumbed to his wounds.
White House Historical Association
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In Memoriam (Garfield’s Funeral March)
Date: 1881 Creator: John Philip Sousa Medium: Audio
Famous composer and head of the Marine Band John Philip Sousa was shocked by President Garfield’s death: “With the event weighing heavily on his mind he walked all through the night and into the next morning. When he returned home he immediately committed the dirge ‘In Memoriam’ to paper.” The U.S. Marine Band played the march as the president’s body proceeded through Washington, as well as when the president was laid to rest in Cleveland, Ohio.
United States Marine Band/YouTube
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North View of the White House Draped in Mourning for President Garfield
Date: 1881 Creator: Unknown Medium: Photograph
This is the clearest nineteenth-century depiction of the White House draped in mourning, possibly because the extent of decoration was remarkable even for the time. Not only are the North Portico columns wrapped, as they were for Abraham Lincoln, but great lengths of black cloth hang from the roof and windows on all sides.
White House Historical Association/White House Collection
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Lucretia Garfield in Black
Date: ca. 1910 Creator: Unknown Medium: Photograph
This photograph shows Lucretia Garfield still in mourning toward the end of her life. On her head she wears what appears to be a widow’s close-fitting “Marie Stuart” cap or bonnet. This type of headwear was characterized by a small V-point shaped down over the center forehead, and was a style introduced by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861. The widowed queen took inspiration from portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, who wore heart-shaped headdresses. By the early 1900s, when this photograph was taken, this style was very much out of date; a 1905 issue of Harper’s Bazaar mentioned that “only on elderly women is the close-fitting small bonnet with long veil seen.”
Family of Abram Garfield; the Gramentine Family/James A. Garfield National Historic Site
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Letter Written by Lucretia Garfield on Mourning Stationery (Page 1 of 3)
Date: January 2,1917 Creator: Lucretia Garfield
This letter written by Lucretia Garfield is on black-bordered paper, a common mourning accessory. Its envelope has a matching mourning stripe along its edge as well. For decades after his death, Mrs. Garfield continued to write on mourning stationery when discussing her husband.
Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
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Letter Written by Lucretia Garfield on Mourning Stationery (Page 2 of 3)
Date: January 2,1917 Creator: Lucretia Garfield
This letter written by Lucretia Garfield is on black-bordered paper, a common mourning accessory. Its envelope has a matching mourning stripe along its edge as well. For decades after his death, Mrs. Garfield continued to write on mourning stationery when discussing her husband.
Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
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Letter Written by Lucretia Garfield on Mourning Stationery (Page 3 of 3)
Date: January 2,1917 Creator: Lucretia Garfield
This letter written by Lucretia Garfield is on black-bordered paper, a common mourning accessory. Its envelope has a matching mourning stripe along its edge as well. For decades after his death, Mrs. Garfield continued to write on mourning stationery when discussing her husband.
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