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Mary Livermore with President Lincoln

Mary Livermore with President Lincoln

Painting by Peter Waddell

"The Visit. A War Worker Calls for a Favor, late 1862." Mary Livermore, a prominent abolitionist and women's rights activist, championed many causes including the U.S. Sanitary Commission that ran hospitals and collected supplies for soldiers during the Civil War. Livermore met with President Abraham Lincoln after he announced he would sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln later donated the original signed copy to raise money for the Commission. The Proclamation sold at auction for $3,000.