Cassius Clay Photographic Collection,
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Cassius Clay Photographic Collection,
- Date
- 1866 (inclusive)
- Creator
- Clay, Cassius, 1810-1903
- Extent
- .5 cu. ft. (2 boxes): 12 items
- Subjects
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903
- Politicians-United States-Biography
- Abolitionists-Kentucky-Biography
- Kentucky-Politics and Government-1865-1950
- Soviet Union-Foreign Relations-United States
- United States-Foreign Relations-Civil War, 1861-1865
- United States-Foreign Relations-1865-1898
- United States-Foreign Relations-Soviet Union
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Cassius Clay was born in 1810 in Madison County, Kentucky. He was the son of Green Clay, a Revolutionary War general, and a nephew of Henry Clay. Clay attended Yale University and was anti-slavery, although he advocated gradual emancipation. In 1845, Clay began the True American an anti-slavery paper, and later followed this with another anti-slavery paper The Examiner. Clay served in the Kentucky Legislature from 1835-1840. Clay was minister to Russia twice, and as minister he performed the same basic duties as an ambassador. His terms in Russia were from 1861-1862 and 1863-1869. During the period of his recall, 1862-1863, Clay served as a Union Major General in the Civil War. Clay's serving as minister to Russia continued to strengthen the ties between these two nations. This led to the U.S. supporting Russia in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and Russia supporting the Union in the American Civil War (1861-1865). During Clay's first term as minister, roughly 1861-1862, he brought his wife and his knife collection, and seemed to fit in well with the Russian upper class. Clay retired to his estate, White Hall, where he wrote his autobiography, The Life of Cassius Marcellus Clay: Memoirs, Writings, and Speeches. He died on July 22, 1903.
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of 12 albumen prints compiled in an album. Album is badly damaged, but front and back covers and frontispiece has been preserved.
Contents of the Collection
Front cover, Contains four lines of Russian text
Frontispiece, Thirteen lines of Russian text, addressed to Cassius Clay, ten Russian signatures at bottom
Small brick house, lake in foreground with a sailboat, trees and fence in background.
The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia. Large white building with several floors, two spinnerets top the church, bell in central section of the church, large bell placed as a monument in front of church, Russian text at the bottom of image
Bridge over a river with city, probably Moscow, in background; two men on walkway near the river in foreground
Small concrete house with two chimneys, fence and small walking bridge leading to house from the road, houses in background, imprint in Russian at the bottom of image
Small log house, wooden fence with gate to one side, roof of a second house is visible behind the first house, yard with trees in front, road in foreground
Large concrete building, probably part of the College of Agriculture of Peter the Great, main building has two floors, wings to each side form the rest of the structure, grounds are neatly landscaped
Artist's rendition of a monument, three step dais with a square base has depiction of man with a helmet and wings holding a sword over another man while others look on, statue of a man in robes kneeling and looking skyward, pillar has a crest and wreath, topped by the bust of a priest, a child looks upon the monument from a cobblestone street
Artist's rendition of a long building, building has at least three floors, a dome atop the center, windows line the walls across the building
"Broadwell's breech-loading field gun" (handwritten in ink along bottom of photo); small cannon mounted on a dual chassis, powder box on second axle, extension rod with chain to allow mounting to a wagon or horse team, foreign text at bottom "Shumann & Sohn, Hop-Photographen: Carlsruhe"
"Broadwell's breech-loading field gun" (handwritten in ink along bottom of photo); picture of cannon from #7, cannon is separated from second axle and powder box, it is being serviced by a soldier, sighting mechanism is being employed and loading chamber is open
"Broadwell's breech-loading field gun" (handwritten in ink along bottom of photo); image is identical to #10 in all respects
"The Might of the Republic" (written on ribbon across the top, held by an eagles claw), image contains 101 portraits of various Union generals and statesmen, text at the bottom states "Entered According to Act of Congress by O.H. Oldyroyd in the year 1866. In the clerks office of the southern district of Ohio"
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
