Whitman on Barnum's Doorstep...

Listed below is an excerpt from an account of President Lincoln’s trip into Manhattan in 1861. Not surprisingly, the president’s trip creates a traffic jam and who is there to witness the scene? Walt Whitman of course. And even more interestingly, the scene takes place right in front of Barnum’s American Museum! There certainly is some irony there somewhere and makes me wonder about our never ending need to witness various spectacles irrespective of their form – a presidential cavalcade and conjoined twins seem to generate the same huge amounts of interest from the masses! The writer even mentions some level of similarity between Lincoln and Barnum’s “Man Monkey.” Interesting stuff.

Excerpt from NYTimes article: “When Lincoln arrived at the Astor House, an amazing scene unfolded, which we have recorded thanks to the observations of a former reporter who had no clear vocation in 1861. Walt Whitman, formerly of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, was ensnared by a traffic jam – no doubt caused by Lincoln – sitting on top of a stalled omnibus. At 41, he was a bit stalled himself, having delivered one stunning work of poetry in 1855, but not much since then. Lincoln descended from his carriage before the sullen crowd, staring at him like an escaped creature from P.T. Barnum’s American Museum, across the street. Could this be Barnum’s celebrated “Man Monkey”? Then, in an act of political legerdemain so stunningly simple and natural, Lincoln won over the crowd by doing the one thing New Yorkers were not used to: he yawned at them. Or perhaps it was more of a stretch. But it seemed to break some of the tension. Then he did it again! Whitman was smitten at first sight. In 1863 he wrote, Lincoln “has a face like a Hoosier Michael Angelo, so awful ugly it becomes beautiful, with its strange mouth, its deep cut, criss-cross lines, and its doughnut complexion.” Whitman would have been gratified to know that the admiration was mutual – Lincoln had been reading “Leaves of Grass” in his Springfield law office before heading East.”