This series consists of autographs of Civil War-era personalities, illustrations, postcards, and other graphic materials related to the U.S.S. Monitor and other ironclads and the Civil War. Autographs include those of Erastus Corning, Melancton Smith (?), Rear Admiral Thomas H. Stevens (1893), John A. Dahlgren, and John L. Worden.
The series also contains “collecting cards” (carte-de-visite sized) of John Ericsson (in color), a part of the Heroes of History series created by the Royal Bengal Little Cigar Co.; a view of the Monitor and Merrimac during the battle; and a card showing the U.S.S. New Ironsides, a wooden hulled broadside ironclad of the U.S. Navy used during the Civil War.
Illustrations include an engraving of the naval battle between the Merrimac and Monitor; a color lithograph of the U.S.S. monitor Miantonomoh, ca. 1898; an engraving of the U.S.S. monitor Kalamazoo. n.d.; an engraving titled Action Of The Gunboats At Memphis, n.d.; an engraving of the U.S.S. monitor Puritan, n.d.; and a view of the monitors Weehawken And The Iroquois weathering a gale.
Postcards include a color lithograph titled “Wherever it floats, on land or sea, No stain its honor mars” – a postcard with the U.S. Flag in the foreground and the Monitor and Merrimac in background. n.d.; the Monitor and Merrimac Building, Ellitch’s Garden, Denver Colorado, 1911; a split view postcard containing images of the Monitor and Merrimac and the Virginia sinking the U.S.S. Cumberland, 1986; a parade with a float constructed to look like the U.S.S. Monitor, ca 1980; a color lithograph of U.S. Navy Gun Drill on the Monitor Nahant n.d.; a view of a gunboat ramming a steam sailing ship color lithograph, n.d.; and the U.S.S. Monitor Terror color lithograph, n.d.
Also in this series are a group of miscellaneous documents consisting of a mailing envelope with a view of the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac printed on the front; a U.S. Navy appropriation contingent form – a travel allowance form issued to commander John Domes for travel from Boston to New York dated Nov. 30, 1863; Navy discharge papers issued to William. R. Greeley, a coalheaver on the ironclad Dictator; a bank check from the Monitor State Bank, Monitor, Oregon with a view of the U.S.S. Monitor printed on the front side of the check, ca. 1930.
The remaining group of materials consist of sheet music cover and the score for the Monitor Polka, composed by A.H. Tyson, ca. 1862. On the second page of the score is an engraving titled NAVAL BATTLE BETWEEN THE MONITOR & MERRIMAC, HAMPTON ROADS MARCH 9TH 1862. Drawn by William Momberger. Engraved by George E. Perine. Finally, there is a digital reproduction of the cover for the MONITOR GRAND MARCH (cover only), composed by E Mack, depicting the battle between The Monitor and the Merrimac.
The last folder contains an engraving of Civil War-era Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Wells, dated around 1868.
