Mourning Lincoln

Abstract

Rather than repeating the oft-told and sometimes monotonous details of the Lincoln assassination, Martha Hodes’s Mourning Lincoln explores the social reactions to the assassination, using diaries, letters, newspaper articles, sermons, and other primary sources. She offers a regional investigation of the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination, highlighting three individuals who exemplify the differing factions in place at the conclusion of the Civil War. The abolitionists Albert and Sarah Browne from Massachusetts are the first two, and the third is Rodney Dorman, a staunch secessionist from Jacksonville, Florida. Using these figures as representatives of the whole, Hodes is able to compare and contrast the myriad reactions to Lincoln’s death. While the book does indeed achieve its stated goal and produce insightful thoughts, it is not without deficiencies and flaws.