Libertyville group racing to save piece of pre-Civil War history; ‘Something from … an organization that made a difference'

Chicago Tribune

03-06-2025

Hanging in a shaded hallway of the Ansel B. Cook Home in Libertyville is a six-foot-tall artifact from the prelude to one of America's darkest chapters.
It's a dark silk banner, hand-painted in 1860, emblazoned in gold with the name of a group that is only just being recognized again — The Wide Awakes, a national grassroots organization known for their strong support of the Republican Party and opposition to slavery during the election that would put Abraham Lincoln into the White House.
The Libertyville Historical Society is racing to save the rapidly deteriorating 165-year-old banner by fundraising $30,000 to have it expertly restored and placed in a museum-grade display case, with $24,000 in funding already secured.
Jenny Barry, president of the historical society, said the banner's painted image of a torchlight parade, an iconic sight for the Wide Awakes, is dried and cracked, and there is some paint loss. Seams are coming apart and the silk, known to be delicate, will need to be stabilized, she said.
Restoration will also reveal the banner's long-unseen reverse side, solving a century-old mystery about the possibility of a 'Liberty and Union' inscription on the back, a release said.
The banner offers a peek into a relatively obscure group during a critical moment in American history. Barry said it's also one of the few pieces of evidence of the Libertyville community's participation in the Wide Awakes movement, and an example of the level of activism in a community much smaller than it is today.
'We know very little about Libertyville Wide Awakes. There's not a roster or anything that exists,' Barry said.
Only a handful of members have been identified through newspaper references, and historical society members have been conducting long-term research to discover others.
The Wide Awakes were known for their marches and torchlight parades, Barry said, where they would move in different formations wearing oilcloth capes and carrying torches. A reproduction of the outfit and a pair of original torches sit by the banner.
'It was quite a spectacle, as we understand it,' she said.
The banner was awarded to the Libertyville branch during a grand rally in conjunction with a stump speech for Lincoln's campaign, according to Barry. The winning team was whichever brought the most marchers compared to the number of Republican voters in the town in the prior election.
Libertyville, which had 63 Republican votes in 1858, brought 73 people, she said, and won the banner.
It was of some importance to the community, Barry said, appearing on display several times decades later. It's been in its current case since around 1927, she said, and while she wasn't certain how long it's been displayed at the house, it's been decades.
With restoration, the unique banner can be saved for another 165 years, and continue to offer a window into a 'divisive' time in the nation's history, Barry said.
'I think history is often difficult, especially national events,' she said. 'It's very hard to feel a connection to. This is actually a physical representation of something from that time and an organization that made a difference.'
She expects the banner will be moved in the fall, and restoration is anticipated to take six to seven months before it's returned home. She encourages people to see it before it's restored, as well as look at their exhibit of Civil War-era ladies' attire displayed on the house's first floor.