388

1016 HISTORICAL ANNOTATION

435.22 Lucerne] Located on Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland, Lucerne was
mainly a summer resort town at the time Douglass visited. Baedeker, Northern Italy,
28; Cohen, Columbia Gazetteer, 2:1798.

436.11 Senator John Sherman of Ohio] While traveling through Pittsburgh on his
way to Ohio and Illinois in June 1888, Douglass told a newspaper reporter that blacks
strongly supported the nomination of Senator John Sherman of Ohio as the Republican
candidate for president. The New York Times quoted Douglass as saying, "Sherman
unquestionably is their favorite, and is the man I want to see get the nomination." At
the Republican national convention in Chicago that month, Sherman led the balloting
on the first several roll calls. Douglass was among the Sherman supporters on the
convention floor, and at one point he took the stage on Sherman's behalf. However,
Benjamin Harrison won the nomination on the eighth ballot. New York Times, 14
June 1888; New York Mail and Express, 22 June 1888.

436.15 In the Convention at Chicago I did what I could] Douglass attended the
Republican national convention of 1888 in Chicago as a spectator rather than a dele-
gate. On the evening of 18 June 1888, Douglass addressed a reception for black del-
egates to the Republican national convention. Over 2,000 people attended this
gathering at the Calvary Armory. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Douglass was
received with cheers, every one rising and throwing hats and handkerchiefs in the air."
On the convention's first official day, 19 June 1888. Douglass appeared on the back
of the convention platform at Armory Hall, and the audience called loudly for him to
speak. The temporary chairman of the convention, John V. Thurston of Nebraska,
introduced Douglass as "a man who needs no introduction--our old friend, Fred
Douglass." Douglass's short address received national attention and criticism from
those who disliked his forthright defense of "bloody shirt" campaign rhetoric.
Douglass supported the selection of Senator John Sherman of Ohio for president but
accepted the convention's choice of Benjamin Harrison of Indiana and campaigned
vigorously for the Republican national ticket. Subject File, reel 10, frames 361, 376,
FD Papers, DLC; New York Times, 14, 20 June 1888; Chicago Daily Tribune, 19, 20
June 1888; Chicago Times, 20 June 1888; Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, 20 June
1888; New York Mail and Express, 22 June 1888.

436.18 Russell A. Alger] Ohio-born Russell Alexander Alger (1836-1907) was
orphaned at eleven years of age. He worked as a laborer and taught school before
studying law in Akron, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar in 1859. During the
Civil War Alger served in the Union army, rising to the rank of colonel. Alger partici-
pated in battles at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and in the Shenandoah Valley but
resigned his commission in September 1864 after contracting typhoid fever.
Following the war Alger settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he amassed a fortune in
the lumber business. He was a founder of the Michigan branch of the Grand Army of
the Republic and became its national commander in 1889. Alger was elected
Republican governor of Michigan for one term (1885-87), and from 1897 to 1899
served as secretary of war in President McKinley's cabinet. The stigma inefficiency