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Roger Norton
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« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2012, 03:35:19 AM » |
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I have a book titled Memorial Record of the Nation's Tribute to Abraham Lincoln by Benjamin Franklin Morris. I bought it years ago, but I now see it can be read for free online. Here's a portion of what is said about the East Room:
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The East Room, the same in which Harrison and Taylor lay
in state, was far more artistically prepared for the coming
ceremonies. The plates of its four large mirrors were covered
with white crape, while their frames were hidden by the falling
folds of a black drapery, similar to that which covered the
blood-red damascene and white lace curtains of the windows.
The Venetian shutters being partly closed, the rich red of the
walls stained the partially admitted light, already toned down
by the heavy masses of black, and through the dark shadows
of the catafalque the light seemed to struggle in dim religious
rays, that stole rather than leaped back from the silver orna-
ments of the coffin and the shrouded surfaces of the polished
mirrors.
What added greatly to the awing effect of the room, was a
series of seats or steps which were covered with black, and
partitioned off, as it were, with thin white lines, descending from
the northern, eastern, and southern sides of the room, to about
five feet of the base of the black temple of death placed in the
centre of the room. Along the western side of these were
placed fifteen chairs, covered with black, and ranged along the
wall for the use of the members of the Press.
The series of seats or steps partitioned off by lines of white
were reserved for the various groups expected, by a card being
laid on each, with writing, stating the use for which it was in-
tended.
The northwestern corner was reserved for the pall bearers;
next, to the eastward, was the partition ticketed for the New
York delegation; next came that of the Army and Navy, then
that of the Judiciary, and behind these, officers of the Sanitary
and Christian Commissions; next were stationed Goyernors
of various States and Territories, Heads of Bureaus, Assistant
Secretaries, then the Diplomatic Corps, beside which were the
President and Cabinet, and alongside of these stood the Sena-
tors, beyond which were members of the House of Representa-
tives, clergymen from all parts of the United States, and the
city authorities.
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