The Black Valley Railroad by artist Emile Ackerman and lithographed by J. Mayer and Company
date: label: Date made
content: 1863
name: label: copyright holder
content: Hanks, S. W.
label: artist; engraver
content: Ackermann, Emil
label: lithographer
content: J. Mayer and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station". The train is leaving a tranquil valley and heading toward doom with skeletons and snakes in the background. The print has a considerable amount of descriptive and interpretive text.
label: Description
content: This print was created by the artist Emil F. Ackermann, who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1848. Ackermann eventually went to work for the lithography firm of J.H. Bufford and Sons, which produced the lithograph in the 1860s.
label: Description
content: It was issued by the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance and published by Reverend Steadman Wright Hanks in his book <i>The Crystal River Turned Upon the Black Valley Railroad and Black Valley Country -- A Temperance Allegory</i> (also known as <i>The Black Valley: The Railroad and the Country)</i>. Hanks called the print "probably the most successful temperance lecture in the country." Stedman Wright Hanks (1811-1889) was a Congregational minister in Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as an author, artist, and fervent supporter of both the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Hanks spoke to audiences around the United States about the evils of overindulging in alcohol. In addition to his book about the Black Valley Railroad, his published works included <i>Sailor Boys, or, Light on the Sea</i>and <i>Mutineers of the "Bounty</i> and compiled a temperance song book and served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court. He is also noted for performing the sermon commemorating John Quincy Adams death at the St. John Street Congregational Church.
label: Description
content: This print was produced by J. Mayer and Company. Julius Mayer was a lithographer in Boston from 1857-1872. He was associated with Prang & Mayer (1857-1860), Mayer & Stetfield (1861-1862), and J. Mayer & Co. (1863-1872). His prints included scenes of Boston and Portland, Maine.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Boston
topic: label: Subject
content: Carriages
label: Subject
content: Horses
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1860-1869
label: Subject
content: Children
label: Subject
content: Drinking
label: Subject
content: Railroads
label: referenced
content: Temperance
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Temperance Movement
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2890
label: catalog number
content: 60.2890
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 12 in x 16 in; 30.48 cm x 40.64 cm