Vanderbilt, William H. (William Henry), 1821-1885

Tweed Roosevelt describes the arduous process of removing an obelisk named Cleopatra’s Needle from Egypt to New York City. The project was planned and managed by Henry H. Gorringe who persuaded Theodore Roosevelt to hunt buffalo in Dakota Territory in the fall of 1883. Roosevelt explains how obelisks were constructed in ancient Egypt, and he provides a history of the two obelisks known as Cleopatra’s Needles, one of which was moved to London, England. Roosevelt details the process of moving the obelisk which included specialized rigging and lifting mechanisms, and he laments that the obelisk’s presence in New York City is virtually unknown because of its location behind buildings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Six photographs and seven illustrations, including seven depictions of the obelisk, populate the text along with a text box with poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2010

Eight stagecoaches stand in a procession, each jammed with passengers. Riding in the first coach, labeled “Republican Harmony Coach,” are Chester Alan Arthur, Roscoe Conkling, James Gillespie Blaine, John Alexander Logan, Ulysses S. Grant, J. D. Cameron, George William Curtis, John Sherman, John F. Miller(?) and an unidentified man. Riding in the second coach, labeled “Dem. Love Feast Coach” and “One Republican thrown in to please Mr. Dana,” are Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, Edward Cooper, Rutherford B. Hayes, Franklin Edson, Samuel J. Tilden, John Kelly, and Hubert O. Thompson. Riding in the third coach, labeled “Heavy Hack,” are Cardinal John McCloskey, Robert Green Ingersoll, “Jacobs, Potter, Storrs,” Howard Crosby, Henry Ward Beecher, and Theodore Tilton. Riding in the fourth coach, labeled “Monopoly,” are William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, Jay Gould, and a box labeled Henry Clay. Riding in the fifth coach, labeled “Thespis,” are Lester Wallack, Rose Coghlan, Marie Geistinger, “T.P., J.E. Pearson, Levy,” Dion Boucicault, Edward Harrigan, and Tony Hart. The sixth coach is labeled “Homeopathy”; the seventh coach is labeled “Allopathy”; and the eighth coach is labeled “The Bruiser.” The horses pulling this last coach wear boxing gloves. Caption: [If this takes, we will have another one next year.]

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-06-13

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

A large procession crosses the newly-completed Brooklyn Bridge. At the front, dressed as policemen with nightsticks, are several newspaper editors. Among them are James Gordon Bennett, Oswald Ottendorfer, Whitelaw Reid, Murat Halstead, Joseph Pulitzer, Charles A. Dana, and Carl Schurz. Puck follows at center on a white horse, with a group of dandies on the right, one labeled “Freddie,” and a group of “Political Tramps” on the left, including George M. Robeson, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas Collier Platt, James G. Blaine, and Roscoe Conkling. John Kelly is at the lead of the “Tammany Heelers,” followed by Hubert O. Thompson with the “New York Street Cleaning Department.” Behind them comes “Puck’s Monopoly Target Company” with Russell Sage, William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, and Cyrus W. Field. On the left is a masonic group labeled “F. & A.M.” carrying a goat on a pedestal. Beneath the bridge is a boat labeled “The Dynamiter” filled with angry anarchists. Caption: Puck follows the example of the illustrated newspapers, and gives an accurate picture of the event one day before it takes place – and don’t you forget it!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-05-23

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

At a dog show, a variety of breeds are competing. In the upper left corner, labeled the “Judges’ Stand,” are several newspaper editors, including James Gordon Bennett, Whitelaw Reid, Murat Halstead, Charles A. Dana, Henry Watterson, and George W. Curtis. They are judging two dogs, Winfield Scott Hancock and Samuel J. Tilden. Other dogs depicted are “Sesquipedalian Sleuth Hound Evarts, Mulligan Mongrel, Rossa Runt – take care dangerous, Lap Dogs Monopoly Breed”, also Chester A. Arthur, William Mahone, Thomas Collier Platt, Roscoe Conkling, James D. Cameron, John Logan, “Pointer Bayard, Tammany Tarrier, House Dog Edson, Dachshund, Toby Dog, Poodle, Water-dog,” David Davis, U.S. Grant, “Tewksbury Ratter, Hoar-Hound, Hybrid Hayes” and at center, “Puck’s entry Cleveland [and] S. Low.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-05-09

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

On either side of a broad street, “Vanderbilt’s Palace” and the “Cooper Institute to Science and Art” appear. In the distance is “Stewart’s Cathedral” (the Cathedral of the Incarnation, built as a memorial and mausoleum for Garden City’s founder Alexander Turney Stewart). Symbols of wealth frame the left side and symbols of art and science frame the right side. Puck is seated at center, over a quote by Joaquin Miller: “For all you can hold in your cold dead hand is what you have given away.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-04-18

Creator(s)

Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913

At left, on the sidewalk outside a gambling room labeled “Monopoly Club Shades,” James G. Blaine and Benjamin F. Butler corner a “Workingman” and try to steer him into the gaming room. On the right, sitting around a table with playing cards, are Russell Sage, William Walter Phelps, George M. Robeson, Jay Gould, and John Roach, and standing is Cyrus W. Field. On a shelf is a bust of William H. Vanderbilt beneath a sign that states “The Public Be D–” and notices that state “No Straight Flushes in this House” and “This is a Bluff Game – No Limit.” On either side of the bust are boxes of “Brag Chips” and “Bluster Cards.” Caption: Hungry Ben – “How are you, Mr. Workingman? What! – don’t you remember me? Why, I’m your old friend! Say – just you let me put you onto a nice little scheme-” Workingman “No, sirree! I’ve been there before.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-20

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Uncle Sam sits on a throne, reading a “Petition of the Railroads for Permission to Raise Rates” while diminutive representatives of railroad companies stand before him. The ghost of Cornelius Vanderbilt, aghast, appears behind Uncle Sam with a notice that states “The Public Be Damned! Vanderbilt.” Caption: Ghost of Former Magnate–I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes! Asking permission!! Asking!!!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1914-03-07

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

A costume ball is underway. Among the recognizable faces are Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, Ulysses S. Grant, and possibly William W. Phelps. Caption: Mrs. Knickerbocker gives a fancy dress ball, and, following the practice of the English nobility, requests her guests to appear in the costumes worn by their ancestors a hundred years ago.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-02-07

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, and Cyrus W. Field escape in a small boat from cannibals on an island where they have built a railroad but refused to give the natives a reduced fare rate. The cannibals are angry and demand “5-cent fares.” Caption: “After all we have done for them, Brothers, they insist on having 5-cent fares. Let us leave the cannibals to their fate!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-02-28

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Several wealthy men, “Gould, W. K. Vanderbilt, W. H. Vanderbilt, Sage, Cornell, [and] Cornelius Vanderbilt,” some dressed as women, hold ticker tape and dance around a may pole. Cyrus W. Field, dressed as a woman, sits on a safe next to the pole. Sitting on a bench to the left are Chauncey M. Depew playing cymbals labeled “Monopolist Music” and Whitelaw Reid playing a horn labeled “Tribune.” Behind them is William M. Evarts looking out a window in a building labeled “Millionaires Snug Harbor,” and in the background is a “Monopoly Mill” labeled “Stocks” and “U. S. Bonds.” Lambs gambol nearby. Includes verse.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-29

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Print shows Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, Cyrus W. Field, Russell Sage, and John Roach riding in a carriage past a crowd of laborers labeled “Knights of Labor” and “Pittsburg Free Strikers” who are watching a man labeled “Workingman” trying to climb a “Greased” pole carrying a child on his back and with a woman and child hanging from his belt. The pole is greased with “Monopoly Grease,” at the top are “Higher Wages, Bread, Tobacco, Wine, [and] Ham.” The view from the pole shows factories in the middle distance and the “Roach Monopolist Ship Builder” facility in the background.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-06-21

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

At a dinner party is presidential candidate James Gillespie Blaine, who is trying to cover himself with pages of the New York Tribune, and by his side, vice-presidential candidate John A. Logan. Seated around a table set with “Pension Pie, Monopoly Stew, [and] Star Route Shortcake” are James W. Husted, Chancey M. Depew, Powell Clayton, Joseph Medill, Stephen W. Dorsey, Thomas J. Brady, a man identified as “Elkins,” William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Cyrus W. Field, Whitelaw Reid on his feet, John Roach, and Robert G. Ingersoll fleeing with a bone labeled “Star Route Spoils.” Blaine wears an “Anti-Sunstroke Cabbage Leaf” on his head, to which is attached a quill pen labeled “Gail Hamilton.” Projected onto a wall at the far end of the room are the words “Republican Revolt,” which has frightened everyone in the room.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-18

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Print shows Puck sitting on a wooden cut-out Pegasus reviewing a procession of soldiers, among whom are John A. Logan, Roscoe Conkling carrying a flag labeled “Third Term”, Joseph W. Keifer, William M. Evarts, David Davis, James G. Bennett, John Kelly, Cyrus W. Field, William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Samuel J. Tilden, Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas De Witt Talmage, and riding on horseback, Henry Ward Beecher. Following the soldiers, in the background on the right, is a float showing an old soldier labeled “Our Army” and a decrepit ship labeled “Our Navy”. In the background, on the left, is a reviewing stand for the “Foreign Guests”, with a French flag on one side and a German flag on the other. Caption: His army of contributors passing in review before our foreign guests.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-19

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Print shows Puck standing between John Kelly, on the left, in front of “Tammany Hall,” holding a flag that states “Down with the Bloated Monopolists!!”, he has F.B. Thurber in his coat pocket, and on the right, Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, and Cyrus W. Field as large money bags labeled “$”, standing in front of the “Monopoly Telegraph Co.” and the “Monopoly R.R.” A signpost, pointing to the left, states “To Anti-Monopolyville” and pointing to the right, “To Monopolyville.” Puck indicates that he would like to be an anti-monopolist, but not the John Kelly type. Caption: Puck “Well, I want to be an anti-monopolist; but not if that is one!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-12

Creator(s)

Unknown

Print shows Chester A. Arthur as King Henry IV on a cobblestone street, with Jay Gould and William H. Vanderbilt holding his cape, and accompanied by John P. Jones; he is accosted by Roscoe “Sir John” Conkling who proposes to speak on behalf of Thomas C. “Master Shallow” Platt. Behind them are Thomas J. Brady and Stephen W. Dorsey. Ulysses S. Grant and John A. Logan are standing on the left, at the head of Arthur’s entourage. Includes text for brief exchange between Arthur and Conkling from “(2nd Part of King Henry IV, Act V – Sc. 5)”. Caption: (Which we have but little hope of seeing on the stage of the National Capitol).

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-05

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Jay Gould is drowning in “Watered Stocks” certificates, some labeled “Watered W.U.T.” and “Watered Wabash,” at the bottom of the steps to Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City. William H. Vanderbilt sits at the top of the steps, on a large bag labeled “$40,000,000 U.S. Bonds” and “Vanderbilt.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-04

Creator(s)

Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913

Print shows a fireworks display with Puck bowing on a stage in front of a “Fan Light” featuring the likenesses of William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and Jay Gould; on stage with Puck is a hand holding a smoldering torch which may represent Bartholdi’s hand and torch from the Statue of Liberty. On the left is a pagoda labeled “Puck Office” and on the right is a building labeled “Tammany Hall.” Among the fireworks are many faces of politicians and other prominent figures of the day, some labeled by type of firework, such as “Chicago Shower” – Arthur, Grant, Conkling, Logan and Cameron; “Tumbler” – Tilden; “Twister” – Schurz; “The Falling Tammany Star” – Kelly; “Bomb” – Davis; “Junk Whizzler” – Robeson; “Polar Rocket” – Bennett; “Buster” – Butler; and “Star Route Staggerer” – Dorsey. Others shown are James G. Blaine, Henry Ward Beecher, Elizabeth Tilton(?), Thomas De Witt Talmage, and Theodore Tilton.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-07-05

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Several rogues, including Jay Gould labeled “R. Road Monopolist,” William H. Vanderbilt labeled “Corporations,” Cyrus W. Field labeled “Telegraph Monopoly,” Russell Sage(?) labeled “Stock Jobbing,” and George M. Robeson labeled “Congress,” rob a “Tax Payer” of his “Income” (Robeson/Congress strangling him with “Unjust Tax”). In the right foreground the tools and “Cloth” the “Tax Payer” needs are “Taxed” as others help themselves to his “Products of Honest Labor.” Vanderbilt directs some carrying bags labeled “Plunder” and “Gains” up steps labeled “Tax Steals, Land Grants, Friendly Judges, Lobbyism, [and] Public Apathy” that lead to a large building labeled “Castle Monopoly” atop a mountain. In the background, on the right, are buildings labeled “Manufactory Closed [and] Foundry Closed” and other industrial buildings “Closed.” A chain labeled “Protection” blocks the harbor, preventing ships with products for export from departing.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-06-14

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Father Time presents the new year labeled “1886” to Puck standing in the foreground, holding his lithographic pencil. Behind him are scenes of events from 1885, such as President Cleveland’s inauguration on March 4, Fredinand Ward’s conviction and William Mahone’s defeat, publication of Pope Leo XIII’s “Encyclical” Immortale Dei, Louis Pasteur’s anti-rabies vaccine, Chinese attacked in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Tacoma, Washington Territory, and the Grim Reaper strikes down Ulysses S. Grant, Alfonso XII of Spain, William H. Vanderbilt, composer Leopold Damrosch, Cardinal McCloskey, Thomas Hendricks, and Victor Hugo. Fighting continues in Bulgaria, Sudan, Tonquin, and Spain.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-12-30

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Print shows a vignette cartoon with a carriage at center in which Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and William H. Vanderbilt are riding with large money bags; the wheels are labeled “Corporations” and “Monopoly.” The carriage is driven by an eagle dressed like Uncle Sam wearing a top hat labeled “1882” and carrying a whip labeled “Revenue Tariff.” The carriage is pulled by an “Underpaid Workman,” a “Starving Laborer,” a “War Widow,” a “Sewing Girl,” an “Old Merchant,” a “Poor Clerk,” and a “Cripple,”among others, with ropes labeled “Tax.” The surrounding vignettes show scenes of corruption, misfortune, presidential office seekers, Valley Forge, and “Charitable Institutions for the poor and unfortunate” from “Maine” to “California” showing buildings labeled “Poor House” and “Jail.” Featured in these vignettes are such figures as Chester Alan Arthur, George M. Robeson, Samuel J. Tilden, Roscoe Conkling, John Kelly, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin F. Butler, and Joseph W. Keifer, as well as “Honest Labor, Patriotism, [and] Integrity.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-05-24

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894