HENRY CLAY
PRESENTATION ITEMS
ca. 1840, 1929
Manuscript Collection Number 98 Folder 154
Accessioned: Gift of
Henry Clay Reed
Extent: 4 items ( .01
linear feet)
Content: Two copies
of engravings, a silk ribbon, and a letter
Access: The
collection is open for research.
Processed: May 2005
by Colleen E. Lemke
Table of Contents
Introductory Note
This collection
contains presentation memorabilia related to Henry Clay, American Statesman,
given to Henry Clay Reed, University
of Delaware professor and historian,
by Henry Clay Conrad, historian and State Archivist of Delaware. Items include two copies of engravings of
Henry Clay, a silk ribbon commemorating Clay, and a presentation letter (1929) from
Conrad to Reed. Reed had worked for Conrad
at the Delaware State Archives. In the
letter, Henry Clay Conrad explains that he is sending two prints of Henry Clay engravings
to Reed because both men are his namesakes; Reed later added the ribbon to the
engravings and had all three pieces mounted for display.
Henry
Clay (1777 - 1852) was a U.S.
senator and representative from Kentucky.
President John Quincy Adams appointed
Clay secretary of state during his term, from 1825 to 1829. Clay was also the unsuccessful presidential
candidate of the Democratic Republican Party in 1824, of the National
Republican Party in 1832, and of the Whig Party in 1844.
Henry
Clay Conrad, Esq., was born in Bridesburg, Pennsylvania,
on 25 April 1852, to Aaron
and Sarah Conrad. He made a career in
public service in Delaware. From 1882 to 1885, he served as a member of
the Wilmington City Council. From 1897
to 1921, he also served the Delaware
as city solicitor, Postmaster of Wilmington, Associate Judge of the Delaware Supreme
Court, and founder of the Public Archives Commission. It was during his tenure as State Archivist,
from 1924 to 1930, that he met Henry Clay Reed.
Henry
Clay Reed, born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania
in 1899, moved to Newark, Delaware,
in 1924 to accept a position teaching at the University
of Delaware. He taught at the University
of Delaware until his retirement in
1964, publishing many scholarly articles and two books on Delaware
history.
Related Collections:
MSS 499
Henry Clay Reed
Papers
Contents
Collection 98, Folder 154
Engraving
of Henry Clay as a young man. Marked “Childs
& Inman Liths.”
Engraving of a bust of Henry Clay. Inscription reads: “Engraved by W.H. Dougal,
by permission for the Use of Congress, from a Bust by H.K. Brown of N.Y. in the
possession of Cadwalader Ringgold, U.S.N. Daguerreotype by Whitchurst. Washington,
D.C. 1852.”
Campaign ribbon on ivory-colored
silk, which reads: “Henry Clay / The people’s Choice/ The Pride of America. /
Frelinghuysen. / Lower Merion / Delegation.”
n.d.
Typed,
signed letter from Henry Clay Conrad to Henry Clay Reed, dated May 13, 1929.
