This section represents perhaps the most insightful set of materials in this collection; it includes a very small sampling of speeches and presentations made by John Charles Black. His oratory and written skills were exemplary and he was well known nationally for them. From the time he was 16 years old until his death, he thoroughly enjoyed the vast number of audiences that he would address. His enthusiasm and patriotism are apparent throughout his works.
Many of his speeches survive in handwritten form at the Abraham Lincoln Public Library and Museum. Often difficult to now read, there is an ability to discern his sense of history as they are perused. Included in this section are a number of his speeches---some retyped. They include two delivered as a 16-year-old student in Danville, Illinois in the 1850s, and then through the early 1900s when he frequently addressed Civil War veterans in his capacity as Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).
(All speeches in this section are reprinted with ALPLM permission.)
Of all John’s works, perhaps the most significant is an early 1900s presentation filled with patriotism entitled “Sir True Blue”. Only a few copies of this rich presentation (in color) survive. It is the first piece that follows in this section of materials. The rest of his sampled speeches follow. Again, they are but a small fraction of his significant oratorical accomplishments.
Like his brother William, John’s speeches reflect a remarkable grasp of both world and American history. Both men were ardent students and readers, with educational foundations that started at home in Danville and developed significantly during the brothers’ attendance at Wabash College prior to their enlistment in the Civil War.
(Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana maintains an endowed scholarship in the brothers’ names based on a contribution made in the 1950s from a Black family descendant.)