Between the Covers

Hardcover. Partially printed journal. Oblong quarto (13.75" x 8.25"). Quarter cloth and mottled decorated boards with printed label on cover. Approximately 32pp, with alphabetically tabbed pages that bear a printed list of applicants for membership who had been rejected for one reason or another, with additional blank space to enter new rejections. Some offsetting on first and last page else near fine with a little spotting on the cloth spine.

The Sons of Union Volunteers of the Civil War (SUVCW) website gives the following description of these black books: "The Black Book (or Black List) was a record of men who were either temporarily or permanently prohibited from applying for membership in the GAR. There were numerous reasons for a person's name being placed on this list. Some were more serious than others. In most cases, a person was placed on the list because a Post had voted to reject his application for membership. Under the GAR regulations, a rejected applicant could not reapply for membership in any GAR Post for 6 months after a rejection vote. To keep track of these cases, a Post that rejected an applicant was required to notify the Department (usually a state headquarters) of his name, so that a Department Order could be issued to advise all other Posts of the 6-month black-out period for his reapplying. It's important to keep in mind that most entries on a Black List were not permanent. After the 6 months had elapsed, the rejected applicant could apply for membership again." Some of the applicants are listed as imposters, who pretended to have served in the War.

Also laid in are a printed 5pp. supplement that updates the book through September 1885; a Memorial Day service guide from 1893 for Jamaica Post No. 368, St. John's Church, Far Rockaway, Long Island (8 pp.); and the 1891 application of George C. Henderson to the the Surgeon Charles Bower Post No. 457, Pennsylvania.

Rare. *OCLC* locates no copies of any GAR black book.

Item #441595