Ceremonials at the Unveiling of the Statue of Governor John A. Andrew, At the State House, Tuesday, February 14th, 1871

John A. Andrew had been a radical abolitionist of slavery and well respected Governor of Massachusetts. Upon his death, the State decided to honor his memory by placing his statue in the Doric Hall of the State House. This copy of Ceremonials at the Unveiling of the Statue of Governor John A. Andrew At the State House, Tuesday, February 14th, 1871 records the activities at the unveiling of the statue as well as some of the preliminary proceedings leading to the procurement and installation of the statue.
The booklet, which measures approximately 6 x 9 inches, contains 29 pages, of which four pages cover the preliminary proceedings and the remaining pages the proceedings at the unveiling. The booklet, which was printed in Boston as a limited edition of 5000 copies by Wright & Potter, State Printers, is bound in a tan paper cover with black lettering on the front. The cover shows signs of wear, including writing on the front upper right corner, small holes along the spine from some earlier binding situation, and some dirty areas. The pages of the booklet are very lightly tanned with text that is clear and easily read. The overall condition of the booklet is good.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the front cover, the Title page, the first page of the Preliminary Proceedings, the first page of the Proceedings at the Unveiling, and a typical 2-page spread from the unveiling proceedings.

John Albion Andrew (May 31, 1818 – October 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He was elected in 1860 as the 25th Governor of Massachusetts, serving between 1861 and 1866, and led the state's contributions to the Union cause during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was a guiding force behind the creation of some of the first African-American units in the United States Army, including the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. He belonged to the Whig, Free Soil, and Republican parties during his career.
Andrew was a radical abolitionist of slavery from an early age, engaged in the legal defense of fugitive slaves against owners seeking their return. He provided legal support to John Brown after his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, VA, raising his profile and propelling him to the Massachusetts governor's chair. Andrew was a persistent voice criticizing President Abraham Lincoln's conduct of the war, and pressing him to end slavery. By the end of the war, his politics had moderated, and he came to support the Reconstruction policies of Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson. In Massachusetts, Andrew opposed the Know Nothing movement of the 1850s and the state's strict alcohol prohibition laws, and oversaw the state takeover of the Hoosac Tunnel construction project. In 1865, he signed legislation establishing the Massachusett's State Police, the first statewide police force of its type in the nation.