Upon receiving one of the postcards from Delaware County Historical
Society asking for “spare change” to help restore an 1860 Abraham Lincoln
Presidential banner, a kind Havertown resident took the moniker “Pennies4
Lincoln” seriously. Ms. Durso spent a considerable amount of time and
effort locating all of her spare change throughout her home, from pennies
to quarters, gathered in rolls, tin cans and boxes and donated the collection
of coins to Delaware County Historical Society.
Timing is everything, Joan Durso was in the process of moving, and had
been sorting through her personal effects when she came across a heap of
coins. She pondered what to do with her find when she received a
“Pennies4Lincoln” postcard in the mail, she was inspired to look for more
change to donate.
Launched on Lincoln’s birthday, Delaware County Historical Society has
been in the midst of a campaign to restore the 1860 banner to its original
glory.
The 75 foot by 64 foot banner was created for a rally in front of the Media
Courthouse to celebrate the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln and features
a rare image of him without his beard. It also sported the name of Hannibal
Hamlin, Lincoln’s first vice president, but was changed to Andrew Johnson
when it was used again in 1864.
Delaware County sears its place into the banner’s legacy as the words
“Media/Delaware Co.” are emblazoned on the banner’s back.
Even with careful care, the banner had deteriorated over the years. At the
onset of an effort to salvage it, DCHS sought the expertise of appraisers
Frisk and Borodin, who described it as a,
“FINE, RARE, AND IMPORTANT AMERICAN PAINTED CLOTH
PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION PARADE BANNER FOR ABRAHAM
LINCOLN’S TWO INUGURATIONS, DELAWARE COUNTY, PA, 1860,
WITH MINOR ALTERATIONS FOR THE SECOND INAUGURATION IN
1864.”
Honoring its uniqueness, DCHS embarked on the Pennies4Lincoln
campaign, calling on all Delaware County residents to give what they can
to help restore and preserve this precious artifact of the county’s and
nation’s history.
DCHS has mailed a series of postcards to over 100,000 Delaware County
residents in an effort to raise awareness of the campaign. It just took one of
these postcards to spark Durso to donate all of her loose change as her
support of the campaign.
Her answer had arrived.
To help DCHS, Durso packed her $2 rolls of nickels, her bag of dimes and
a Chock Full O’Nuts can filled to the brim with pennies and brought it to the
headquarters. Her treasure will be used as a “guess the total” game at the
upcoming Open House and Annual Meeting on September 25 th at DCHS.
Community members are encouraged to learn more about the Pennies4
Lincoln campaign on the website padelcohistory or at the home of
Delaware County Historical Society at 408 Avenue of the States in Chester.
Joan Durso's change matters for Pennies 4 Lincoln to help Delaware County Historical Society restore the 1860 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Campaign Banner.