A Visit to the Homes of the Late Presidents Polk and Jackson, in Nashville

  • Creator: Walter Goater
  • Title: A Visit to the Homes of the Late Presidents Polk and Jackson, in Nashville
  • Date: 1880-08-21
  • Description: This page from the Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper features seven vignettes showing exterior and interior scenes of Polk Place and The Hermitage, including Polk's and Jackson's tombs, and one vignette with the head and shoulders of a elderly woman (Sarah Polk) wearing a veil.
  • Historical Note: Polk Place, the Nashville retirement home of President and Mrs. James K. Polk, and The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's plantation home outside of Nashville, were places of pilgrimage where patriotic citizens, particularly southerners, could reflect on the decades of American unity and prosperity prior to the Civil War. Former first lady Sarah Childress Polk, shown in this illustration in mourning garb, remained at Polk Place throughout the war, keeping the house much as her husband had left it. She entertained officers and prominent citizens from both sides, maintaining public neutrality even though some relatives fought for the Confederacy. The Polk Place reception room, pictured at center left, was probably engraved from a c. 1880 photograph featured on this website from the collection of the James K. Polk Ancestral Home.
  • Institution: Tennessee State Museum
  • Publisher: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
  • Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Tennessee State Museum.
  • Digital Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
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