Stephen Henry Olin regimental scrapbook

The Stephen Henry Olin Regimental Scrapbook consists of two sections. The first begins with a hand-painted title page and dedication page, and then continues with about 15 pages of newspaper clippings detailing the travels of the 7th Regiment of the New York Militia in 1860. The second section begins after a number of blank pages and consists of humorous newspaper clippings including puns and moral stories. In the middle of the second section are two more hand-painted pages, these dedicated to the New York Fire Department.

This scrapbook predates the start of the war, and instead details much lighter subject matter. The first portion of the book consists entirely of newspaper and magazine clippings (many from Vanity Fair) detailing a trip that the 7th Regiment made to Washington D.C. in February 1860. Specifically, the trip was made to attend the inauguration of a new statue of George Washington. The Regiment was apparently extended the invitation by the Honorable John Cochrane, who made promises of great hospitality. Many of the clippings in this scrapbook are of a cartoonish nature, and show the 7th Regiment facing misfortunes and snubs-- first being stood up at the station after a long train ride, then wading through feet of mud in the streets, and finally finding that their host had left the city. There are also articles about the inauguration ceremony itself, as well as a copy of an order sent to the 7th Regiment by Colonel Marshall Lefferts before the trip, but mostly the material laments the "hardships" of the regiment in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner.