Left-Handed Penmanship

J.S. Prendergast, private. Co. F. 24th Massachusetts Infantry, North Truro, Massachusetts

[Left-handed penmanship contest submission], 1866
Manuscript and carte-de-visite
Manuscript Division, 40.12 a.b
Gift of Gabriel Wells, 1931

William Oland Bourne, editor of the periodical The Soldier's Friend, sponsored two contests in which Union soldiers and sailors who lost their right arms by disability or amputation during the Civil War were invited to submit samples of their penmanship using their left hands. The first contest in 1866 awarded cash prizes totalling $1,000.

Private J.S. Prendergast, Company F. 24th Massachusetts Infantry, won $20 for this submission describing the battle in which he lost his arm.

Exhibition - Left Handed Penmanship
Broadside, 1866
Rare Book & Special Collections Division
(40.12 c)