National Rifles Scrapbook Collection

Collection — external hard drive: DIG_00012

Identifier: 051

Staff Only

Cartes de visite and cabinet card portraits in Dig DC

Scope and Contents

The scrapbooks contain clippings, invitations, programs, memorabilia, handwritten and typewritten letters, ledgers, receipts, meetings minutes, and a few copies of Canteen, the daily record of the National Rifles and an oversized poster for the July 4th Military Celebration in St. Louis, Missouri.

Also included is a box of cabinet card images of uniformed members of the National Rifles. Notes on the back of the photographs indicate that the images came from the Evans Collection in November 1929.

Dates

Creation: 1880-1889

Creator

District of Columbia. Militia. National Rifles (Organization)

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

The National Rifles, an independent company of the D.C. Militia, was organized in 1859 in the wake of John Brown’s raid. It was the first company of citizen troops ordered into the Civil War in 1861. A few years after the War, the militia disbanded or merged with other troops. The National Rifle Armory was located on G Street NW between 9th and 10th at the site of the current Mather Building, directly across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Members of the company formed a veteran’s organization to hold annual reunions, fairs, soirees, dinners, and other events to commemorate the anniversary of their founding and military service.