Godey's Lady's Book described hair as "the most delicate and last of our materials" that "survives us like love... escaping from the idea of death." (HARRAN AND HARRAN) Locks from family members or loved ones were woven in intricate designs for keepsake albums, jewelry, or memorial wreaths.

"President Lincoln's Funeral-Service at the White House, April 19, 1865," Harper's Weekly, May 6, 1865 (ICHi-30978).
Woven hair ornament found on a dead Confederate soldier (left), and hair bracelet, c. 1855 (right, CHS 1957.1012).

An enormous catafalque that became known as the "Temple of Death" was erected in the White House; mirrors and chandeliers were swathed in black cloth. The president's remains would lie in an open casket on a catafalque in Washington and ten additional cities en route to his final burial in Springfield, Illinois.

Hair was a particularly desirable relic in the sentimental culture of the Civil War years.

Downstairs the servants and a souvenir-hungry stream of visitors appropriated pieces of the Lincoln's china, silver, and upholstery. When an inventory was finally taken, the White House closets were nearly bare. (BAKER 249)

Elizabeth Keckly kept a spoon the president had used for his last meal; footman Charles Forbes cut swatches from the brocade draperies; and an aide to General Grant acquired several pieces of Mary Lincoln's Haviland china.

China and drapery fragments attributed to the Lincoln White House (CHS 1940.89ab, XA-1209).

Lincoln's cabinet planned an elaborate series of memorial services to honor the martyred president.