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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
The Blockade Runner Ashore
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
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The Blockade Runner Ashore

Object numberMO 1959.24
Name Painting
Artist (American, 1816 - 1889)
Date1864
Mediumwatercolor on wove paper
Dimensionsmat H 14 1/4 in x W 20 1/2 in (36.2 cm x 52.1 cm )
 painting H 10 1/4 in x W 16 3/4 in (26 cm x 42.5 cm )
DescriptionAn original painting depicting a steam-powered, two-masted blockade runner vessel run aground on a beach. In the left foreground, figures are seen approaching the boat. In the background, the sun floats over the horizon while various other types of vessels are seen on the water, including a monitor warship. The title of the painting is written faintly in pencil in the lower right: The Blockade Runner Ashore. The painting is signed by the artist in the lower left: D. J. KENNEDY / 1864. Written in pencil on the reverse of the painting is the note: The Blockade Runner ashore / D. J. Kennedy 131 North 16th St.

The painting is mounted in a white window mat.
Label TextFranklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong collector of prints, engravings, and paintings illustrating the history of the United States Navy. He purchased this painting from the bookshop of Newman F. McGirr in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1933.

It is believed that the vessel depicted in the painting is the MODERN GREECE, a screw steam freighter used as a blockade-runner by Confederate forces during the Civil War. The ship was run aground three miles north of Fort Fisher, North Carolina on the morning of June 27, 1862.
Additional Details
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesUnited States Navy Materials (National Archives Identifier 782673)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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