HOMEFRONT HEROES
Three People of Conscience
Who Changed the Course of Philadelphia's War Effort

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George Henry Boker (1823-1890) was “an almost perfect prototype of the Philadelphia princeling.”  He was very rich, very handsome and charming, a superb horseman described by a friend as “the handsomest man in America.”  Boker was America’s most successful mid-century poet and playwright; however, his sonnets and plays never resonated with 20th & 21st century literary tastes.  Boker was a founder of The Union League of Philadelphia, and provided the philosophical and emotional driving force of the League in its support of the Union cause in the Civil War.  Following the war, Boker served as a U.S. ambassador, first to the Ottoman Empire, 1871-1875 and then to Russia, 1875-1876. [more about George Boker]
Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) was a Quaker who devoted her life to social reform.  She and her husband James were prominent members of the Philadelphia community that opposed slavery and harbored slaves escaping to freedom on the Underground Railroad.  They traveled the country speaking for the abolition of slavery.  Mott was also a key organizer of early women's rights meetings, such as the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention that issued the first call for women's right to vote, and she inspired generations of women to fight for legal equality. During the war Mott and her neighbors provided the land for Camp William Penn, the training ground for 11,000 U. S. Colored Troops.
[more about Lucretia Mott][Lucretia Mott Papers at Swarthmore College]

Octavius V. Catto (1839-1871) was born in Charleston, SC, the son of a freed slave.  His family moved to Philadelphia, where he attended The Institute for Colored Youth.  He joined the Institute's faculty after graduating, and taught English literature, mathematics, and classical languages. Catto became one of the city's most outspoken proponents of civil rights for African Americans.  During the Civil War, he supported the creation of the United States Colored Troops and encouraged young men to enlist.  After the war, he worked for the passage of the 13th, 14th, & 15th, or "Civil Rights," amendments to the US Constitution and played a very public role in encouraging newly enfranchised African Americans to vote.  During mob violence on Election Day, October 10, 1871, Catto was murdered near his home at 9th and Bainbridge Streets.  His murderer was tried but not convicted.  Catto's funeral was the largest public funeral in Philadelphia since Abraham Lincoln's in 1865. [more about O.V. Catto]


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The Hometown Heroes project is presented by the Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia.

The Union League of Philadelphia was founded December 27, 1862 as a patriotic social society with a mission to suppress "the Rebellion" by all means public and private; uphold the Constitution of the United States; and support President Abraham Lincoln.  During the Civil War, the League funded and outfitted 20,000 Federal troops (9,000 white and 11,000 black) and published over 2 million pro-Union and pro-Lincoln pamphlets. After the War, the League became the club of the industrial elite who owned Philadelphia’s manufacturing-based economy when the city was known as "The Workshop of the World."  Today, located in the heart of Center City Philadelphia just a block from City Hall, the League’s membership of 3,200 men and women represent the diversity of the region’s professional, business, religious, educational, arts, and cultural leaders.

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This project has been generously supported by the Honorable Larry Farnese, PA Senator, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Samuel S. Fels Fund
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