contests

Flier: 2 p. On the front, advertises a left-hand penmanship contest and the availability of 'The Soldier's Friend,' a publication edited by William Oland Bourne. On the reverse, a poem written by Bourne titled 'Back to the North' is printed.

Flier: 2 p. On the front, advertises a left-hand penmanship contest and the availability of 'The Soldier's Friend,' a publication edited by William Oland Bourne. On the reverse, a poem written by Bourne titled 'Back to the North' is printed.

The William Oland Bourne collection in the New-York Historical Society's Manuscripts Department includes correspondence, papers, broadsides, and unpublished manuscripts related to his work as a social reformer, editor and author in New York City during the 1850s and 60s. Through his publication, The Soldier's Friend, he sought to aid disabled soldiers by offering prizes to those who had lost their right arms in combat during the American Civil War and had learned to write with their left hands.