Sketchbook: Point Lookout Prison1864–18656 7/16 × 4 1/8 × 1/8" (closed)Ink and watercolor on paper, with leather bindingGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.40021 drawings plus title page drawn by a prisoner at Pt. Lookout Prison, MD during the Civil War.1547343771P1.2001.264John Jacob OmmenhausserDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Title Page: Inscribed in sepia ink, script: sketched by Mr. Obenhauser/a prisoner of war confined in/Prison at Point Lookout Md.; inscription on front not legiblePoint LookoutPoint LookoutUnited StatesMarylandBooksPoint LookoutBruce Catton, American Heritage, August 1959, p. 4-13.
Bob Allen, The Sun Magazine, April 28, 1974, p. 18-23.
Point Lookout Camp for Confederates. Edwin W. Beitzell. St. Mary's County, Maryland, Library of Contress Cagalog Card No.72-85750.The American Civil War gave rise to prison camps infamous for their terrible conditions. Point Lookout Prison was established in 1863, after the Battle of Gettysburg at the mouth of the Potomac. It was built in two enclosures, one of ten acres and the other of thirty. Although the camp was designed to hold ten thousand men, more than twice that number of Confederate soldiers and civilians were housed in tents, often with no blankets. By the end of the war, more than eight deaths were recorded each day. A rare firsthand glimpse into this infamous Civil War prison is provided by the sketches made by John Jacob Ommenhausser during his internment.
Ommenhausser enlisted as a private with the Virginia Infantry in 1861. He was captured near Petersburg in 1864, and transferred to Point Lookout, where he was imprisoned for nearly one year. Ommenhausser may have used his artistic skills to negotiate for extra rations, blankets, and other amenities needed to survive. This is one of several sketchbooks that he drew, each with a recipient’s name on the title page; it is inscribed “Sketched by Mr. Obenhauser / a Prisoner of War confined in / Prison at Lookout Md.; Charles Rambo, Sergt. Co. D 20th U. Ret.” The twenty-two drawings illustrate the hardships of the camp, but are also characterized by a strong sense of the absurd. Some explicitly address the shift in power as African American soldiers discipline their white prisoners.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Sketchbook: Point Lookout Prison,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org
John Jacob Omenhausser was born in Philadelphia, but in April 1861, just weeks after the War between the States commenced, he enlisted as a Confederate soldier in Company A, Virginia 46th Infantry Regiment. In June 1864, Omenhausser was captured near Petersburg, Virginia, and transferred to the infamous Union prison camp at Point Lookout, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. By occupation, he was a candymaker, but at heart Omenhausser was a journalist. In a series of sketchbooks, of which around four survive, Omenhausser documented events and situations as he wryly observed them. The quick drawings create a firsthand record that gives insight into the dynamics of daily life within the camp as inmates fought over lost rations, and bartered with each other for blankets, shoes, food, tobacco, and other necessities.
The Union army originally founded Point Lookout as a much-needed military hospital on a summer resort ground. In 1863, in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, it was expanded to include a prisoner-of-war camp on a sandy stretch at the mouth of the Potomac. It was designed as two enclosures of thirty-eight acres combined, and intended to hold ten thousand prisoners garrisoned in tents. That number soon doubled, adding to the misery of inadequate shelter; lack of clothing, blankets, and rations; and acts of violence perpetrated on the inmates by the guards, mostly African American troops, who were deliberately incited by the administration. Inmates were allowed to fish on the bay to augment their meals, and some lucky few received money and amenities from family members. Omenhausser may have received such extras from his northern relatives, allowing him to procure pen and ink, watercolor, and paper. He may also have used his sketchbooks as a medium of exchange with Union officers as the extant examples are inscribed to camp overseers. Omenhausser was imprisoned at Point Lookout for nearly a year, through June 1865, when he took the requisite oath of allegiance and was released. The following year, Omenhausser married his sweetheart, Annie, in Richmond, Virginia, where he resumed his occupation as a candymaker until his untimely death at the age of forty-six. This sketchbook includes twenty-two drawings, some repeated in the other examples. The book is inscribed "Sketched by Mr. Obenhauser/a Prisoner of War confined in / Prison at Lookout Md.; Charles Rambo, Sergt. Co. D 20th U. Ret." Sergeant Rambo was a Union soldier from Illinois who served in the Veteran Reserve Corps.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Sketchbook: Point Lookout Prison, c. 1864–1865" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP1.2001.26418641865 2013 1 40 The American Civil War gave rise to prison camps infamous for their terrible conditions. Point Lookout Prison was established in 1863, after the Battle of Gettysburg at the mouth of the Potomac. It was built in two enclosures, one of ten acres and the other of thirty. Although the camp was designed to hold ten thousand men, more than twice that number of Confederate soldiers and civilians were housed in tents, often with no blankets. By the end of the war, more than eight deaths were recorded each day. A rare firsthand glimpse into this infamous Civil War prison is provided by the sketches made by John Jacob Ommenhausser during his internment.
Ommenhausser enlisted as a private with the Virginia Infantry in 1861. He was captured near Petersburg in 1864, and transferred to Point Lookout, where he was imprisoned for nearly one year. Ommenhausser may have used his artistic skills to negotiate for extra rations, blankets, and other amenities needed to survive. This is one of several sketchbooks that he drew, each with a recipient’s name on the title page; it is inscribed “Sketched by Mr. Obenhauser / a Prisoner of War confined in / Prison at Lookout Md.; Charles Rambo, Sergt. Co. D 20th U. Ret.” The twenty-two drawings illustrate the hardships of the camp, but are also characterized by a strong sense of the absurd. Some explicitly address the shift in power as African American soldiers discipline their white prisoners.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Sketchbook: Point Lookout Prison,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org
John Jacob Omenhausser was born in Philadelphia, but in April 1861, just weeks after the War between the States commenced, he enlisted as a Confederate soldier in Company A, Virginia 46th Infantry Regiment. In June 1864, Omenhausser was captured near Petersburg, Virginia, and transferred to the infamous Union prison camp at Point Lookout, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. By occupation, he was a candymaker, but at heart Omenhausser was a journalist. In a series of sketchbooks, of which around four survive, Omenhausser documented events and situations as he wryly observed them. The quick drawings create a firsthand record that gives insight into the dynamics of daily life within the camp as inmates fought over lost rations, and bartered with each other for blankets, shoes, food, tobacco, and other necessities.
The Union army originally founded Point Lookout as a much-needed military hospital on a summer resort ground. In 1863, in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, it was expanded to include a prisoner-of-war camp on a sandy stretch at the mouth of the Potomac. It was designed as two enclosures of thirty-eight acres combined, and intended to hold ten thousand prisoners garrisoned in tents. That number soon doubled, adding to the misery of inadequate shelter; lack of clothing, blankets, and rations; and acts of violence perpetrated on the inmates by the guards, mostly African American troops, who were deliberately incited by the administration. Inmates were allowed to fish on the bay to augment their meals, and some lucky few received money and amenities from family members. Omenhausser may have received such extras from his northern relatives, allowing him to procure pen and ink, watercolor, and paper. He may also have used his sketchbooks as a medium of exchange with Union officers as the extant examples are inscribed to camp overseers. Omenhausser was imprisoned at Point Lookout for nearly a year, through June 1865, when he took the requisite oath of allegiance and was released. The following year, Omenhausser married his sweetheart, Annie, in Richmond, Virginia, where he resumed his occupation as a candymaker until his untimely death at the age of forty-six. This sketchbook includes twenty-two drawings, some repeated in the other examples. The book is inscribed "Sketched by Mr. Obenhauser/a Prisoner of War confined in / Prison at Lookout Md.; Charles Rambo, Sergt. Co. D 20th U. Ret." Sergeant Rambo was a Union soldier from Illinois who served in the Veteran Reserve Corps.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Sketchbook: Point Lookout Prison, c. 1864–1865" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org