Image of Mary Lincoln's wardrobe on exhibition in New York

This etching from Harper’s Weekly depicts an 1867 exhibition of Mary Lincoln’s clothing in New York. The purpose behind this exhibition was two-fold. Upon her husband’s death, Mary went into deep mourning and, aside from select occasions, wore only black. This rendered portions of her wardrobe useless. Second, Mary hoped to earn money to pay debts incurred during her time in the White House, where she spent excessively.