Proclamation for a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer. Issued by Governor John A. Andrew, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, March 1, 1865

On March 1, 1865, Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew proclaimed April 13 a statewide day of “Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer.” Public days of fasting and prayer were a longstanding American practice during times of war and national crisis.

As the Civil War drew to a close, Andrew urged citizens to remember “the sacrifices and sufferings which have attended this terrible conflict,” even in what he called “the present hour of triumph of our national arms.” He looked ahead to “the restored prosperity of a re-united Union” and to “justice and equal rights to all men.”

The designated day of observance occurred on April 13 — four days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House and one day before the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Donated 1920, Joseph Hoxie Collection