February 14, 1848

Roe, P.J., fl. 1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Whiteman

Reports the death of four soldiers from the measles. Has recently left Mexico City and is camping out in tents, which he likes much better than being in the city as the men are much healthier. Reports the news of peace, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed 2 February 1848. Tells Whiteman that he has not deceived her. He writes, "I think it entirely necessary for a woman to be satisfied fully of the heart of man and know before going to far that he has a breast that beats for her but of this I know that you are aware of my feelings towards you and more I wish that every thought that…

GLC06469

4 September 1859

Thompson, Dauphin Adolphus, 1838-1859

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his brother and sister

Discusses preparations for the raid on Harper's Ferry. Never mentions a raid, or any specific plans, but states "we have not got ready to begin operations yet." Also does not reveal his location, saying he is writing from "parts unknown." Discusses a religious meeting of the anti-slavery "winebenarians" (Winbrennians). Worries that "we have to be very careful how we act in everything we have one colored man in our company who has been seen by a woman but she thinks he is a fugitive slave and that we are trying to help him onto his freedom," and thinks she will not report them. Also in…

GLC06471

February 2, 1865

Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Josiah G. Holland]

Chief Justice Chase, former Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln, recalls that Lincoln's first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet on 22 September [1862] was preceded by his reading aloud a chapter from Artemus Ward. Writes that he is inclined to have Lincoln's remarks sent to to the recipient, "Nothing prevents save some doubt whether it can be properly done even in confidence. They do honor to him as a man, a patriot & a statesman - great honor." Letter is only addressed to "dear sir." Recipient inferred.

GLC06647

23 June 1863

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Edwin McMasters Stanton

President Lincoln states that Judge William Darrah Kelley, a United States Representative from Pennsylvania, is attempting to raise African American regiments in Philadelphia. Informs Stanton, Secretary of War, that Milton [M. Herpert?] is a friend of Kelley and a Private in the 112th Regiment from Pennsylvania. States that Herpert wishes to serve as lieutenant of one of the African American regiments. Reports that if Kelley agrees of Herpert's appointment as lieutenant, Lincoln also approves. States that Herpert needs Stanton's approval to carry a letter to Kelley discussing this…

GLC06678

January 14, 1942

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945

Typed letter signed

Title: to Joseph Curran

President Roosevelt discusses "the discrimination against colored seamen, referred to in your telegram of January 2nd" with Curran, President of the National Maritime Union. States that he was previously informed that the discrimination had been eliminated by the action of the United States Maritime Commission. Discusses an Executive Order signed 25 June 1941, which instructed parties making contracts with the United States Government to include a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any worker because of race, creed, color, or national origin. Declares "…

GLC06686

circa 1861-1865

Alberger, William C., 1837-1925

Scrapbook

Title: [Collection of William C. Alberger, 49th regiment, New York, infantry] [word processed inventory available] [Decimalized .01- .08]

Collection features a bound scrapbook and various documents relating to the military and civilian life of William C. Alberger. An inventory exists for the documents separated from the scrapbook, which are housed in a folder with the scrapbook. These items may have once been in the scrapbook as well. The collection contains two broadsides discussing the recruitment of African American troops, two cards inviting Alberger to attend military dinners, and correspondence from Buffalo Sheriff R. H. Best to Alberger regarding suppression of city riots and attendance at an Independence Day…

GLC06628

February 23, 1866

Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Bradford R. Wood

Bryant, editor of the New York Evening Post, replies to a letter from Wood, former Representative from New York. Discusses Black suffrage: "I utterly detest the narrow principles of that party which denied equal rights to any of our fellow men on account of race. The right of suffrage is the due of the negro as well as of the white man... But it does not follow from this, that we may employ any means we choose in conferring this right." Regarding Black suffrage, advocates the opinions of Trumbull and Fessenden (probably Senators Lyman Trumbull and William Pitt Fessenden) as opposed to the…

GLC06631.01

9 October 1863

Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879

Poem

Title: Sonnet to Liberty.

"Know this, O man, whate'er thy earthly fate-/God never made a tyrant nor a slave:/Woe, then, to those who dare to desecrate/His sacred image! - for to all He gave/Eternal rights, which none may violate;/And by a mighty hand th'oppressed He yet shall save." Signed and dated Boston, October 9th, 1863.

GLC06643

11 July 1865

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893

Letter signed

Title: to F. A. Angell

General Butler writes to Angell in Brooklyn, New York. "A mans right to self government is inherent and inalienable. It does not depend on the degree of his intelligence or on other accident. It is the correlative of self defence. Is the negro a man? But it is said that the negro will vote as his late master directs, and thus increase his master's political power. Be it so... I do not see how he or we are worse off if the negro votes with him [the master]... we gain and can loose nothing by giving the negro the right of suffrage."

GLC06660

1743-1759

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Header Record

Title: Pennsylvania gazette. [Nos. 735-1567] [Incomplete] [Decimalized]

Collection of unbound newspapers. Edited with frequent pseudonymous contributions by Benjamin Franklin. Subjects include colonial and Indian affairs, European and Parliamentary news, commercial notices, and acts of Assemblies. Small folios with deckle edges.

GLC06670

13 March 1790

Heyward, Thomas, 1746-1809

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Written by Heyward, a South Carolina Signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was in retirement from politics. References letter of recipient from 8 September 1790. Says they need to come to some decisions about the Savage estate because the situation is becoming urgent. Says creditors are "clamorous." Complains that they are seeking large sums from the estate. Hopes to be able to accede to their demands "so far as it respected the Negroes." But says he will not do anything until he gets the thoughts of the other executors. Mentions a plan that involved the selling of the slaves for the…

GLC06672

20 May 1829

Marshall, John, 1755-1835

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Mercer Garnett

Written by Marshall as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to Garnett, the well-known Virginia politician and agricultural enthusiast and pamphleteer. Recipient inferred from Marshall's reference to "your" pamphlet "Reply to the Enquiries of a Freeholder," which was written by Garnett. Marshall states his private belief that the right to vote must be tied to land ownership. Says not all rights that Americans speak of are natural rights. Remarks that some "rights exist in a state of nature, but are surrendered, as it seems to me, when he enters into a state of society, in exchange for…

GLC06682

July 1788- December 1788

Carey, Mathew, 1760-1839

Magazine

Title: The American Museum: or repository of ancient and modern fugitive pieces, & c. prose and poetical. Volume IV.

Printed by Carey. Carey dedicates this volume to General George Washington. Includes a printing of Washington's farewell orders to the armies of the United States, issued 2 November 1783 from Rocky Hill, near Princeton, New Jersey (pages 240-242). Also includes a letter observing that in Maryland, "negroes are to be introduced [in Maryland] instead of paper money as a medium of commerce" (page 52). Includes various indications of ownership on inner front and back covers (formerly owned by Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia). Also includes, "Observations on bartering Negroes," "An account…

GLC06565

24 April 1882

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812-1883

Letter signed

Title: to Henry Moore Teller

Stephens, a United States Representative from Georgia, introduces Reverend Henry M. Turner to Teller, Secretary of the Interior. States that Turner, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, is Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South. Praises Turner's character. States that Turner wishes to confer with Teller regarding an unspecified matter. A pencil note at the bottom of the page states "colored bishop." Written on House of Representatives stationery.

GLC06612

1838

Grimke, Sarah M., fl. 1838

Book

Title: Letters on the equality of the sexes and the condition of woman.

Title continues: "addressed to Mary S. Parker, president of the Boston Female Anti-slavery Society." First women's rights pamphlet published in United States. Examines the present state of inequality of women, its causes and possible solutions. First edition, in original boards, cloth spine and with pasted front-board label.

GLC06552

11 August 1864

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Referring to abolition, Sumner declares, "The cause is more than any man- Davis, Wade or Lincoln, & it must be saved. There must be harmony among our friends, & energy- oh my God! Energy in the Good!" Following his signature, continues "Energy in action & in ideas!- both!" Sumner is referring to Henry Winter Davis, Benjamin Franklin Wade, and Abraham Lincoln.

GLC06554

3 August 1861

Haldeman, Walter N., 1821-1902

Newspaper

Title: Louisville courier--extra. [no volume or number information (August 3, 1861)]

Pro-Confederate newspaper. Front page is dominated by a speech on executive usurpation by Kentucky Senator John C. Breckinridge on 16 July 1861. List of taxes passed by the House of Representatives. A scathing column critical of the "Abolitionism and Niggerism of the Editor of the Journal." Page 2 contains a copy of the Confederate Constitution, divided into 7 articles. Page 2 is dominated by a 4.5 column printing of a speech on the loan bill by Ohio Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham from 10 July 1861.

GLC06590

circa 1824

Woodson, Cuffy, fl. 1824

Document signed

Title: [Petition for the emancipation for Fanny and Patsy Woodson]

Official document reporting that since Cuffy Woodson was emancipated, he purchased his wife Fanny Woodson, "a mulatto woman," and her child Patsy from his former master Micajob Moorman. Cuffy "further represents to your worship that the sd. Fanny & Patsy have done good & meritorious services to him by their extraordinary obedience fidelity & affection & that it is naturally against his feeling to hold his sd wife Fanny and his child Patsy as his slaves, & he hopes this this feeling will not be deem'd unworthy of being sanctioned by your worship. He therefore prays that…

GLC06592

circa 1841-1845

Header Record

Title: Resolutions and other papers from the Anti-Slavery Society in New York [Decimalized .01-.21]

Contains two letters to N. R. Chapman, who served as secretary for an Anti-Slavery Society in the Onondaga/Madison County region of New York (refer to GLC06593.20). Contains a Civil War soldier's letter noting the fall of Atlanta. Includes numerous resolutions related to the Anti-Slavery Society (possibly of which Chapman was affiliated). Anti-slavery documents mention abolitionists Gerrit Smith and James Caleb Jackson, the mutiny on board the Brig Creole (GLC06593.09), and the need to form a Liberty Party (GLC06593.20).

GLC06593

18 November 1863- October 1864

Woodlin, William P., fl. 1863-1864

Diary

Title: [Diary of an African American soldier in 8th Regiment United States Colored Troops, Company G]

Woodlin's brief entries describe camp life, his service with the regimental band as a horn player, several battles, the weather, equal pay with white soldiers, and the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment, among many other topics. He describes his part in the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, where his regiment arrived two months after fighting began. The middle section of this journal includes blank leaves, followed by several pages of notes and lists. The diary was rebound, but includes the separated original cover.

GLC06599

27 April 1778

Edes, Benjamin, 1732-1803

Newspaper

Title: Boston gazette and country journal. [No. 1235 (April 27, 1778)]

Discusses military matters pertaining to the Revolutionary War. Reports on governmental matters related to the Continental Congress, including taxation, acts of Congress, and business proceedings of the East India Company. Includes a lengthy statement from Perez Morton defending himself from the "false suggestion, and gross misrepresentations of a man ... that I had undertaken in the way of my professions to free the negroes, who were held as slaves in this state. This charge I there not only utterly denied, but pledged my honor to clear up : assuring him, that in no single instance ...…

GLC06604

30 August 1861

Confederate States of America. Congress

Printed document

Title: An Act to perpetuate testimony in cases of slaves abducted or harbored by the enemy, and of other property seized, wasted, or destroyed by them. No. 270.

Appears to be a circular. Possibly created in Richmond, Virginia. Gives orders for the procedure slave owners may follow when their slaves are abducted or harbored. Notes that the Confederate States are not liable to make compensation for Confederate citizens' property that is lost or destroyed.

GLC06607

1796

Tucker, Henry St. George, 1780-1848

Book

Title: A Dissertation on slavery with a proposal for the gradual abolition of it...

[Complete title] "A dissertation on slavery with a proposal for the gradual abolition of it, in the State of Virginia." First edition. With contemporary notations on and a page of manuscript notes dated 1836 in front. Tucker's argument was urgent, and prophetic: "The author [considers] the Abolition of Slavery in this State, as an object of the first importance, not only to our moral character and domestic peace, but even to our political salvation." The Dissertation had originated as a series of lectures at the College of William and Mary. Clarkin, Mathew Carey, A Bibliography 283; Sabin…

GLC06610

February 12, 1803

Gates, Horatio, 1727-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Livingston

Revolutionary War general Horatio Gates, replying to a letter from Livingston, American minister to France, discusses the Haitian Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase, Napoleon, and other French notables. Writes, "I greedily devour every line that comes from your Pen, & View with anxiety the predictions you make upon the present appearance of the political conduct of The Great Man" (referring to Napoleon). Discusses Napoleon's intentions to conquer the seas and all nations, noting "This no friend to Civil Liberty can wish to see accomplished." Relates that James Monroe,…

GLC06611

January 22, 1849

Brown, John, 1800-1859

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Willis A. Hodges

Discusses arrangements at North Elba, and upcoming plans for this African American farming settlement. Says money is being raised to help the "infant colony," urges residents not to lay out plots yet, but instead cut wood. Also discusses the conduct of the residents, saying "Do not let any one forget the vast importance of sustaining the very best character for honesty, truth, industry, and faithfulness. I hope every one will be determined to not merely conduct as well as the whites; but to set them an example in all things." Brown planned on moving up to North Elba in the spring, and…

GLC06615