3 November 1988

Cartland, Barbara, 1902-2000

Typed letter signed

Title: to Atlee Kohl

Response to a solicitation by Kohl. Cartland sends a poetic prayer about eternal life.

GLC05508.279

17 October 1988

Windom, William, 1923-?

Autograph quotation signed

Title: to Atlee Kohl

Response to Kohl's solicitation letter. Windom quotes Alfred Lord Tennyson: " 'What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million million suns?' Sums it up neatly for me"

GLC05508.292

circa 1850s

Longfellow, Henry W., 1807-1882

Manuscript document

Title: [Allegorical verses on slavery]

Written in Harriet Beecher Stowe's hand. Her clipped signature ("H B Stowe") has been pasted to the end of the poem. Despite being in Stowe's hand and having the addition of Stowe's signature, both poems are actually 1842 works on slavery by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the first being a poem in five stanzas dedicated to William E. Channing. The second in three stanzas is titled "The Warning."

GLC05570

circa 1 November 1864

Ringwalt & Brown, fl. 1863-1865

Broadside

Title: [Broadside regarding recruitment of African Americans and celebrating emancipation in Maryland]

Printed in commemoration of the adoption of emancipation in Maryland. The print incorporates five illustrations, three documenting African American combat valor and two related to emancipation and the future of African Americans. At the top of the transparency is a long illustration of African American troops in the Battle of Port Hudson, above it the words (from George H. Boker's poem): "God Save the Republic: Never in field or tent scorn a black regiment." Portrays these images on the front of the headquarters of the supervisory committee for recruiting colored regiments, located on…

GLC05701

24 April 1834

Whittier, John G., 1807-1892

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Samuel J. May

Whittier writes to May, an ardent abolitionist: "Until connected with the Cause of Anti-Slavery I never knew what friendship was... engaged in this holy cause of Truth & Love, I have found high & pure hearts beating in perfect unison... No matter what may be our creed- whether we follow Socinius or Fox, or Calvin,- we are all brethren." Discusses the engagement of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to Helen Eliza Benson: "It will quiet the fears of some of our good Colonisationists that our friend G. might some day or other practice upon the thing of Amalgamation- and, smitten by…

GLC05720

March 1936

Guest, Edgar A., 1881-1959

Typed document signed

Title: My Creed

A personal philosophy Guest tried to live by, much of it dealing with ethics and decorum: "... to be strict with myself, but patient and lenient with others; to give the advantage , but never to ask for it; to be kindly to all, but kindlier to the less fortunate..." He ends with "to keep faith with God, my fellow men, and country." Guest admits he has not always been able to live up to his high standards, but believes trying to live by these rules has greatly enriched his life.

GLC05508.118

1861-1865

Howitt, Mary Botham, 1799-1888

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [Where is the Utopian code of morals...]

Howitt writes an excerpt from the Seven Temptations, p. 14: "Where is the Utopian code of morals equal to that which a few words set forth unto the Christian, 'do ye so to others as ye would they should do unto yourselves."

GLC05508.138

6 June 1877

Ingersoll, Robert G., 1833-1899

Autograph document signed

Title: [The idea of immortality...]

Ingersoll writes a verse comparing immortality to the sea.

GLC05508.145

circa 1810

Jay, William, fl. 1810

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [I cannot bear thine absence Lord...]

Jay writes: "I cannot bear thine absence Lord, / my life expires if thou depart; / Be thou my hear still near my God, / and Thou my God be near my heart."

GLC05508.148

April 1852

Lind, Jenny, fl. 1852

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Thanks for book of poetry. Signed "Jenny Goldschmidt late Jenny Lind."

GLC05508.168

13 November 1904

Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Hamilton Holt

Markham, a poet, writes to Holt, the editor of "The Independent," to submit a poem for publication. He remarks that "time is running close," apparently because the poem is for Thanksgiving. The poem, "Give Thanks, O Heart!" is included with the letter and commemorates leaders and those who have fought and died in battle.

GLC05508.176

21 November 1936

Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950

Typed letter signed

Title: to Jewell Allen

Masters writes in response to Allen's letter concerning his book "Across Spoon River." He discusses religion and reading, and suggests she read his poem "Prometheus" which was printed in "The Serpent in the Wilderness." He believes her atheism is similar to Buddhism since she believes in a life force and not God. He mentions his book, "Invisible Landscapes." Masters briefly compares and contrasts reality to self-pity.

GLC05508.181

28 October 1923

Reese, Lizette W., 1856-1935

Typed quotation signed

Title: [Whether we climb...]

Four lines of poem: "Whether we climb, whether we plod,/Space for one task the scant years lend--/To choose some path that leads to God,/And keep it to the end."

GLC05508.211

29 March 1892

Riley, James Whitcomb, fl. 1892

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [Behold, one faith endureth still]

Riley writes on small card: "Behold, one faith endureth still-/ Let factions rail and creeds contend,-/ God's mercy has, and is, and will/ Be with us, foe and friend."

GLC05508.213

circa 1876

Stedman, Edmund C., 1833-1908

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Yes, in the world's eternal plan...]

Stedman wrote this poem upon the death of Horace Greeley to be read at the dedication of the Printer's Monument in Greeley's honor: "Yes, in the world's eternal plan / Divinity itself is given / To him who lives or dies for Man / And looks within his soul for heaven."

GLC05508.234

1835

Pamphlet

Title: Proceedings of the Colonization Society of the city of New York... [Liberia]

Full title: "Proceedings of the Colonization Society of the City of New York, at their third annual meeting, held on the 13th and 14th of May, 1835, including the annual report of the Board of Managers, to the Society." Concerning the colony of freed slaves established in Liberia. An appendix publishes newspaper accounts of speeches from the meeting. The last page has a poem of L.H. Sigourney entitled "Liberia." Published by Wm. A. Mercein and Son, Pearl Street.

GLC05215

20 December 1885

Melville, Herman, 1819-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Billson

Thanks Billson, an English admirer, for two volumes of the English poet James Thomson, including "Essays & Phantasies," "Bumble," "Indolence," and "The Poet." Praises Thomson's writing, " ... each is so admirably honest and original and informed throughout with the spirit of the noblest natures ... " Laments that the works would have to be cut down to appeal to popular taste. Remarks on Thomson's lack of fame and dismisses literary fame as cheap. "And it must have occurred to you as it has to me, that the further our civilization advances upon its present lines so much the cheaper…

GLC05260

18 June 1868

Gilman, Caroline, fl. 1868

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: Household woman.

Poem expressing the sentiment that woman's highest calling is performing household tasks. She provides a key to the persons in the poem and notes that the 1st, 2d, 3d and last stanzas were written originally in 1828 in Charleston, South Carolina, while the remainder was written in Boston and Roxbury, Massachusetts in June 1863.

GLC05169

9 April 1925

Coolidge, Grace Goodhue, 1879-1957

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mrs. Strong

Answers Strong's question, which asks what has given Mrs. Coolidge the most comfort. Coolidge states that passages from the Bible about faith and Whittier's "The Eternal Goodness" have provided much comfort but she finds that James Martinean's Commendatory Prayer, published as a memorial to her husband, has given her the most comfort. On White House Stationary.

GLC05508.073

18 December 1882

Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [Rich is the life which seeks a noble end].

A poem about helping others. The selfless person "wins Heaven's approval, gains true success."

GLC05508.018

14 November 1942

Astor, Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess, 1879-1964

Typed letter signed

Title: to Mr. Wilson

Astor cannot choose a favorite poet; she starts by listing several: Browning, Keats, Kipling, Poe, and Longfellow. Her favorite book to read is the Bible.

GLC05508.023

circa 1870

Cornell, Ezra, fl. 1870

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [While down the stream of life I sail...]

This poem defines Christ, grace, hope and the Bible as tools necessary for life, just as a ship, the wind, an anchor and a compass are necessary for sailing.

GLC05508.075

16 November 1949

Culbertson, Ely, 1893-1955

Typed letter signed

Title: to Charles L. Wallis

Culbertson discusses why T.S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" is meaningful to him. He cites Eliot's question, "Was it birth or was it death?" and interprets it as a reference to Christ as a moral revolutionist; Christ brought the new Law of Cooperation to ancient society's forefront at the expense of the old Law of the Jungle. Interestingly, Culbertson was an American authority on the game of bridge.

GLC05508.077

2 May 1962

Eliot, T.S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965

Typed letter signed

Title: to George Urban

On the stationary of Faber and Faber. Elliot claims he is too busy to make a broadcast on Radio Free Europe in Eastern Europe. He also rejects Urban's proposal that Elliot speak on religious persecution, because he has not known it himself.

GLC05508.096

1893

Randall, James Ryder, 1839-1908

Header Record

Title: Copy of letter and poem by James R. Randall [Decimalized .01 and .02]

GLC05296