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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 to Beverley Randolph

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00936 Author/Creator: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: February 18, 1793 Pagination: 1 p. : address : free frank Height: 24 cm, Width: 19 cm Order a Copy

Secretary of State Jefferson writes to Randolph, a former Virginia Governor and a commissioner to the Indians of the northwest frontier, to request (with the blessing of President George Washington) that he represent the South at an "assembly of the Northern & Western Indians is to be held at Sanduskey in the approaching spring." He comments that "It will be the greatest collection of Indians (about 3000) which has ever taken place, and from very distant & various parts." Notes that he believes "the public interest intimately concerned in the conducting of this treaty" and hopes that Randolf will serve despite health problems. Randolph did represent the South at the meeting, but the mission failed.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Randolph, Beverley, 1754-1797
Washington, George, 1732-1799

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