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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.

Live bald eagle at rest on a perch

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05111.02.0979 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Photograph Date: circa 1861-1865 Pagination: 1 carte de visite Height: 10.3 cm, Width: 6.1 cm Order a Copy

Photographers imprint on verso: "1776 The Centennial Photograph 1876 of 'Old Abe,' the Live Wisconsin War Eagle. Agricultural Hall, (International Exposition,) Philadelphia, 1876. Executive Office, Madison, Wis., Geb'y 8, 1876. I hereby certify that this picture is a correct likeness of 'Old Abe' the Live War Eagle, carried for three years by the 8th Wisconsin Reg't in the War of the Rebellion. H. Snompton [?] Governor. Sold with the Eagle's History, By J. O. Barrett, Agricultural Building, Centennial Grounds, for the 'Old Abe Museum of Ornithology.' Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1876 by W. W. Barrett, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C."

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