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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.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 to May Delany

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05906 Author/Creator: Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Place Written: Port au Prince, Haiti Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 June 1890 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 20.2 cm, Width: 25.3 cm Order a Copy

To "the daughter of the daughter of my friend who sheltered me forty and five years ago, when I was a man without a country, a stranger and or sojourner, with little money and few friends, shall now have my autograph. No effort of memory is required to recall the welcome visit of yourself and your precious mother at that dingy hotel overlooking the Thames...." Hopes to meet up with Delany later in the summer, if she passes through Washington D.C. (Douglass had a home in D.C. called "Cedar Hill"). Writes, "I have grown somewhat old in this fierce tropical climate but I am still quite wide awake and cheerful." Recalls other people and events. Written on Cedar Hill, Anacostia, D.C. stationery. "Cedar Hill, Anacostia, D.C." has been struck, with Port au Prince written in.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895
Delany, May, fl. 1890
Delany, Martin Robison, 1812-1885

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