Our Collection

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.

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton (1812-1883) to Henry Moore Teller

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06612 Author/Creator: Stephens, Alexander Hamilton (1812-1883) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Letter signed Date: 24 April 1882 Pagination: 1 p. ; 24.7 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

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.

Stephens served as Representative 1843-1856 and 1873-1882, and as Vice President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Teller served as United States Senator from Colorado 1875-1882 and 1885-1908; he served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1882-1885. Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915) was a prominent minister who was twice elected to the Georgia Legislature after the war. Turner also greatly assisted in the formation of the 1st colored regiment, U.S. infantry, of which Lincoln commissioned him chaplain.

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812-1883
Teller, Henry Moore, 1830-1914

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