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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 Miss Lena

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07731.01 Author/Creator: Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: February 24, 1882 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 20.2 cm, Width: 12.6 cm Order a Copy

Thanks Lena, a young girl, for a potholder (GLC07731.02). Apparently Lena had read Douglass's narrative, and he thanks her for reading and thinking kindly of his life and history. Writes "Please accept my best thanks for 'Any holder but a slaveholder.'" Accompanied by a blank sheet of paper of the same size, possibly formerly attached to the note.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

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