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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.

["Any holder but a Slave holder" potholder]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07731.02 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Object Date: circa 1882 Pagination: 1 textile Height: 14.5 cm, Width: 17 cm Order a Copy

Based on the accompanying letter (GLC 7731.01), created by Miss Lena, who gave the potholder to Frederick Douglass as a gift after reading his narrative. Depicts two African Americans (one male and one female) holding hands and dancing against a caramel colored background. Text is stitched above and below the dancing figures. Appears to be a form of needlepoint stitching.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

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