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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.

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963 to Jackie Robinson

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09754.04 Author/Creator: Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Typed letter Date: 15 May 1959 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 26.5 cm, Width: 20.4 cm Order a Copy

One typed letter addressed to Jackie Robinson dated May 15, 1959 from John F. Kennedy. Kennedy writes to Robinson refuting a column printed in the New York Post, where he criticized Senator Kennedy's "civil rights record." Kennedy disagrees the claim that he attended a "Southern Governors Conference." He refers Robinson to his voting record on civil rights and that Roy Wilkins, president of the NAACP has endorsed him.

Robinson, Jackie, 1919-1972
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963
Wilkins, Roy, 1901-1981

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