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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.

Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 1779-1851 [Circular letter announcing the establishment of Smithsonian Institution]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00573 Author/Creator: Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 1779-1851 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Printed document signed Date: 10 September 1840 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 26 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Sends a copy of the constitution and by-laws of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science (the Smithsonian). Requests information on geography, natural history, and ethnology from the unknown recipient's area of the United States. Specifically requests information on Native Americans in the area.

Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 1779-1851

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