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.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 [Presidential pardon of Richard Hayden, who was convicted of destroying letters stolen from the mail].

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08253 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Place Written: s.l. Type: Document signed Date: 25 May 1863 Pagination: Order a Copy

Pardon signed by Lincoln and countersigned by Secretary of State Seward. Hayden was in an "advanced stage of pulmonary consumption" at the time of the pardon.

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