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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.

Powell, George May (1835-1905) to Samuel D. Risley

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00687.108 Author/Creator: Powell, George May (1835-1905) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 18 March 1889 Pagination: 1 p. ; 28.9 x 18 cm. Order a Copy

He compares Florida to Egypt, and then turns to a discussion of Africa. This letter is handwritten on the back of printed letters, 1886/2/16, Philadelphia, B.C. Tillinghast, Asaph Terry, C.R. Blackall, and Francis J. Rue to George May Powell, re: They request him to give a lecture to the American Baptist schools; and [n.d.], [s.l.], George May Powell to B.C. Tillinghast, Asah Terry, C.R. Blackall, and Francis J. Rue, re: He lists the cost of his lectures and information on applications.

Powell was a Lincoln supporter and served as a statistician in the Treasury Department during the Civil War. Active in religious work as a young man, he was the secretary and manager of the Evangelistic Press Association and led a topographical corps through Egypt and North Africa to create Sunday School maps of Palestine and the Holy Land. Powell participated in the American Forestry Commission, the Grange and Patrons of Husbandry, the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and the National Geographic Society. He was active in Sabbath reform work.

Powell, George May, 1835-1905

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