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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.

Hopkins, Stephen, 1707-1785 [Proclamation creating a day of fasting and rest in the province of Rhode Island]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01412.11 Author/Creator: Hopkins, Stephen, 1707-1785 Place Written: Providence, Rhode Island Type: Document signed Date: 12 May 1756 Pagination: 1 p. ; 37 x 24 cm Order a Copy

Countersigned by Thomas Ward as Secretary. Signed by Hopkins as colonial Governor of Rhode Island. Extols religious reform and repentence of sins. Notes the calamities of the French and Indian War. Proclaims that Thursday, 20 May 1756 will be a day of fasting and prayer throughout the colony. Directs that no labor will be done and the people should pray at places of public worship. This same document was probably later printed. "God Save the King" is written at the bottom of the page.

Hopkins, Stephen, 1707-1785
Ward, Thomas, 1711-1760

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