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.

Davis, William B. (fl. 1861-1862) to his sister

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02160.01 Author/Creator: Davis, William B. (fl. 1861-1862) Place Written: New Bern, North Carolina Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 13 May 1861 Pagination: 3 p. ; 20.3 x 12.7 cm. Order a Copy

Writes, "The whites have allmost all left and the nigers have full swing at every thing they never dreamt of living in such stile before. The inhabitants left every thing but themselves when Burnside came and beat a hasty retreat."

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