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.

Dorr, Thomas Wilson (1805-1854) to Robert P. Letcher

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02505.16 Author/Creator: Dorr, Thomas Wilson (1805-1854) Place Written: Providence, Rhode Island Type: Autograph letter signed Date: May 1842 Pagination: 2 p. ; 24.5 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Sends the governor of Kentucky resolutions from the Rhode Island Assembly. The resolutions, printed on the verso and signed by Rhode Island Secretary of State William H. Smith, ordered Dorr to tell the president, congress, and state governors and governments that the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session. Dorr signed as governor. Dorr supporters, desiring more liberal suffrage laws in Rhode Island, had organized and elected their own convention, wrote a new state constitution, and elected Dorr governor. The move was rejected by the legitimate governor, Samuel H. King, and the failed Dorr Rebellion followed.

Dorr, Thomas Wilson, 1805-1854
Letcher, Robert Perkins, 1788-1861

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