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.

Campbell, Lill (fl. 1865) to Henry F. McSherry

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.21.44 Author/Creator: Campbell, Lill (fl. 1865) Place Written: Hillside, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 October 1865 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20.5 x 13.2 cm. Order a Copy

Written by Lill to her cousin Henry. Says she is leaving for Erie, Pennsylvania to visit another cousin tomorrow. Is going to be joining a couple who are returning to that town. Says "How much I wish I had time to discuss that young with whom you were in love." Lill is writing indirectly, but it appears that Henry was engaged to someone and that it fell apart due to time and distance. Updates him on family and friends. Says "Our glorious country is coming out greater than ever from the late conflict ... indeed all Europe are bound to pronounce this a great country[,] a people Eaqual [sic] to any Emergency. Are you most proud, proud to be an American?" Tells him to visit if he comes to Pittsburgh.

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