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.

Allen, Charles Herbert (1848-1934) to John G. Walker

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03804.33 Author/Creator: Allen, Charles Herbert (1848-1934) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Typed letter signed Date: 30 March 1899 Pagination: 1 p. ; 26.5 x 20.1 cm. Order a Copy

Typed letter on office letterhead of the Secretary of the Navy John D. Long. Written by Allen as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (on the letter his title is noted as "Acting Secretary") to Walker as a retired Rear Admiral. Says he is to regard himself as detached from his duties in relation to the bridge over the Niagara River on 31 March. Stamp on recto, in purple ink, says "Received, J.G.W. Mar 31 1899."

In 1898 President William McKinley named Allen Assistant Secretary of the Navy when Theodore Roosevelt resigned the post to enter the Spanish-American War. He held this position from 1898 to 1900. At the end of the war President McKinley appointed Allen as the first civil governor of Puerto Rico. Allen retired from this post in 1901 with the island government out of debt and with over one million dollars in its treasury.

Walker, John

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