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.

Sumner, Charles (1811-1874) to Silas Ketchum

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03980 Author/Creator: Sumner, Charles (1811-1874) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 December 1856 Pagination: 2 p. ; 20 x 12.8 cm. Order a Copy

Senator Sumner informs Ketchum, "Of course, I cannot identify the child to which you refer. There was a little girl quite white, a slave in Washington, whose freedom was purchased through my agency, & afterwards sent to Boston, where I presume she now is. She was sometimes called Ida May, & was about 10 years of age." In a post script, writes, "Of course, the proslavery democratic papers deny everything that tells against Slavery. They deny the wrongs of Kansas!"

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Ketchum, Silas, fl. 1856
May, Ida, fl. 1846

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