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.

Chappel, Alonzo (1828-1887) Samuel F. B. Morse

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04480.02 Author/Creator: Chappel, Alonzo (1828-1887) Place Written: New York, NY Type: Engraving Date: 1872 Pagination: 1 engraving : b&w ; 27.5 x 20.5 cm. Order a Copy

Engraving of Morse seated, with hand laid on a book on a table. Depicted with full white beard and glasses. Marked, "Likeness from the last approved photograph from life." Published by Johnson, Wilson & Co. Publishers, New York.

Morse is credited with inventing the telegraph and Morse code. In 1844, he sent the first telegraphic message, from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., "What hath God wrought!" He was also an accomplished artist and politician.

Chappel, Alonzo, 1828-1887
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872

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