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.

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) to Edward P. Fry

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04503.01 Author/Creator: Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: July 1844 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 20 x 25 cm. Order a Copy

Writes that he has seen Mr. Smith who will be at his office tomorrow morning. States that Mr. Burbank, the man who is in charge of negotiations for Morse, is at Lovejoy's Hotel and advises Fry to bring this letter as an introduction. Dated Wednesday morning.

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.

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872
Fry, Edward P., fl. 1844-1870

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