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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.

Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) Religion of reason, no. 4. The one test of character. A discourse by Gerrit Smith, in Peterboro, July twenty-second, 1860.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04717.07 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Pamphlet Date: 1860 Pagination: 1 v. : 24 p. ; 22.8 x 14.8 cm. Order a Copy

Published in New York City by Ross & Tousey. In closing, Smith writes, "The morals and manners of a church should be such, as to realize our highest conceptions of human dignity... Church of Peterboro! Be true to your own God at the approaching Election. He is not your God, who would have men vote for candidates who are in favor of a white man's Party, and of excluding the black man from suffrage and citizenship." Bound in a yellow paper cover.

Smith, a politician from New York, served as a U.S. Representative from 1853-1854. He was a noted philanthropist and social reformer active in anti-slavery campaigns and women's rights.

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Ross & Tousey

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