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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) Gerrit Smith's acceptance

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04717.39 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) Place Written: Syracuse, New York Type: Printed document Date: 4 August 1858 Pagination: 4 p. ; 31.8 x 20.2 cm. Order a Copy

Includes a State Mass Convention's nomination of Smith as a candidate for Governor of New York. Contains Smith's reply, which begins: "My years have been spent in seclusion. My habits are all formed to private life. It is emphatically true that public employments are not to my taste. Nevertheless, Gentlemen, I accept the nomination."

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

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