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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) Letter from Gerrit Smith on temperance. To the thoughful and candid of the County of Madison.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04717.60 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) Place Written: Peterboro, New York Type: Printed letter Date: 8 March 1871 Pagination: 2 p. ; 32.9 x 20.4 cm. Order a Copy

Discusses a local election, which was won by the Anti-dramshop ticket. Still feels despondent, writing: "Nothing, however, at the present time, stands so much in the way of the success of the cause of temperance as the fear cherished by tens of thousands of good men that quitting the Republican for the Anti-dramshop party would result in throwing the nation into the hands of the Democratic party..."

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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