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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.

Blacksmith's shop, Quartermaster's department, Washington, D.C., April, 1865

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05111.01.0176 Author/Creator: Place Written: Washington D.C. Type: Photograph Date: April 1865 Pagination: 1 albumen print ; 23.5 x 17.9 cm. Order a Copy

A print of a photograph showing a large group of workers and mechanics, some wearing leather aprons and many holding tools, posed in front of a large building. Washington became a major center for army services during the war. Numerous government repair shops [some massive in size] employing hundreds of skilled and unskilled workers were established to keep the armies running. Graphite inscriptions on verso: "Gardner" "864" "XXIX" "F. H. Meserve Collection." Published in CWTI's "Photographic History of the Civil War," 2 : 897.

Title and information from Library of Congress entry, see https://www.loc.gov/item/2012650159/.

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