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.

Collection related to the Freedmen's Department of Memphis [Decimalized .01-.12]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08649 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Header Record Date: 1863-1865 Pagination: 12 documents Order a Copy

Pertains to a project to aid freed slaves by the army. Most documents in this collection are related to T. A. Walker, who served as Superintendent of Freedmen, District of West Tennessee. Consists mostly of financial records, and contains documentation related to President's Island.

President's Island was in the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee and served as camp for freedmen. An extract from letters sent by the Memphis District Offices of the Superintendent, the rental agent and the Subassistant Commissioner 30 June 1865- 21 March 1868 attests that 262 male and 419 female freedmen and 249 children were living on President's Island in the summer of 1865.

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