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.

Diamond, Sidney, (1922-1945) to Estelle Spero

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09120.215 Author/Creator: Diamond, Sidney, (1922-1945) Place Written: Shreveport, Louisiana Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 10 April 1943 Pagination: 3 p. ; 20.5 x 26.5 cm. Order a Copy

Diamond tells Estelle that the following day he shall turn twenty-one, and that to mark the occasion he has been inflicted by a bad case of diarrhea. Sidney compares democracy to a map cause, in that when things are easy, people are "prone to get slovenly". He tells Estelle that he has "grown up". He also discusses the "halavah" that his mother had sent him, expressing surprise that people had never heard of this "new delicacy from Russia manufactured in 'New York, N.Y., U.S.A'

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