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.

[Telegram announcing Abraham Lincoln's death]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09191 Author/Creator: Place Written: s.l. Type: Printed document Date: 15 April 1865 Pagination: 1 p. : envelope Order a Copy

Early telegraphed notice of his death, sent by American Telegraph Company executive George Milliken to his wife at 8:30 AM. "President Lincoln died at twenty-two minutes after seven. J. Wilkes Booth was the Assassin. This is official."

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