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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.

Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) to Estelle Spero

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09120.066 Author/Creator: Diamond, Sidney (1922-1945) Place Written: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 11 July 1942 Pagination: 17 p. ; 15.5 x 23 cm. Order a Copy

Diamond describes the three-hour long guard duty that he was on the previous night. He tells Estelle about the inspection that his company underwent that morning. He also writes that he has struck up a pleasant friendship with Carter (the Southern soldier whom Sidney had previously fought with over issues of race), and then proceeds to describe Carter's family. Diamond finally informs Estelle of his "deep dark secret" - that in addition to applying to an officers' training program, he has also applied to enter into the air corps ground crew as a communications man.

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