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.

Gardner, Alexander (1821-1882) [Albumen of Lewis Payne]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07738.01 Author/Creator: Gardner, Alexander (1821-1882) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Photograph Date: 27 April 1865 Pagination: 1 albumen ; 31 x 25 cm. Order a Copy

Inscribed on verso: "Lewis Payne Conspirator. Hanged."
Photograph shows Payne (also known as Lewis Powell) in wrist irons aboard the U.S.S. Saugus. The photograph is mounted on board.

The investigation into the assassination of President Lincoln revealed a conspiracy which resulted in the execution of four individuals: Mrs. Surratt, Lewis Payne, David Herold, and George Atzerodt.
Lewis Payne was the conspirator who attacked Secretary of State, William Seward as a part of John Wilkes Booth's conspiracy against the Federal Government.

Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Payne, Lewis, 1845-1865
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

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