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.

Unknown [Photograph of Ely S. Parker]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05190.02 Author/Creator: Unknown Place Written: s.l. Type: Photograph Date: circa 1885 Pagination: 1 photograph : tinted ; 23.5 x 19 cm. Order a Copy

Sepia photograph accompanied a letter (see GLC05190.01).

Biography: Ely S. Parker was a formally educated Tonawanda Seneca who served as an interpreter and tribal representative. During the Civil War he served as military secretary to Ulysses S. Grant and wrote out the official copy of the terms of surrender. In Grant's administration, he served as the first Native American Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Parker, Ely Samuel, 1828-1895

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