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A Photo Taken on the Day of His Death: President Kennedy, Flanked by Vice-President Johnson, Gives a Speech in the Rain
November 22, 1963
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2420
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2459
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Historical artifacts
page
SMC 2511
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Rare Union Soldier's Account Of Ambush Resulting In Death Of Jewish Colonel Marcus Spiegel
June 18, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2456
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Historical artifacts
3 pages
SMC 1078
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Jewish Officer Ferdinand Levy Recruits a Soldier into the Famed Les Enfants Perdu Regiment
March 13, 1862
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1577
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Photograph
1 page
SMC 2517
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Abraham Lincoln Considers The Promotion Of Austrian-Born Jewish Colonel William Mayer
November 14, 1863
Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 863
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 199
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 103
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Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2363
These four medals were minted to commemorate the landmark 1799 British victory at Acre, led by Sir Sidney Smith, over Napoleon’s French forces.
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Jimmy Carter Condolence Letter To Widow Of Marine Killed In Failed 1980 Iranian Hostage Rescue
April 26, 1980
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1470
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1646
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 571
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Historical artifacts
page
SMC 242
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President Arthur Appoints Simon Wolf, the Foremost American Jewish Activist of the 19th Century, to the Ambassadorship of Egypt
October 29, 1881
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 2451
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Cleveland: Wolf’s Book on American Jewry “Challenges Fairness and Justice, For a Class of Our Citizens to Whom They Have Not Always Been Accorded”
December 30, 1895
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2235
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2186
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Exceptional Association Copy: Simon Wolf’s “Presidents I Have Known” Inscribed to Robert Todd Lincoln
January 10, 1919
Signed Book Inscribed
page
SMC 2078
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Young Congressman McKinley Regrets He is Unable to Attend Wedding of Simon Wolf’s Daughter: Mrs. McKinley Is Ill
June 12, 1878
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 640
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Simon Wolf Writes President Arthur About Getting His Old Job, as Justice of the Peace, Back
August 4, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 381
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President Cleveland Supports Washington’s Leading Jewish Charitable Organization's “Israelites Fair” - An Affair Headed by Simon Wolf
January 23, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2502
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1212
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1211
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1210
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Typed Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 1209
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Chaim Weizmann on the Assassination of Russian Pogrom Organizer Plehve: A Pity He Didn't Die Years Ago
August 4, 1904
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1585
Russian Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plehve, a notorious pogrom organizer and tormentor of the Jews, had been killed the week before by a bomb. Upon hearing of his death, Chaim Weizmann only wished it had happened sooner.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1953
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1405
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Roosevelt Advises Scapegoated Woodring On How To Handle Negative Press Following Pearl Harbor
March 4, 1942
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1382
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Third Term President Roosevelt Writes to Harry Woodring: "Our Democratic Way Of Life Is At Stake"
January 21, 1941
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1380
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Following His Resignation, Former Secretary of War Woodring Writes A Curt Rebuttal To Roosevelt
June 30, 1940
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1379
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Roosevelt Responds To Woodring Amidst The Intense Congressional Interest In Woodring's Resignation
June 25, 1940
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1377
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1375
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Secretary of War Woodring's Handwritten Draft of His Controversial Resignation Letter to FDR
June 20, 1940
Autograph Manuscript
2 pages
SMC 1361
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On His Last Day In Office, James Monroe Writes His Bank, Trying To Make Sense Of His Account
March 3, 1825
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 935
James Monroe’s Major Accomplishments, What He’s Known For, & His Last Day In Office
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Kennedy and the Arts: His Unprecedented Invitation of Scholars, Artists, Writers, and Thinkers to His Inauguration
September 8, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1444
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A Rueful Harry Truman on the 3rd Anniversary of his Presidency: “I don't know whether I need congratulations or commiseration”
April 15, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 256
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Grover Cleveland Worries He Cannot Bring His Baby Into Recently Quarantined White House After His Inauguration
February 20, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1967
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1163
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Mark Twain and Olivia Langdon: Twain Writes Ecstatically On The Pursuit Of His Future Wife
December 12, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1852
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Document Signed
2 pages
SMC 1807
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Abraham Lincoln's Prayer To "The Almighty" For Himself And The Nation - A Singular Letter
May 21, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2509
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2024
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Napoleon, Failing To Conquer Palestine, Orders The Ransoming Of Prisoners: August 1799
August 12, 1799
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 236
After sustaining massive losses in his campaign on the Holy Land, Napoleon attempts to raise some revenue by ransoming off the hostages in his possession.
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President-Elect Harding Refers to His Upcoming Term as "Imprisonment in the White House"
January 12, 1921
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1550
President-Elect Harding refers to his upcoming presidential term as "imprisonment in the White House," while expressing envy that his correspondent is going to Honolulu. Harding also informs him that the upcoming inauguration will be a very pared-down affair.
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Young John F. Kennedy Condemns Harry Truman's Reversal to Support the Partition of Palestine
April 4, 1948
Autograph Manuscript
2 pages
SMC 149
At a dinner of Jewish veterans, John F. Kennedy, then a congressman from Massachusetts, condemns Harry Truman's withdrawal of support for the partition of Palestine as "one of the most unfortunate reversals in American policy. Kennedy also called for the US to lift the arms embargo in order to give Israel a chance to protect herself in the ensuing war.
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Robert E. Lee's Famous Letter Declining to Furlough, As a Rule, Jewish Confederate Troops for the High Holidays
August 29, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2494
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2507
Former President Harry Truman writes of his pride in his daughter's singing career and jokes with former Secretary of State and dear friend Dean Acheson, about passing the buck to him for editorial corrections to the former president's memoirs.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1410
Truman complains to Acheson that Republican papers across the country were coddling Eisenhower and serving as “mouthpieces” for Joe McCarthy, calling it the "age of hysteria."
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Former PresidentHarry Truman on President John F. Kennedy's Handling of Racial Violence and the Cuban Missile Crisis
October 12, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1426
Harry Truman suggests that the explosive situations in Mississippi and Cuba could have been avoided with appropriate, decisive presidential action from Kennedy, whom he refers to here not by name but only as "the man in charge," and "the man in the White House
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1419
Former President Harry Truman writes to his dear friend and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to push back against historians and communists about what really happened in the Truman White House.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1407
Truman tells his newly-resigned Secretary of State Dean Acheson that he was more courageous and judicious than Thomas Jefferson and William H. Seward.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 693
In this letter to Acheson, Truman remarks that he wanted to “punch the publisher” who wrote negatively of Dean Acheson and George Marshall, his friends and former secretaries of state. He chastises the “so called ‘free press’” and bemoans having to enduring criticisms while administering the “terrible responsibility” of the presidency.
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Harry Truman Refers to Himself as an "Old Man Who - By Accident Became President of the United States"
December 20, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 695
Harry Truman refers to his humble roots as he objects to high ticket prices for the upcoming Democratic dinner, contrasting himself to the current President, John F. Kennedy.
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Truman on the Recognition of the Jewish State and the "very dark" situation in Palestine
May 17, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 370
Two days into the Israeli War of Independence, Harry Truman thanks a rabbi for his offer to assist the President, and refers to the fledgling state's situation as "very dark."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1464
Nixon sends a letter of condolence to the parents of William Schroeder, who was killed at the Kent State anti-war demonstration in May of 1970.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1286
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Broadside
1 page
SMC 226
Lincoln's personal friend, Julian Hammerslough, asks Rabbi Leeser to raise funds in his synagogue for a memorial to the late President Lincoln.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 964
Franklin Pierce, who signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act while president, thus enabling the spread of slavery, and pitting the North against the South, doubles down on his decision six years later, on the eve of the Civil War.
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Pierce Defends the Democratic Party as Non-Sectional, Wonders About the Outcome of the 1860 Election
April 18, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1809
Pierce insists that the Democratic party is united over the issue of slavery months before the presidential election of 1860 causes the party to split into Northern and Southern Democrats, respectively.
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Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2241
Ten-Cent Sutler coin of Henry Rice, a close friend of President Lincoln's. A sutler is a civilian merchant who sells goods and provisions to soldiers, usually out of the back of a wagon, with which he would follow the moving army.
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Lincoln Directs His “Loyal and Sensible” Jewish Friend, Abraham Jonas to Review a Case of Disloyalty
December 13, 1862
Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 411
President Lincoln charges his friends, legal partners Abraham Jonas and Henry Asbury to dispatch with Thomas Thoroughman, a Confederate Colonel who also happened to be the city attorney for St. Joseph, Missouri.
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Lincoln Family Friend Edward Jonas Recalls Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates
December 3, 1917
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 398
Edward Jonas recalls his interactions with Abraham Lincoln during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858. Though he was a young boy at the time, he recounted how Lincoln exchanged stories with him and listened extremely attentively to him.
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Camille Pissarro's Autographed Letter in Support of Emile Zola Amidst the Dreyfus Affair
March 5, 1898
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 919
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2434
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Document Signed
page
SMC 2453
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2377
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Twain Asks His Young "Quaker City" Shipmate & Favorite, Emma Beach, For Help With His Articles About the Voyage
January 31, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2111
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 2295
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2291
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Original Painting of the Steamship "Quaker City" Moored at Naples on its Excursion to the Holy Land
August, 1867
Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2303
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Saul Bellow on Kissinger, Sadat, and Writing "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account"
October 26, 1975
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1565
In Jerusalem, and writing the journal which was to become "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account," Bellow muses about his experiences in that city: the various and interesting people he is meeting, what he is thinking, and passing along what he has heard about two of great figures of that time and place – Henry Kissinger and Anwar Sadat.
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President John F. Kennedy Polishes a Letter Declining to Write a Book on Thomas Jefferson
June 5, 1962
Typed Letter
1 page
SMC 1448
Emulating Jefferson's elegant simplicity, President Kennedy hones a letter in which he must decline an offer to write a book about the third president of the United States, due to time constraints.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 660
President Kennedy declines a publisher's offer to write a book about Thomas Jefferson, citing his time-consuming job as President of the United States.
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George Washington Describes His Daily Routine At Mount Vernon After 8 Years Of Neglect During His Presidency
May 29, 1797
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1556
Two months after retiring, former President George Washington gives an account of his daily life at Mt. Vernon.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1272
One of Roosevelt's many jabs at Wilson, whom he labelled a coward for failing to declare war on Germany in 1915 after the sinking of the Lusitania.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 646
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Typed Letter
1 page
SMC 219
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Palestine, Truman Says, is a “Matter of Considerable Disturbance” to be Determined by U.N.
February 9, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 686
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 690
Truman, like other presidents, conceives of the role and constraints of the presidency as being like a "jail." Here, Truman explicitly calls the presidency a jail, referring to his inability to go on a trip to Panama with a friend.
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President Harry Truman Writes about the Assassination Attempt on His Life Just the Day Before
November 2, 1950
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 691
The day after a second assassination attempt in November of 1950, President Harry Truman expresses his fury at the stupidity of the would-be assassins, and mourns the two guards killed.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 116
President McKinley's secretary, George Cortelyou thanks the Mayor of San Francisco on behalf of the McKinleys for all the help they received when Mrs. McKinley had taken ill out West.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 128
In Washington, President Woodrow Wilson, writing on the letterhead of his Cornish, N.H. estate at Harlakenden, reports to his daughters, whom he left behind in Cornish, that the White House is the most "empty and forlorn" house imaginable.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 131
President Lyndon B. Johnson's letter of condolence to the parents of Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut who died in the Apollo I fire.
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Jack London, Hit Hard By the San Francisco Earthquake, Concentrates on Building His Yacht, "The Snark"
May 15, 1906
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 140
The San Francisco earthquake, just three weeks before, has nearly wiped London out, and he hasn't, he says here, the funds to invest in an improved gas stove; his priority is building "the Snark, " with which he will circumnavigate the globe.
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President Harry Truman Says "It Will Be a Relief to Get Out of Washington" At the End of His Term
January 9, 1953
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 154
As Truman winds down his time in the White House, he confides to the mother of one of his best staffers that "it will be a relief to get out of Washington."
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Woodrow Wilson Suspends His Campaign on Account of Theodore Roosevelt Assassination Attempt
October 24, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 172
Here, Governor Wilson tells a political operative that he wishes with all his heart that it were possible for him to address a noonday meeting near the Borough Hall as suggested, but cannot. Wilson resumed his campaign when Roosevelt was discharged from hospital, and went on to win the election.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 177
Ebert Martin, Theodore Roosevelt's assistant, jumped on Roosevelt's would-be-assassin and wrestled him to the ground. Here he reports from Roosevelt's hospital room that the candidate is improving.
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Typed Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 194
President Lyndon B. Johnson writes to Dr. Max Nussbaum, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, to add his congratulations to Sir Winston Churchill on receiving the Theodor Herzl award for his contributions to the Zionist cause.
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Theodore Roosevelt Confidently Reports that the Mortally Wounded President McKinley is Doing Well
September 9, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 245
Roosevelt feels assured not only that McKinley will recover, but that his recovery will be so speedy that in a very short time he will be able to resume his duties.
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President Ronald Reagan Defends George Custer Against Charges of Negligence at Little Bighorn
June 21, 1984
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 248
Describing himself as a "Custer Buff," President Ronald Reagan regrets that White House custom forbids his writing a foreword to a book on Custer. Reagan then goes on to defend Custer as a "brilliant officer," and rejects the idea that Custer's last stand was foolhardy, but actually following orders.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 249
President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes a bland letter to the chairmen of the United Jewish Appeal, in which he scratches the surface of the Holocaust and rather hollowly endorses the UJA.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 251
Roosevelt, who has just become President due to McKinley's assassination looks forward at what must be done, rather than being "morbid."
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President Theodore Roosevelt Plans for Life After the White House: His African Safari
September 25, 1908
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 253
Theodore Roosevelt, in the midst of planning his post-presidential safari, asks a fellow big-game hunter currently residing in East Africa for recommendations of hunting spots for specific animals.
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Harry Truman Letter Written as Vice-President But Signed as President with "Terrible Responsibilities"
April 12, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 585
A letter from Harry Truman written as Vice President, then amended by hand as President, mentioning the "terrible responsibilities" that are now his. Truman had started this letter in the morning, as vice president, but by the evening, had ascended the presidency, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death that day.
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Chaim Weizmann Thanks Clark Clifford for His Help In Getting President Truman to Recognize Israel
February 20, 1949
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 647
Clark Clifford, President Truman's aide, argued against Secretary of State George Marshall "as if it were a case to be presented to the Supreme Court." Truman immediately recognized the Jewish State, and Weizmann, on his first day as President of Israel, thanks him.
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Eisenhower & Kennedy: Eisenhower Writes JFK a Chilly Letter After Losing the 1960 Election
December 16, 1960
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 703
Eisenhower coldly, yet cordially, confirms that his friend and Defense Liaison Officer, General Andrew Goodpaster, will be staying, as per Kennedy's request, with the President until February or March.
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President-Elect Eisenhower Thanks Mary Lincoln's Niece for the Gift of a "Truly Historic Memento"
November 28, 1952
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 704
President-Elect Eisenhower thanks the grandniece of Mary Lincoln for a gift of a pen holder made from the original wood of the Lincoln Homestead.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 712
John F. Kennedy writes a condolence letter to Medgar Evers's widow. Four hours before Evers was shot in front of his wife and children, Kennedy had given a televised speech calling for an end to racial discrimination.
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After His "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" Speech, JFK Thanks the Overseas Military for Making His Visit a Success
July 8, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 715
President Kennedy thanks General Landon, the Commander in Chief of the United States Air Force in Europe for the "magnificent way" in which the General ensured that Kennedy's visit to Germany was a success.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 716
President John F. Kennedy's infant son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely and lived for 39 hours. Five days later, the president thanks his sister-in-law and husband for their support during this difficult time.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 719
Jack London tells a fan and possible relative that London is a common Jewish surname and he has often been approached by Jewish people inquiring if he is related to the Jewish contingent.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 725
Frank Lloyd Wright ostensibly responds to Lewis Mumford's book, The Conduct of Life, recently sent to him – and refers, obliquely, to Mumford's criticism of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 726
Frank Lloyd Wright, infuriated by "obituaries" of his work, and deeply resentful of the "European invasion" of ideas, vows to make a comeback for the sake of architecture itself.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 728
Twenty seven years after making history at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright sets the record straight about three questions surrounding the first flight.
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Harry Truman Writes General Hap Arnold About FDR's Death, Two and a Half Weeks Before, as "The Greatest Blow"
April 30, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 694
Two weeks after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death, Harry Truman is still reeling from the shock and his new role with all its responsibilities.
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Harry Truman Presents Supreme Court Chief Justice Vinson With a Gavel Having "Historical Connections"
October 5, 1948
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 680
Harry Truman presents the Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson with a gavel made from the Jefferson Tree at Fulton Missouri. Here, Truman tells the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, "Tip" Tipton how pleased both he and Vinson are with the gavel and its "historical connections."
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Harry Truman Tells How He Learned He Became the President: FDR's Death, He Says, Was a Complete Surprise
October 18, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 684
In this letter to Louis Reed (an administrative assistant to a West Virginia senator), Harry Truman reassures him that at the time they met, Truman had no idea that Roosevelt had died, and that he'd be ascending the presidency. It was as much of a surprise to Truman as to anyone else.
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Theodore Roosevelt Comments On, and Then Annotates, a Manuscript Detailing the Attempt Made on His Life
February 5, 1913
Typed Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 258
Theodore Roosevelt comments on a manuscript detailing, step by step and minute by minute, the assassination attempt made on his life on October 14, 1912.
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Secretary of War William H. Taft Reports That San Francisco is Almost Destroyed in the Earthquake
April 18, 1906
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 261
Secretary of War Taft writes this missive primarily about the administration of the Philippines, and expresses concern for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, James Francis Smith, whom he knew to be in San Francisco during the earthquake. The scale of the damage was as yet unclear, and Taft reports that the city was almost destroyed, and since telegraph wires are down, "we are in the dark."
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Einstein on the Tragedy of Herzl's Son: "A Warning to All Jews Against Defection From Their People"
September 8, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 311
Albert Einstein comments that the tragic story of Theodor Herzl's children "constitutes a warning to all Jews against defection from their people," and gives permission to the author of a forthcoming book about Herzl to use Einstein's remark for PR.
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Warren G. Harding Thanks a Young Girl for a Four-Leaf Clover, Just as His Luck was Running Out
June 14, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 324
In June of 1923, a young girl named Vivian Little sent President Warren G. Harding a pressed four-leaf clover for good luck. Ironically, that month would bring the worst luck yet for the President; the scandals he was involved in were beginning to surface, and his heart disease would take his life within two months.
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Chaim Weizmann to Orde Wingate's Widow About a Memorial for Wingate at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
October 27, 1944
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 374
Writing to Lorna Wingate, the young widow of Orde Wingate, the British champion of the Jewish Zionist cause, Chaim Weizmann advises her about the political necessities in undertaking a memorial to her late husband at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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On His First Day in Office, "Jack" Kennedy Thanks His Predecessor, Eisenhower, for a Smooth Transition
January 21, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2051
Masking his true feelings about his predecessor, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, and twenty-eight years Eisenhower's junior, thanks him for a smooth transition of power.
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John F. Kennedy Letter, Post-Dated November 26, 1963, Signed Before He Left for Dallas
November 26, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2181
A letter from President Kennedy wishing Senator Dan Flood a happy birthday, dated November 26, 1963, four days after Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had signed the letter before leaving for Dallas.
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Teddy Roosevelt's Inauguration: TR Accepts a Gift For His 1905 Inauguration Day Suit
December 22, 1904
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2345
Theodore Roosevelt eagerly accepts the gift of a fine fabric with which to make his 1905 inauguration suit.
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Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness Recalls Running to Fetch Dr. Liebermann Who Attended Lincoln's Deathbed
April 24, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 2388
Samuel Koontz ran to fetch the Russian-born Jewish Dr. Charles Henry Liebermann, who lived a scant two blocks from Ford's Theatre. The news that Liebermann was the first "important" doctor to attend Lincoln - discounting the gaggle of doctors (seven in all) from Ford's theatre - is significant. He was the first to treat him, owing to the distance between his house and the theatre.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2419
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 166
Jewish Colonel Max Friedman Certifies the enlistment of Joshua Pickering into the Cameron Dragoons, a largely Jewish regiment.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 156
President Abraham Lincoln appoints Pennsylvania Congressman Edward Joy Morris as Minister Resident to Turkey. Morris had spent time in and written about the Levant, and as such, was suited to the post.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 144
President Grant issues a stay of execution for Thomas Wright, an African-American who murdered Samuel Rogerski, a Jewish peddler.
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Western Gambler "Ike" Isaacs' Tombstone Gaming License Signed By Sheriff Johnny Behan
January 1, 1882
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 135
This license, signed by Sheriff Johnny Behan, gave the famous gambler Ike Isaacs the right to run his faro game for one month, at a cost of $25.00 – about $525.00 in today’s money.
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Simon Wolf's Original Contract For the Book "The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen"
May 22, 1895
Document Signed
3 pages
SMC 109
This contract between author and scholar Simon Wolf, and publisher and editor Louis E. Levy, is a seminal document of a seminal work, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, first published in 1895 and still in print, and use, over one hundred years later.
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Passport for the Early Explorer of Jerusalem, the Reverend Eli Smith, Signed by James Buchanan
October 23, 1846
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 2068
Reverend Eli Smith, who had joined Reverend Edward Robinson as an Arabic-speaker during the latter's exploration of Biblical Jerusalem, travels to the Holy Land yet again, this time with a passport signed by then Secretary of State, James Buchanan.
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Carte de Visite
1 page
SMC 2230
Selah Merrill, known primarily as the longtime U.S. Consul to Jerusalem, famous for his antipathy for the Jewish people there, as well as anyone outside of mainstream Protestantism, was also, ironically, a chaplain with the 49th Colored Infantry during the Civil War. This rare carte-de-visite photo dates from his year's service in that capacity.
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Abraham Lincoln Carte-de-Visite Photo By Mathew Brady of Which Lincoln Said "I Look Most Like That One"
January 8, 1864
Carte de Visite
1 page
SMC 1694
Lincoln sat for his portrait more than forty times, but he said that if he had to pick an image that looked most like him, it would be this one.
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Carte de Visite
1 page
SMC 1764
This photograph was taken in Baltimore, where the German rabbi had his first American congregation, and where he eventually had to flee for his life due to his outspoken opposition to slavery. He would never return.
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Carte de Visite
1 page
SMC 1683
Photo signed as Samuel Clemens, taken in 1867 in Constantinople by Abdullah Frères. Clemens was in the midst of his trip on "The Quaker City," which also took him to the Holy Land.
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At the End of His Life, Albert Einstein Writes Check to His Beloved Hebrew University
January 13, 1955
Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1814
The Hebrew University was a dream towards which Einstein devoted a considerable amount of time, including serving on its board, speaking at its inauguration, and bequeathing all of his papers to it. Nearing the end of his life, he wrote this check, in 1955 for $10 (equivalent to $90 in today's money) to the American Friends of the Hebrew University.
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Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1612
Taylor, a career soldier, wrote this check to himself while stationed in Louisiana. Likely the only surviving check written by Taylor.
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Very Rare Printed Presidential Check Signed by Franklin Pierce: He Purchases Coal for the White House
September 19, 1854
Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1074
With this, one of the rarest surviving presidential checks, Franklin Pierce purchased coal for the White House in September of 1854.
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Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1177
This, one of the first personal checks signed by Benjamin Harrison as president, was written to the Treasurer of the American Bar Association, Francis Rawle of Philadelphia.
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Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1325
Exceedingly rare check signed by Warren G. Harding as President.
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Abraham Lincoln's Check to His Son, Robert Lincoln, to Equip Him For Service Under Grant
February 20, 1865
Check Signed
1 page
SMC 456
Check from Abraham Lincoln to his son, Robert Todd Lincoln. The president had finally allowed his son to serve in the war, and made sure he was sent to General Grant. This check was to ensure that his son was properly kitted out for war.
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Check of Jewish-Owned Cochise County Bank in Tombstone Sends Money to and from Jewish Merchants
March 14, 1885
Check Signed
1 page
SMC 1924
Interesting artifact of Jewish life in the American West: a transaction from a Jewish owned bank in Tombstone to a Jewish tobacconists in San Francisco.
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Theodore Roosevelt Lambasts Woodrow Wilson for Refusing to Let Him Lead a Division in World War I
June 11, 1917
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2022
Fifty-nine year old, arthritic, overweight Theodore Roosevelt lambasts President Woodrow Wilson for refusing to allow him to lead a division in World War I, calling it Wilson's inability to "rise above the cheapest kind of party politics."
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FDR's 1938 Plan to Settle Jewish and "White" Refugees in the Unexplored Highlands of Venezuela
June 3, 1938
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 473
In 1938, Franklin Delano Roosevelt remarks, in the strictest privacy, that "in the crowded state of affairs in some nations in Europe and in certain areas of the United States, existing situations could be relieved by a small but fairly constant stream of emigrants to the unoccupied parts of the world." FDR is referring here to not only "white" refugees, but to European Jews as well.
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Theodore Roosevelt Decries the Deprivations Suffered by His Rough Riders After Battle of San Juan Hill
July 19, 1898
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 465
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt writes to the father of one of his soldiers who was taken ill with typhoid fever. He thanks the father for his offer to send some food to the soldiers but condemns the government for not providing enough food, supplies, and medical treatment to his cavalry.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 431
Three weeks after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright dives into a detailed and technical explanation of what went right in the flight, and what went wrong.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 423
Though he was the first president to ride in an automobile, President Theodore Roosevelt had a profound dislike for them. He does, concede, however, that once their use is regulated, they will likely be less objectionable.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 424
Roosevelt arranges to meet Mason Mitchell, whom he deems "the only Rough Rider with dramatic and literary capacity," in order to discuss their dramatic presentation about the Rough Riders.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 392
Rather than an independent Jewish state, Einstein would like to see a "secured bi-national status in Palestine with free immigration," adding that it defies common sense to "ask to be given the political rule over Palestine where two thirds of the population are not Jewish."
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Life's Lessons: John F. Kennedy Advises a College Student What Classes to Take for a Life in Politics
August 2, 1954
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 522
John F. Kennedy, then a senator, is asked what he recommends as a course of study for a young person wishing to enter politics. In addition to recommending joining a campaign for practical knowledge, Kennedy says he feels that a "thorough knowledge of English is most essential," followed by the obvious choice of law for postgraduate studies.
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John F. Kennedy: National Security and Future of the Space Program Depend on Ending Labor Strife Delays
May 16, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 523
John F. Kennedy views the delays with the labor unions as a threat to not only the space program, but to national security. He urges Arthur Goldberg, the Secretary of Labor, to come to a swift arrangement with union leaders in order to resume the space race against the Soviets.
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Early John F. Kennedy Letter About the Death of His Brother Joe, Which Would Propel Him Into Politics
September 1, 1944
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 524
This letter thanking Miss Forbush for her condolences and prayers on the occasion of Joe Jr.'s death in World War II marks the beginning of John F. Kennedy's shouldering the mantle of his father's political aspirations.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 547
Here, in print, Theodore Roosevelt appropriates the word "bully" to use as a commendation.
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Theodore Roosevelt on Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "One of the Great Classics of Human Eloquence"
December 29, 1908
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 548
Theodore Roosevelt accepts compliments on his address for the upcoming cornerstone ceremonies of the Lincoln birthplace, and is grateful that his words are not printed alongside the immortal Gettysburg address.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 550
Writing a fortnight after the death of his favorite son, Quentin, Theodore Roosevelt admits his difficulty, and remarks that "the old should not live when the young die."
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Einstein, Working to Save Jews from Hitler, Discusses "Brown Book of Hitler Terror" and Personal Risk
July 20, 1933
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 794
Einstein discusses the Brown Book, an expose documenting, amongst other things, the oppression of Jews. The growing momentum of speaking out against Nazism was encouraging for Einstein, but he thought that it would be more impactful if the criticism came from "only foreign non-Jews." Einstein understood that with his high profile, his public condemnation of Germany would have deadly consequences for German Jews.
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Albert Einstein Advises a Young Refugee From Germany, Then Controlled By What He Called "The Hitler Gang"
March 18, 1935
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 796
Einstein encourages a young German immigrant to stay in California, as it offers more opportunities than Palestine; he advises against returning to Europe, from where, as he put it, "no good can come." He especially warns against Germany, controlled by "The Hitler Gang."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 797
In his reply to Inge Stern, a German ?migr?e to Los Angeles, Einstein notes that he's pleased she's getting on well, and adds that "Jewish smarts serve one well."
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Albert Einstein Disagrees with Louis Brandeis; Argues that Palestine is Not the Key to Jewish Survival
January 25, 1936
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 798
Writing in 1936, Einstein disagrees with Louis Brandeis that a Jewish state is necessary for Jewish continuity. "The persecutions will never cause us to perish," Einstein argues, and the dispersion of Jews around the globe ensures their survival.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 800
Writing in 1942, Einstein reiterates his support for Judah Magnes's proposal that the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine would come to an arrangement themselves, without the intervention of the British.
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Einstein On His Anti-Nazi Work: "Had Those Fellows" Listened, "These Horrors Would Not Have Existed"
March 15, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 801
In 1943, Albert Einstein writes to Lionel Ettlinger that had people only listened to the pair of them, the horrors of the Holocaust could have been avoided. Einstein had travelled throughout Belgium and England in 1933 - shortly after Ettlinger had released a documentary about the German aggression against the Jews in Europe - warning anyone who would listen.
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Ben-Gurion: Had a Jewish State Been Established in 1937, Millions of Jews Would Not Have Died in the Holocaust
January 8, 1956
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 765
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David Ben-Gurion Compares, Favorably, the Fledgling IDF to George Washington's Revolutionary Army
January 27, 1956
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 766
At a critical juncture, when Israel was vastly outnumbered, Ben-Gurion compares the fledgling IDF to "an army that had been established by the owner of an estate in Virginia." Though Ben-Gurion compares the IDF to George Washington's Revolutionary Army and wishes to learn from it, he also claims that the Jewish people's situation is "different from any other nation."
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Former President Theodore Roosevelt Writes About Taking Books on His Upcoming Safari to Africa
March 11, 1909
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1274
Former President Theodore Roosevelt tells Samuel Crothers that he has limited space for books while on safari, but is bringing Crothers's A Gentle Reader.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1276
Theodore Roosevelt expresses his admiration for Abraham Lincoln and wishes to emulate him in championing the cause of the common people.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1278
Theodore Roosevelt resented Woodrow Wilson's weak position on German naval aggression. Here, he unequivocally states that had Wilson shown some strong leadership and stood up to Germany, over 1000 civilians would not have lost their lives at sea.
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Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1255
Before departing Panama, Theodore Roosevelt writes to Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero who, as the first President of Panama, received Roosevelt when he visited the Canal Zone in November, 1906. Roosevelt and Amador had worked together on creating the Panama Canal, and here Roosevelt thanks Amador for his thoughtful gifts.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1256
Three days before he died, Theodore Roosevelt, by then unable to rise from the sofa and write, dictated this letter. In it, he finds the strength to lambast Woodrow Wilson for erring "in intellectual honesty and moral straight-forwardness," as well as finding fault in his own "single error," which was to support Wilson for the first sixty days of World War I.
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Theodore Roosevelt on the "Treacherous Injustice at Chicago" and His New Bull Moose Party
July 2, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1257
Theodore Roosevelt, who had recently created the Progressive party when he lost the Republican party nomination to Taft, takes stock.
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Theodore Roosevelt Bitterly Regrets Being Forced to Sit Through WWI At Home "In Comfort and Safety"
August 14, 1918
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1253
Roosevelt has lost one son to the Great War, and two have been badly injured in it. He can't stand the idea that his sons have been put in harm's way, whilst he remains at home, and finds it terrible that the war takes the young. Roosevelt also finds it "more terrible, of course, if the young fear to face death in a great crisis for a great cause."
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Secretary of Navy Long: President William McKinley, "Acute and Wise," Will Not Seek Third Term
June 11, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1186
In this private note to his daughter, in which he discusses, amongst other things, a birthday present for his daughter, Naval Secretary John Long reveals that President William McKinley will absolutely not be seeking a third term.
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Carl Sandburg: Walt Whitman "Strolls In and Out of the Pages Regularly" of His Lincoln Biography
October 12, 1938
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1110
Carl Sandburg, a poet who won acclaim for his four-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln, tells Morris Lychenheim,one of Whitman’s last surviving friends, that Walt Whitman "strolls in and out of the pages regularly."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1030
Chief Justice Taft looks forward to reading Emmanuel Hertz’s Lincoln addresses, noting that "The fame of Lincoln has spread to every land, and details in respect to his personality will certainly prove to be of interest and usefulness."
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Chief Justice William Howard Taft Comments on an Abraham Lincoln Address by Emanuel Hertz
March 26, 1926
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1031
William Howard Taft, the only man to be both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court here comments, obliquely, on an address about Lincoln, in which Emanuel Hertz has "noted a reference to a suggestion of mine."
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President William McKinley Writes to the Widow of His Vice President and Dear Friend, Mrs. Hobart
March 8, 1900
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 915
In this letter, written four months after the death of his vice-president and dear friend, Garret Hobart, President McKinley thanks Mrs. Tuttle-Hobart for the gift of fruit, and for the wonderful time spent together with her and her son.
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Chaim Weizmann Thanks British Zionist Leader for a Copy of His Book, "The Jews, the War and After"
December 14, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 829
Weizmann thanks the British Zionist leader, Phineas Horowitz, for a copy of his new book, The Jews, the War and After, which he looks forward to reading "with much pleasure and profit."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 925
After lunching with Lincoln biographer and Jewish activist Emmanuel Hertz, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. tells Hertz that he looks forward to receiving the latter's brother's book on Judaism, as well as the Jewish Publication Society's latest translation of the Bible.
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Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Has Received Jewish Books and is Reading Them With "the Greatest of Interest."
March 23, 1927
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 926
Having received the Jewish books from Emmanuel Hertz, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. follows up and tells him that he's already set to reading them with "the greatest of interest."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 927
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. avidly read Joseph Hertz's book about Jewish thought, and lists for Hertz's brother Emanuel, his favorite passages.
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Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Tells Emanuel Hertz He Will Always Try to Justify His Good Opinion
January 14, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 929
Having lunched together and corresponded for some half dozen years, Roosevelt tells Hertz it will always be his earnest endeavor to justify his good opinion.
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Secretary of Interior on Campaign to Stop German Annihilation of Jews -The Holocaust- During WWII
October 18, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1616
Letter from the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, inviting friends to join a campaign to end the German annihilation of the Jews of Europe.
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Herzl Directs U.S. Zionists to Force McKinley to Protest Turkish Discrimination of Jews in Palestine
February 25, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1680
In 1900, the Ottoman Empire officially barred Jews from visiting the Holy Land. The Italian government immediately protested this violation of human rights, which distinguished between Jewish and Gentile Italian citizens. Here, Theodor Herzl aims to introduce the debate to Congress or Senate so that a country as powerful as the United States would emulate Italy's example, inspiring other countries to follow suit.
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President Calvin Coolidge Writes to a Jewish American About the Book "Jewish Thoughts"
September 11, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1650
This brief letter documents a rare instance of Calvin Coolidge communicating with a Jewish American and, rarer still, about an aspect of Judaism: here he thanks Emanuel Hertz for a copy of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire’s popular work, A Book of Jewish Thoughts.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1653
Here, President Calvin Coolidge thanks Emanuel Hertz, the Lincoln scholar and Jewish activist, for his book on Lincoln, confiding that he "is always deeply interested" in Lincoln.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1654
President Herbert Hoover, addressing a Lincoln biographer, suggests that Lincoln's greatness was not in winning a war, but in his conduct and attitude in victory.
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Albert Einstein Tells Cyril Clemens He Consents to Having a Street Named After Him - But That's All
March 25, 1939
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1781
Here Einstein responds to Mark Twain’s third cousin once removed, that he is willing to have a street named for him in Webster Groves, Missouri, but his health won't allow for him to attend the ceremony in order to deliver a speech.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1782
Einstein declines an invitation to join Weltstaatliga (World State League), explaining that he can no longer participate in German public endeavors after the genocide of the Jews.
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President McKinley’s Secretary Cancels McKinley's Engagements "Owing to Mrs. McKinley's Serious Illness"
June 4, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1861
McKinley’s devoted secretary, George Cortelyou regrets to cancel President McKinley's appearance at Harvard University, "owing to Mrs. McKinley's serious illness."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1818
This 1889 letter to a book bindery owner in Philadelphia, thanking him for the gift of an olive wood box which he had made especially for the new President, is the earliest known example of a presidential typewritten letter.
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Reagan Worries That the Left Wants Conservatives in Concentration Camps and Says LBJ is a Bum
November 5, 1964
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1898
Two days after the crushing defeat of Barry Goldwater, Reagan takes stock of the nascent Conservative movement, speculates that the Left wants to see the Right in concentration camps, and gives vent to a rare burst of personal animosity: Lyndon Johnson, he declares, is a bum.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 330
Writing to a minister's wife who was horrified by the 1929 anti-Jewish Hebron massacre in Palestine, President Herbert Hoover responds coolly to her "interesting observations."
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President Harry Truman Defends Atomic Bombing of Japan as "the Only Language" a "Beast" Can Understand
August 11, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 367
Harry Truman defends his use of the atomic bomb, reasoning that the only language the Japanese understand is that of extreme force.
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Extraordinary Orville Wright Letter Discussing the Birth of Manned Flight at Kitty Hawk
December 4, 1919
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 382
Lawrence L. Driggs, who later went on to write extensively about early aviation, wrote a letter to Orville Wright asking him what was "the most interesting or significant episode in the birth of flying at Kitty Hawk." This long letter is Wright's response, primarily describing unusual soaring experiences during various test-flights.
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Sen. John F. Kennedy Declines McCarthyite Alvin Owsley's Invitation to Visit Texas; Invites Him to Lunch
November 11, 1953
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 340
Kennedy’s letter to Alvin Owsley, addressed to him in Dallas, is dated almost ten years to the day on which he would make his ill-fated trip to that city as president. In a sad twist, Kennedy concludes the letter with the hope that he will be able to see Owsley during "one of my visits to Texas on another occasion."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 341
Ahead of his trip to Ireland, President Kennedy reassures his close friend Dot Tubridy that she will be included in all presidential functions.
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President John F. Kennedy On His Historic Trip to Ireland: "It Couldn't Have Been Better. We Loved It."
July 9, 1963
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 342
John F. Kennedy writes to his close friend Dot Tubridy to tell her how much he enjoyed his trip to Ireland and seeing her.
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In 1942, Ensign J.F. Kennedy Requests Sea Duty on a PT Vessel: "Recommendation Approved"
June 26, 1942
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 343
This document sent John F. Kennedy to sea during World War II, where he would become a celebrated hero after his boat sunk, and he swam three miles to shore dragging a shipmate to safety with his lifejacket between his teeth.
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President Kennedy Sends General Maxwell Taylor to South Vietnam to Appraise the Situation
October 13, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 344
Under pressure to send US ground troops to Vietnam, President John F. Kennedy plays for time by sending General Maxwell Taylor to South Vietnam to appraise the situation. Kennedy reminds Taylor that the "initial responsibility for the effective maintenance of the independence of South Viet-Nam rests with the people and government of that country."
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President Harding, About to Leave on the Trip During Which He'll Die, Makes Plans to Meet a King
June 7, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1326
President Warren Harding writes to arrange a royal visit from King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy upon his return from the trip he was embarking on. The meeting would never happen, as Harding would die on the trip.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1327
In this eerie letter, in all probability the last that Harding wrote from the White House, he discusses a memorial proposed to be erected south of the cemetery in Marion, OH. A few weeks later, Harding would be dead, and the memorial erected to him would be in the precise location of the monument he discusses here.
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President Warren G. Harding Acclaims Abraham Lincoln the Apogee of the Golden Age of American Statesmanship
February 20, 1923
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1331
President Warren G. Harding, whose administration would be marred by scandal and corruption, reflects on the Edenic, Lincolnian age of politics, in which all men were giants owing to the "moral intensity of this one man," Abraham Lincoln.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1336
President Warren Harding promises his Solicitor General, James Montgomery Beck, that he would not "overdo it" on a trip across the continent, the stress of which would ultimately kill him.
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Former President Herbert Hoover, at Seventy-Five, Confesses His Hope to Make Ninety - Which He Did
September 25, 1949
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1345
Former President Herbert Hoover congratulates F.A. Seiberling - the founder of Goodyear Tire - on his ninetieth birthday, and hopes that he, too, will be as fortunate to make it to ninety.
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Woodrow Wilson Lobbies for Ratification of the Treaty of Versailles - A Matter of Gravest Consequence
July 19, 1919
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1313
This letter is an example of Woodrow Wilson's attempt to court Republican senators to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, of which he was one of the chief negotiators; Congress refused to ratify it.
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Woodrow Wilson Explains That He Wouldn't, and Couldn't, Pardon Atlantic City Boss Kuehnle
February 25, 1914
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1319
As Governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson brought down crime boss Louis Kuehne. When asked if he would pardon him, Wilson replied that he couldn't, and even if he could, he would not.
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Woodrow Wilson on How the Bodies of America's WWI Dead Are Handled Prior to Eventual Re-Burial in the US
October 9, 1918
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1320
President Woodrow Wilson explains the process by which every fallen soldier is tagged and temporarily buried until their bodies can be brought to their final resting place in the United States.
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Woodrow Wilson on the Emotional Impact WWI Has Had on Him - Which Led to His Devastating Stroke
July 6, 1922
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1321
Woodrow Wilson confides that he doesn't read anything pertaining to World War One that "renews too deeply the emotions of wartime," as he is "too much affected and too upset by it."
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Taft, Running for President Against Theodore Roosevelt, Calls Him a "General Menace" To the Country
October 31, 1912
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1290
Taft says he wouldn't mind losing the election against Roosevelt, if only to have thwarted Roosevelt from gaining a third term in the White House. He calls Roosevelt "a genuine menace to the welfare of our country."
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William Howard Taft Confesses He's "Struggling to Get into a New Trade… Fading Away into Obscurity"
April 6, 1913
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1291
A deflated Taft, who had recently finished third in the elections as a sitting President, appreciates the invitation to a specific event, but regretfully must decline this, and all others, at the moment, until he settles into his new role as a university lecturer. He especially regrets it, as he fears that these invitations will cease as he fades "away into obscurity."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1292
President-Elect William H. Taft informs an acquaintance that since he is about to assume the presidency, he must remain in the United States for at least four years, if he lives.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Thanks His Secretary of War for a "Delightful Old Book of Abraham Lincoln's Debates"
January 10, 1939
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1370
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt expresses his gratitude to his Secretary of War, Harry Woodring, for the gift of a volume of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1372
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had established the National Resources Board as an advisory board to the President regarding "physical, social, governmental, and economic aspects of public policies for the development and use of land, water, and other national resources," now has to step in and prevent a quarrel between the Board and the Army Engineer Corp, who were locked in battle over funding.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1447
President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961. This letter from him wishes the Peace Corps volunteer good luck on the upcoming entrance exams.
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President William McKinley's Appointment of the Antisemitic Selah Merrill as Consul at Jerusalem
January 22, 1898
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1879
President William McKinley reinstalls Selah Merrill as consul at Jerusalem. Merrill held the post for about thirty years prior to this, his last appointment, and was widely known to revile the Jews in the Holy Land.
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Leon Czolgosz's Incredibly Rare Confession to the Assassination of President William McKinley
September 6, 1901
Document Signed
2 pages
SMC 1813
Czolgosz's twice-signed confession to assassinating President McKinley, stemming from anarchist convictions.
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Newly Sworn-in Theodore Roosevelt Reacts with Foreboding: a Heavy and Painful Task Has Fallen Upon Him
September 14, 1901
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1541
Grief-stricken over the death of President William McKinley just hours before, newly sworn-in Theodore Roosevelt describes the task before him as both "heavy" and "painful."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1509
Explaining that "being assigned to any mission is relatively tentative and re-assignment is just the luck of the draw," Jarvis tells his correspondent that after being bumped, he has been assigned to the Challenger as a payload specialist.
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President Ronald Reagan, Burdened by Budget Crisis, Happily Escapes Washington for a Day
June 24, 1983
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1483
President Reagan, who was encountering great difficulty in having his budget passed in the Senate, enjoys a day in New Jersey, addressing the University of Seton Hall.
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President Ronald Reagan on Challenges: "The Best Days Are Always the Ones that Lie Ahead."
January 5, 1984
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1484
In this letter, Ronald Reagan demonstrates the optimism for which he became famous.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1468
President Gerald Ford admires Lincoln more than anyone because of his "honesty, integrity and utmost dedication to the American people," and his willingness to confront slavery.
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Six Months After His Resignation, a Rare Richard Nixon Comment on Watergate: He Took One for the Team
February 3, 1975
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1463
Nixon implies that his resignation of the presidency was done in part to ensure the political survival of associates and supporters.
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Vice President Johnson Quotes JFK's Famous "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You" Challenge
June 29, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1454
In thanking a lawyer for contributing a thoughtful report on business investment, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson misquotes John F. Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you" inaugural challenge.
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Lyndon B. Johnson Writes to the Parents of Astronaut Gus Grissom, Killed in the Apollo I Fire
January 31, 1967
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1459
President Johnson loved the Space Program; loved the astronauts; loved awarding Gus Grissom NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, for being the first American to fly into space twice. Burying Grissom, and his comrades, was a bitter responsibility – which he followed, still, with personal letters of condolence.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1415
In this remarkable letter, Truman, who inherited the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, muses to his ex-Secretary of State about presidential succession in the case of death, or even disability.
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Harry Truman Reads John Nicolay and John Hay on Abraham Lincoln, As He Tries to Write History of Presidency
April 17, 1961
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1417
Harry Truman gratefully accepts the complete works of Lincoln, which he sees as a great help to his research on the history of the presidency.
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Important People, Hoover Explains, Don't Have Time to Write Longhand - Or Like Their Letters Being Sold
April 3, 1959
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1352
Herbert Hoover explains that important men neither have the time to write letters by longhand, nor do they like the "trafficking" of their letters.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, as President-Elect, Recognizes the "Grave Responsibility" He is About to Undertake
November 19, 1932
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1359
Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledges not only the "grave responsibility," but the "great opportunities" in his new role as President.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1471
Autograph quote from Ronald Reagan on a photo of him in front of the Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg gate. The famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1772
In direct contrast to Kaiser Wilhelm II's entrance to Jerusalem on horseback, Edmund Allenby respectfully dismounted before entering the Holy City. He was the first Christian to rule Jerusalem in centuries.
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Abraham Lincoln Signed Photo: The "Solitary Pine Pose," From the January 8, 1864 Sitting
January 8, 1864
Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1702
One of five photographs of Abraham Lincoln taken by Mathew Brady in Washington on January 8, 1864, it is sometimes called "The Solitary Pine" pose, from the comment by Francis Grierson, who saw Lincoln debate Douglas. Lincoln, he said, "rose from his seat, stretched his long, bony limbs upwards as if to get them in working order and stood like some solitary pine on a lonely summit."
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1200
President Hayes inscribes this photograph for his dear friend and avid collector, Thomas Donaldson.
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Abraham Lincoln's Inscription on a Photograph to Lucy Speed, Who Had Gifted Him a Bible
October 3, 1861
Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1097
President Abraham Lincoln expresses his gratitude to Mrs. Lucy Speed, the mother of his best friend when he was in his twenties. Mrs. Speed had given the younger melancholy Abraham Lincoln a Bible and instructed him to read it and adopt its precepts; help would follow.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 1243
Rare signed photograph of Benjamin Harrison as President.
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Signed Photograph
2 pages
SMC 335
A rare signed photograph of Theodore Herzl, addressed to Fraulein Fini Ungar of Vienna.
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Signed Photograph
2 pages
SMC 332
Photo of Herzl signed on the verso with a reference to the day he spent in Jerusalem.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 383
Abraham Lincoln sat for this photo in Roderick Cole's studio in 1858, and reportedly said to Mr. Cole, "I cannot see why all you artists want a likeness of me unless it is because I am the homeliest man in the State of Illinois."
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President-Elect Lincoln Grows His Beard: This Second Photograph, Signed, Depicts the Progress
January 26, 1861
Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 384
At the advice of fellow Republicans, and even an eleven-year-old girl, Abraham Lincoln decided to grow a beard. This photograph depicts the progress of Lincoln's increasingly famous beard.
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Abraham Lincoln Signed Photo from First Washington Sitting, With John Hay Note of Authentication
1861
Signed Photograph
2 pages
SMC 216
One day after sneaking into Washington from Baltimore under cover of darkness, Lincoln, exhausted and pensive, sits as president-elect for this photo—his first taken in Washington.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 132
Signed photo of Mark Twain on the occasion of his speaking tour about his excursion to the Holy Land.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 785
Scarce signed photograph of Alfred Dreyfus, from the collection of the actor and Dreyfusard, Constant Coquelin.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 820
Signed photo of doomed Challenger astronaut Judy Resnik-the second American woman, and the first American Jew, in space
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Theodore Roosevelt Inscribes Photo of His 1905 Inaugural Address With His Keystone "Square Deal" Credo
May 19, 1905
Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 466
Theodore Roosevelt famously argued for each man not to be treated in accordance with his wealth but for his value as a person--otherwise known as a "square deal." Roosevelt emphasized this in his 1905 inaugural address, of which this is a photo with his inscription of the square deal.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 2316
Perhaps the most iconic photo of Theodor Herzl, taken on the balcony of the Three Kings Hotel in Basel, Switzerland, in December of 1901. Signed.
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Signed Photograph
1 page
SMC 2076
The iconic photograph of Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated; inscribed to Cecil Stoughton, the photographer.
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Broadside
1 page
SMC 625
South Carolina proclaims it has dissolved its bonds to the United States, becoming the first state to secede.
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Broadside
1 page
SMC 186
Broadside advertising Henry Dickson's museum of Palestine. Dickson, having lived in Palestine for five years, offers his spectators not only curiosities from the country, but insight as to the dress and custom of the Arab people. He also retells the story of the fateful night in which his family were "beaten, robbed and murdered."
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Signed Portrait
1 page
SMC 752
Max Nordau, co-founder of the World Zionist Congress, psychiatrist, and proponent of the Muskeljudentum, or Muscular Judaism, signs this virile likeness with a self-effacing and vernacular “whatever!"
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Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2234
Lazarus Goldheim 25-cent token: Goldheim, hailing from Baltimore, was the sutler for the 1st Virginia Cavalry, one of the Confederacy's most celebrated fighting units.
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Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2242
This Civil War Sutler token, at 50 cents, is the largest denomination of sutler currency issued during the war. This token was issued by Henry Rice, a Jewish immigrant from Germany, who would come to endorse Abraham Lincoln as a young lawyer, remain friends with Lincoln throughout his career, and even to offer to make his inaugural suit.
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Signed Drawing
1 page
SMC 1452
Likely one of Kennedy's last watercolors, inscribed and gifted to Dot Tubridy, a close family friend of the Kennedys.
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Excessively Rare "Rice and Byers" One Dollar Sutler Token from Fort Sill in the Indian Territory
1870
Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 864
Possibly the only surviving sutler token from the trading post at Fort Sill.
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Alexander Hart's Civil War Sword and Scabbard, Presented Upon His Promotion to Captain
February 22, 1862
Historical artifacts
3 pages
SMC 255
Sword and Scabbard of Alexander Hart, a religious Jewish haberdasher who led the 5th Louisiana Infantry.
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Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, On Hearing that McKinley Has Been Shot, Wires For News
September, 1901
Autograph Telegram Signed
2 pages
SMC 1939
On the back of a railway timetable, Roosevelt writes the wire instructing the head of the facility in which McKinley was taken after being shot to keep Roosevelt appraised of the president's condition. On the other side of the page, a historian wrote Roosevelt's reaction to the news of McKinley's shooting, as well as his reaction to being told McKinley would survive.
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McKinley is Comforted to Learn That His Gravely-Ill Vice President is Improving - 5 Days Before Hobart Dies
November 16, 1899
Autograph Telegram Signed
1 page
SMC 916
This letter, in which President McKinley expresses his relief that Garret Hobart-his vice-president and dear friend-is on the mend, was written a mere five days before Hobart's health took a turn for the worse and he died.
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Autograph Telegram Signed
1 page
SMC 917
Immediately after returning to Washington from visiting the ailing Garret Hobart in New Jersey, McKinley wires him to inquire after his health. Less than three months later, heart disease would finally claim Hobart's life.
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Lincoln's Second Testimonial for Issachar Zacharie, His Mysterious Jewish Chiropodist - And Personal Spy
September 22, 1862
Autograph Testimonial Signed
1 page
SMC 1906
In the midst of a hectic schedule, President Lincoln finds the time to endorse Issachar Zacharie, his Jewish chiropodist and spy: the same week as the bloody Battle of Antietam, and the same day Lincoln read his Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.
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Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 1529
Token of the Jewish sutler G.W. Forbes, who brought matzahs for his coreligionists of the Ohio 23rd regiment to celebrate the seder in 1862.
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Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Ball , 1861: Invitation Printed By, and Naming as a Ball Manager, Adolphus S. Solomons
March 4, 1861
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2367
Rare invitation to Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball, prominently featuring the name of the Jewish manager and printer of the invitation, Adolphus S. Solomons, twice.
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Autograph Manuscript
4 pages
SMC 1706
In an unpublished article, Mark Twain excoriates Theodore Roosevelt for bullying a fifteen-year-old girl and for promoting a man who, it was well known, was "brutal" to a woman in a waiting room.
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Autograph Manuscript
4 pages
SMC 1921
Rabbi Isaac Leeser reviews the American Zionist Warder Cresson's book The Key of David. Leeser explictly states that he does not "wish to be considered as endorsing all Mr. C. advances." Nor does he regularly read his work. However, he continues, it makes for enjoyable reading to those who are "fond of high-seasoned polemical writings."
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Abraham Lincoln’s Final Hours, Death, and Autopsy Report Documented by Dr. Robert Stone
April 15, 1865
Autograph Manuscript
7 pages
SMC 1844
An account of Lincoln's death, written by his personal physician, Dr. Robert K. Stone. This seven-page narrative details Dr. Stone’s dramatic rush to the stricken president’s side, and, some eight hours later, Lincoln’s final minutes, decline, death, and autopsy. The report is stained with human blood; it is, very likely, Lincoln’s.
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Autograph Note
1 page
SMC 744
Max Nordau expresses his gratitude for "an interesting article.
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Autograph Note
1 page
SMC 745
Max Nordau sends New Year's greetings on his own calling card to the Viennese writer and translator Paul Tausig.
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Autograph Note
7 pages
SMC 711
These notes, written by President Kennedy aboard Air Force One illustrate how the most important world events, like our mundane tasks, often begin with the same shorthand scrawlings.
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Autograph Note
6 pages
SMC 125
Mark Twain's notes from 1907, in two sections. One, in the manner of a questionnaire, matches names to places (Joe Goodman's, for instance, with "San Francisco, and Alameda") and indicates where Clemens had not been (Los Angeles & Palmyra); the other section mostly concerns an incident, and includes dialogue.
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Autograph Note
5 pages
SMC 329
Herbert Hoover knew the value of his handwritten letters, as he himself was a collector of autographs. Amongst his collection was Mark Twain, Queen Victoria, and, most valuable, according to Hoover, a letter of Bayard Taylor – the poet, travel writer, and great chronicler of Palestine and the Levant.
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Autograph Note
2 pages
SMC 911
In this leaf from one of Mark Twain's missing notebooks, the young author writes of his upcoming journey to Europe and the Levant. Twain would chronicle the trip in The Innocents Abroad, a book that which would launch his career as a writer.
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Autograph Note
2 pages
SMC 955
President John Tyler accepts an engagement on the condition that no presidential duties get in the way. Since he ascended the presidency merely upon the death of President William Henry Harrison, he was referred to by his detractors as "His Accidency." Here Tyler demonstrates his sense of humor and refers to himself as "an accident," explaining that things might occur which would cause him to break the engagement.
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Typed Manuscript
30 pages
SMC 1012
The 1858 Senate report, which details the murder and rape of the Dickson family in their agricultural colony. The author, Jonathan Steinbeck was a descendent of members of the colony, and the "Outrages at Jaffa" is alluded to in his East of Eden. Herman Melville, inspired by the tragic events, wrote his epic poem Clarel.
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Typed Manuscript
20 pages
SMC 1449
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Quintessential Reagan Speech: He's Sick About RFK's Assassination, About Lawlessness, About Blame
June, 1968
Typed Manuscript
19 pages
SMC 163
Ronald Reagan, speaking here after weeks of unrest at university campuses, the slaying of policemen, and finally, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, takes the current leadership to task for allowing the country to be torn apart.
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Extraordinary Eyewitness Account of the Assassination of President McKinley-Dated One Day After
September 7, 1901
Typed Manuscript Signed
8 pages
SMC 183
De Benneville Randolph Keim, a Washington reporter, was standing right by McKinley when he was assassinated. He took an active role in responding, including carrying the mortally wounded president to an ambulance. This is his account of the assassination.
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President Taft's Eulogy for his Aide, Archibald Butt, Who Went Down with the Titanic Just Days Before
April 19, 1912
Typed Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 366
President Taft mourns his aide and friend Archibald Butt, who went down on the Titanic. Butt was a gentleman and a soldier, and, Taft is certain, would have gallantly gone down with the ship, after seeing to the rescue of others. Butt was last seen standing on the sinking deck with John Jacob Astor.
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Typed Manuscript Signed
4 pages
SMC 1111
Manuscript of Vachel Lindsay's "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" with an early letter from the poet to the Springfield Art Society. Lindsay had conceived of the idea to have a contest in order to design a flag for the city of Springfield. However, he makes it clear in this letter that he wants to have "no hand in the matter."
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 994
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 167
Robert Frost expresses his identification with, and friendship for, the "brave… little" nation of Israel. He also recommends reading the story of Nehemiah, possibly as a prelude to the modern-day restoration of the Jews to Israel.
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
2 pages
SMC 119
Mark Twain's handwritten mockup of the title page and dedication of More Tramps Abroad with a note about Innocents Abroad.
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Abraham Lincoln on Issachar Zacharie, His Mysterious Jewish Foot Doctor and Personal Spy
September 20, 1862
Autograph Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 407
Here, Lincoln describes Issachar Zacharie's removal of corns from the President's feet in order to alleviate "what plain people call back-ache." The two would meet frequently, though not for medical reasons. Zacharie served as a spie, and provided the President with valuable information about various aspects of the Confederacy.
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 2233
His education, Lincoln said, was deficient: it lasted, formally, but a year. At 16 years old, Lincoln created a personal notebook, known then as a sum book. Here, amid arithmetical calculations, he also writes a piece of doggerel, daydreaming about his future.
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Rare, Seemingly Singular Evidence, That John F. Kennedy Knew How to Fly: His 1944 Flight Logbook
May 19, 1944
Signed Book
3 pages
SMC 2074
John F. Kennedy's flight logbook of 1944, in which he took ten solo lessons. No existent documentation exists to explain Kennedy's choice; an odd one, as just that year, he discouraged his brother Bobby from flying, and was growing increasingly anxious about the number of fatalities in his older brother Joe's aviation unit. Joe would be shot down later that year in a secret mission over France.
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Signed Book
1 page
SMC 2384
A rare inscribed reprint of Innocents Abroad inscribed by Twain to his wife, Livy. In the past thirty years, only one other book transcribed by Twain to his wife has appeared. This double-volume edition is premium; bound in morocco and gilt.
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Signed Book
1 page
SMC 638
The Lincoln-Douglas debates over slavery occasioned, in Lincoln, the most audacious rise from obscurity to political prominence in American history. The printing of the debates ensured the ongoing discussion, as well as ensconced them firmly in the American consciousness of the nineteenth century.
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One of the Last Things Signed by William McKinley: A Souvenir Booklet from the Pan-American Exposition
September, 1901
Signed Book
16 pages
SMC 233
President William McKinley was assassinated on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo; it's very possible this souvenir booklet was the very last thing he signed.
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Signed Book
1 page
SMC 1113
The pro-slavery, prestigious ophthalmologist, Dr. Robert K. Stone, served as the Lincoln's family doctor. Here, Stone affixes his signature to a book detailing the miraculous recovery of an ailing woman, cured by taking communion.
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Autograph Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1089
Legal brief from a case in which Abraham Lincoln, in his time known as one of the top lawyers in the country, unsuccessfully defends a farmer in a dispute over a verbal agreement about the price of hogs.
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Autograph Document Signed
6 pages
SMC 1639
P.J. Horwitz, a Baltimore Jew appointed Surgeon General of the Navy, describes in detail the variety of gunshot wounds, and their treatment, early in the Civil War, as most surgeons had not yet encountered gunshot wounds.
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Autograph Document Signed
1 page
SMC 237
Mordecai Manuel Noah and Isaac Leeser propose relief for the poor Jews of Palestine, albeit through different channels. This typifies their differences of opinion and approach where the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land was concerned.
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Autograph Document Signed
1 page
SMC 352
The Oath of December 8 was announced by Lincoln, on that day, in his annual message to congress in 1863. He would offer a pardon to any man who would swear, without coercion, his allegiance to the Union.
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Autograph Document
1 page
SMC 1739
Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, is summoned to President Lincoln's last cabinet meeting, held hours before Lincoln's assassination.
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Signed Book Inscribed
3 pages
SMC 676
Rare signed copy of Dr. Issachar Zacharie's book "Surgical and Practical Observations on the Diseases of the Human Foot." His book, was most likely plagiarized, and his credentials, equally as likely to be false.
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Calling Card
1 page
SMC 594
The author of Ben Hur's calling card, identifying Lew Wallace as the American Minister to Turkey.
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Calling Card
2 pages
SMC 540
Here, future Prime Minister Golda Meir, then Labor Minister Golda Myerson, signs her name, in Hebrew, on her Calling Card, sometime between 1949 and 1956 – before, that is, Ben-Gurion ordered her to Hebraicize her name.
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Calling Card
1 page
SMC 544
This rare autographed calling card of Franklin Pierce was written in haste and left at the occupant's vacant lodgings. Pierce is sorry to have missed the person but asks that they call on him later that evening at his hotel.
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Calling Card
1 page
SMC 515
A cordial Herzl inscribes his thanks, on his personal calling card, "for the good joke," and apologizes for not answering a friendly letter "in the hustle and bustle of recent days."
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Calling Card
1 page
SMC 516
Theodor Herzl asks his friend, the sculptor Samuel Friedrich Beer to show an acquaintance, a Mr. Simon, around his studio.
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Calling Card
2 pages
SMC 519
Thomas Jefferson's calling card; ornately decorated, yet inscribed with the simple "Mr. Jefferson."
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Calling Card
1 page
SMC 521
Andrew Johnson signed his calling card four times, and crossed out one signature and his printed name. It's possible that he did this because he was practising signing his name after his right hand was severely injured in a train wreck.
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 442
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Abraham Lincoln Swears That He Shall Not Retract or Modify the Emancipation Proclamation
December 20, 1863
Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 455
At the request of Henry C. Wright of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Lincoln vows to not retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Transcript & With Malice Toward None Quote in Autograph
March 4, 1865
Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 401
Lincoln writes and autographs the famous "with malice towards none" paragraph from his second inaugural address.
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 296
Frederick Douglass, who was asked by Abraham Lincoln himself what Douglas thought of his second inaugural speech, here autographs the famous Lincolnian quotation from that address.
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Autograph Quotation Signed
2 pages
SMC 284
Mark Twain signs the back of a menu for the The Willard Hotel in January of 1906. The aphorism: "On the whole, it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them."
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 252
Autographed quotation of famous "square deal" with accompanying letter to Richard Lee Fern. The square deal was Roosevelt's call for equal opportunities for every man and woman in the United States. Equality politically, socially, and in "matters industrial."
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 1202
President Rutherford B. Hayes quotes Abraham Lincoln, calling for all to have "an equal start and a fair chance in the race of life."
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 1696
Autographed aphorism, signed as Mark Twain.
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From "Innocents Abroad," Mark Twain's Famous Soliloquy at the Tomb of Adam in the Holy Land
November, 1870
Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 1682
Mark Twain's handwritten irreverent soliloquy from the Tomb of Adam in the Holy Land from Innocents Abroad.
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Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 1551
Lincoln writes and autographs the famous "both sides deprecated war" passage from his second inaugural address.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1601
Handbill for Dr. Cyrus Adler's lecture about his three-year tour of the Levant.
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Famous Painting by John Falter of the 1912 Attempted Assassination of Theodore Roosevelt
October 12, 1912
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1540
This painting depicts the exact moment when Theodore Roosevelt rose to give a speech, and his secretary - an ex-football player named Elbert H. Martin - glimpsed the gun and leapt from the car onto the would-be assassin.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1723
Rail Ticket, in French and Arabic, for the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railroad, 2nd Class. Palestine, no date. Punched and cancelled.
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FDR Assures Fired, and Fired Up, Isolationist Secretary of War: No War Unless Monroe Doctrine is Breached
June 20, 1940
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1376
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, having just fired his Secretary of War, Harry Woodring, responds jovially to the latter's resignation letter. Roosevelt assures Woodring that the United States will maintain a non-interventionist policy with regards to World War II.
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Hiding Two Deadly Illnesses, Franklin D. Roosevelt Dreams of a World Organization for Peace: The UN
March 24, 1945
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1383
In the weeks before succumbing to illnesses, Franklin Delano Roosevelt writes this letter, in which he claims that the necessary solution to warfare is an active participation in a peace organization.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1401
President Truman, who was about to deploy the Truman Doctrine in Greece in order to fight the first proxy Cold War against a communist takeover of that country, expresses reservations about appointing a Greek-American to oversee the distribution of funds to anti-communist factions in Greece.
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"Kennedy Slain on Dallas Street" - The Dallas Morning News November 23, 1963 Edition
November 23, 1963
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2356
Newspaper from the morning after Kennedy's Assassination. Kennedy had signed the same newspaper on the very day of his assassination.
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A Last Thing Signed: John F. Kennedy Autographs a Dallas Newspaper on the Morning of His Murder There
November 22, 1963
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 2168
An edition of The Dallas Morning News signed by President John F. Kennedy on the morning of his assassination. Kennedy was shot at 12:30, making it very likely that this was the last thing he ever signed.
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1856 Poll Book Certifying Abraham Jonas, Lincoln's Intimate Jewish Friend, an Elector
November 4, 1856
Ephemera
3 pages
SMC 2176
Abraham Lincoln appears alongside one of his best friends, a British born Jew named Abraham Jonas, in an 1856 poll book.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 1116
Pass to Lincoln's funeral, on Wednesday, April 19, 1865.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 976
The Copperheads were northern Democrats who blamed the abolitionists for the Civil War and wished to see Lincoln and the Republicans ousted from power. This broadside is a Republican plea to voters to ponder-and ultimately reject-the traitorous nature of the Copperheads and their ringleader, Franklin Pierce. Shortly after this broadside appeared, Lincoln was victorious in his reelection campaign.
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Unused Ticket for Ford's Theatre April 14, 1865 - The Night Lincoln Was Assassinated There
April 14, 1865
Ephemera
2 pages
SMC 214
Unused Ticket for Ford's Theatre April 14, 1865 - The Night Lincoln Was Assassinated There. Autograph note signed in the hand of famed coin dealer James W. Haseltine, dated July 14, 1865, certifying that this original ticket, for the night Lincoln was assassinated, was presented to him by James R. Ford.
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Harper's Weekly With Illustrated Story About Five Union Soldiers, Including a Jew, Executed for Desertion
September 26, 1863
Ephemera
3 pages
SMC 650
Original Harper's Weekly for September 26, 1863 about the execution of five Union deserters at Beverly Ford; with illustrations.
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Rare Ticket to "Texas Welcome Dinner" for President Kennedy, November 22, 1963, at 7:30 PM
November 22, 1963
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 710
Ticket to the Democratic Party's welcome dinner in honor of President Kennedy; it was to be held in Austin in the evening of the day he was shot in Dallas.
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A "Song of Praise" Celebrating the Yishuv's Welcome of U.S. Consul Lew Wallace to Jerusalem
December, 1883
Ephemera
1 page
SMC 837
Song of Praise written and performed in Hebrew on the occasion of the arrival of the U.S. Consul, General Lew Wallace, to Jerusalem.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 856
A scarce travel poster for the French railway, Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, or PLM, to Palestine, by the noted poster artist Hugo D’Alesi.
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Ephemera
1 page
SMC 861
This Thomas Cook travel poster advertising the Nile and Palestine tours is a rare 1901-1903 reprint of the original, produced in the 1870s.
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Ephemera
2 pages
SMC 2077
This rare, early Directory, in which both Clemens and his brother Orion are listed, records for posterity those two months - beginning October 1, 1861 - when "Samuel Clemens" worked as a dollar-a-day clerk for his brother, during the long opening session of the Nevada Territorial Legislature.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1602
A Lincoln card, submitted to his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton on April 20, 1863. This was a busy day for Lincoln, as he was dealing with admitting West Virginia into the Union, fighting in many southern states, and a large force patrolling central Tennessee. This is a small portion of what Lincoln had on his desk that day, and any number of these issues could have concerned Stanton.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1617
A brief note regarding composition from Mark Twain, directing either Elisha or Frank Bliss to set something up in facsimile rather than type.
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President John F. Kennedy "On the Edge of the New Frontier," Wonders What The Next Four Years Will Bring
February, 1961
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 901
John F. Kennedy signs a quote to the photographer, who had recently captured him "on the edge of the new frontier."
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Lincoln, Four Days After Son Willie's Death, Tells Sumner Mary Lincoln Needs His Help - "Can You Come?"
February 24, 1862
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1034
Four days after the death of his eleven year-old son Willie - and as his youngest son still lay seriously ill - a grieving Lincoln asks Mary Lincoln's close friend, Senator Charles Sumner, to call on his inconsolable wife.
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Lincoln Interjects Himself Into a Case of Two Jewish Merchants Charged With Selling Goods to Blockaders
January 8, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1038
Meyer and Philip Wallach were Jewish brothers who were charged with selling goods to blockaders and were held at an infamous prison for Confederate officers. Here, President Lincoln protects them by ordering the head of the prison to keep them in his custody - to neither send them away or allow them to be transferred.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1182
Matthew D. Mann, the physician who tended to President William McKinley on his deathbed, confirms McKinley's fabled last words.
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As Lee Surrenders, Abraham Lincoln Happily Grants a Favor to the Captain of the Riverboat Queen
April 9, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 123
The only surviving Lincoln letter from April 9th, 1865, the day that Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of North Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Written aboard the "River Queen" on the Potomac, President Lincoln grants a favor to the steamboat's Captain Bradford.
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Three Days Before He is Assassinated, Abraham Lincoln Orders the Discharge of a Sickly Boy from the Army
April 11, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
4 pages
SMC 211
Three days before he will be shot and killed, Lincoln responds to a friend’s letter beseeching his help in arranging the discharge of a sickly boy from the army.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 212
On his last birthday, Abraham Lincoln pardons mischievous schoolboys, allowing them to return to school on condition that they do not misbehave.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 193
Abraham Lincoln endorses General Alexander McClernand's pick for the position of sutler (a civilian merchant who sells goods to the army), Henry Rice.
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A Historic Memo: Harry Truman Salutes Dean Acheson's Crucial Role in Going to War With Korea
July 19, 1950
Autograph Note Signed
2 pages
SMC 685
President Harry Truman commends Dean Acheson as Secretary of State for superbly handling events leading up to the Korean War.
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Two Days After Unleashing a Tempest by Firing MacArthur, President Truman Writes to a Journalist
April 13, 1951
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 699
President Truman writes to Merriman Smith, perhaps in response to something Smith had said to the President, a prediction, seemingly, about the great news of the day – Truman’s firing of MacArthur two days before – that inspired this note, with which Truman apparently forwarded “an interesting piece” he had run across in his hometown paper.
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General Eisenhower Approves a Soldier's Request to Shoot Captured Reich Marshal Goering -"The Fat ____"
May 25, 1945
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 702
Eisenhower had ordered every soldier not on the front to tour a concentration camp in order to understand not only the magnitude of the Holocaust, but the enemy itself. As a result, one soldier put in a request to shoot Hermann Goering, if he was indeed to be shot. Goering was sentenced to death by hanging, but took his own life in his cell. Here, Eisenhower refers to the corpulent Goering as "that fat ___"
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 509
Emile Zola's calling card, asking Alfred Dreyfus to send him a document which he has asked Zola to sign.
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Alfred Dreyfus Writes to Emile Zola's Widow to Commemorate the Anniversary of the Publication of "J'Accuse"
January 13, 1910
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 510
Eight years after Emile Zola has died, Alfred Dreyfus continues to expresses his gratitude to Alexandrine Zola, Emile Zola's widow, on the twelfth anniversary of the publication of "J'Accuse."
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Alfred Dreyfus Thanks Senator Leopold Thezard Who Challenged the Refusal to Allow His Wife to Join Him in Exile
November 9, 1905
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 512
Alfred Dreyfus thanks French Senator, Leopold Thezard, who was also a professor of law at Poitiers University, for his support. Thezard argued against the illegality of the French government to deny Lucie Dreyfus the right to join her husband in exile.
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The Day He Dies, Lincoln Writes a Pass to Richmond for Wife of the Doctor Who Would Attend His Death-Bed
April 14, 1865
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 575
Lincoln issues a pass for Mrs. Alice Stone to travel to Richmond; by that night her husband, the Lincoln family physician, would be attending at Lincoln’s deathbed.
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Lincoln Would be Glad to See General Milroy but knows "...He Wishes to Ask for What I Have Not to Give"
October 19, 1863
Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 570
Abraham Lincoln gracefully sidesteps a meeting with the problematic General Milroy, who was arrested for losing half of his troops. Milroy railed against his superiors, who jailed him for his actions, and continuously pestered Lincoln for his release and restoration to command.
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Autograph Note Signed
2 pages
SMC 2117
Samuel Clemens explains his nom de plume as originating as a navigational term along the Mississippi. "Mark Twain" signified a depth sounding of two fathoms, and was called out by the leadsman; it was a term Twain, having served as a riverboat captain, would have heard daily.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 2038
Lincoln, who always liked to give his son Tad special gifts, asks here for two maps for his son.
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Signed Photograph Inscribed
1 page
SMC 1771
Inscribed photo by Thomas Edison, identifying himself as the inventor of the light bulb.
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Signature of James Calhoun, Custer's Brother-in-Law, Killed With Him at the Battle of Little Bighorn
1873
Signature
2 pages
SMC 1157
Rare signature of Lieutenant James Calhoun, Custer's brother-in-law, who died with him at Little Bighorn on what would come to be known as Calhoun Hill.
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Signature
1 page
SMC 671
Signature of John Jordan Crittenden III, whose father, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden was a Lieutenant Colonel who secured for his son an army commission after the latter failed out of West Point. The frail, one-eyed Lieutenant met his end at Little Bighorn with General Custer.
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Signature
2 pages
SMC 674
Signature of Second Lieutenant Henry Moore Harrington, who was killed with Custer at Little Bighorn. His was one of three bodies to not have been identified.
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Signature
1 page
SMC 155
Rare Hebrew University postcard signed by Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein, who, as much as anyone, made the dream of a Hebrew University in Jerusalem a reality.
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Theodor Herzl Sends Postcard From Jerusalem to Menachem Ussishkin Ahead of Meeting With Kaiser Wilhelm
October 31, 1898
Card Signed
2 pages
SMC 207
In 1898, Theodor Herzl came to Jerusalem to ask Kaiser Wilhelm to appeal to the Turks for the creation of a Jewish state under a German protectorate. He sent Menachem Ussishkin a postcard from the Holy City.
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Card Signed
1 page
SMC 503
Samuel Clemens's calling card, signed on the back as Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens.
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John Quincy Adams Signs a Card Depicting William Henry Harrison's (Alleged) Log Cabin Birthplace
1840
Card Signed
1 page
SMC 498
Here, ex-President and incumbent Congressman John Quincy Adams has indited his signature on a calling card-size piece of William Henry Harrison campaign memorabilia: an embossed card with an elaborate vignette of Harrison’s log cabin birthplace.
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Autograph Sentiment Signed
4 pages
SMC 257
Jerry Parr, who is credited with saving Ronald Reagan's life, gives his account of the assassination attempt. Everything that happened in the three seconds between the first pop of gunfire to the door of the presidential limo slamming shut, is broken down into slow-motion, from the moment Reagan leaves for his luncheon at the Washington Hilton, to his remarks prior to entering surgery.
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Autograph Sentiment Signed
1 page
SMC 1068
Autograph from Millard Fillmore to an unknown recipient, Washington, February 20, 1851. The day after he delivered to Congress his report on the Fugitive Slave Law crisis.
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Autograph Sentiment Signed
1 page
SMC 1657
In this autographed sentiment signed, Herbert Hoover describes himself as "once of Washington D.C., now, fortunately elsewhere."
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Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 1811
Abraham Lincoln directs the release of "this boy" who had enlisted in the Union Army and received the standard bonus. Whether the boy was underage, AWOL, or a bounty-jumper(one of many who signed up for the enlistment bonus and then deserted) is unknown.
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Millard Fillmore Asks Lincoln for a Favor; On the Back of the Letter, Lincoln Takes Steps to Oblige Him
May 19, 1863
Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 1065
Former President Fillmore asks President Lincoln to intercede on behalf of his nephew, a disgraced lieutenant. On the verso of the letter, Lincoln takes steps to oblige Fillmore, but ultimately did not intervene in the case.
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Autograph Endorsement Signed
1 page
SMC 209
Lincoln asks William Alexander Hammond, the Surgeon General of the Union Army if a Mr. Bushnell should be appointed. Hammond replies in the affirmative, as there is a place for Bushnell at Louisville.
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Jewish Civil War Union Surgeon Morris Asch Rules on Another Surgeon's Exorbitant Bill
December 2, 1861
Autograph Endorsement Signed
6 pages
SMC 157
A Dr. McCoy, accused by the Surgeon General of charging exorbitantly for emergency services rendered, has had his bill cut in half. Asch rejects McCoy's appeal, and upholds the decision to reduce the bill.
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Franklin Pierce Describes Nathaniel Hawthorne's Last Night Alive on Their Trip to New England
May 19, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 583
Former President Pierce tells the story of his friend, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne's demise, detailing their last trip and the epic moment of Pierce’s discovery of his death.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 584
In this marvelous letter, Theodore Roosevelt, about to be inaugurated for the second time, takes a haberdasher to task for some shoddy tailoring.
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David Ben-Gurion on God’s Promises to His People: Strength and Peace – One Given, the Other, Coming
July 22, 1971
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 664
Two years before the Yom Kippur War, and quoting from Psalms, David Ben Gurion tells a correspondent that there is definitely trouble brewing with Egypt, yet God promises his people two things: strength and peace. The former is obtained, and the latter, Ben-Gurion has faith, is coming.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 939
In response to a pastor's request for an autograph of John Quincy Adams alongside that of his father, John Adams, John Quincy readily obliges with his own autograph, but explains that towards the end of his father's life, "his eyes and hands had almost ceased to serve him and he dictated even his signatures."
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Andrew Jackson Predicts Martin van Buren Will Win with a Greater Majority Than Any Since Washington
October 4, 1836
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 944
Andrew Jackson incorrectly predicts that his Vice President and chosen successor Martin van Buren would win the upcoming election by a landslide. Van Buren emerged victorious, but it was a close race.
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Martin van Buren, Just Two Days Into James K. Polk's Term, Prepares to Write His Political Antagonist
March 6, 1845
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 948
Feeling betrayed, Martin van Buren prepares to protest political appointments made by James K. Polk just days after the latter assumed the presidency.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 952
Under Tyler's Presidency, Texas was acquired as the twenty eighth state. In this letter, written as Vice President, Tyler recommends someone to consul, as Texas was, at the time, a foreign country.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 954
President John Tyler, writing to his wife amidst a "political storm," tells her that the Presidency is a prison, from which he can only escape for minutes.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 961
President Pierce fears that if the Kansas-Nebraska Bill-which granted the States the right to decide on slavery-would not pass, Civil War would ensue.
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Pierce on His Favorite Portrait of Himself, That of His Dead Son, and Those of the First Five Presidents
June 7, 1854
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 962
Franklin Pierce writes to Francis Bicknell Carpenter, a renowned painter who would go on to achieve even greater fame with his paintings of Lincoln, especially of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation. Here, Pierce expresses the great satisfaction he and Mrs. Pierce take in Carpenter’s portrait of his dead son – painted from a daguerreotype following the boy's tragic death in 1853.
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David Roberts Sends Sketches of Holy Land to Archaeologist to Refute Famous Argument About Temple Mount
February 2, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 645
Ahead of a meeting of the Royal Institute of British architects in London, David Roberts sends his sketches to the archaeologist J.J. Scoles, with whom he would collaborate to debunk James Fergusson’s thesis that the Dome of the Rock was the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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Grover Cleveland, the Only President to Be Married in the White House, Writes His Bride About Wedding
May 23, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1164
Love letter from President Grover Cleveland to his secret fiance, Frances Folsom, outlining every detail of their upcoming nuptials in the White House.
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Grover Cleveland, First President to Marry in the White House, Handwrites an Invitation to His Wedding
May 28, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1165
President Grover Cleveland invites his Postmaster to his wedding the following Wednesday, with a hand-written invitation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1183
Edna M. Hurry, a fifteen-year-old bookkeeper, goes into striking detail in her eyewitness account of President William McKinley's assassination.
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President Rutherford B. Hayes Salutes Service of U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton
July 26, 1877
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1198
Hayes salutes the service of his Civil War comrade-in-arms in "the old 23rd," Brigadier General John Eaton Jr., as the United States Commissioner of Education.
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Homesick General Eisenhower Writes of a WWII Visit to Jerusalem and Levant at Christmas
December 26, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 708
Homesick Eisenhower writes to his wife to thank her for Christmas gifts and to express his longing to see her. He omits his recent promotion as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
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Theodore Herzl Writes a Condolence Letter, Seemingly in Connection With Anti-Semitic Attacks
April 17, 1890
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 729
Theodor Herzl writes a condolence letter amidst an outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks beginning in Vienna, and sweeping through Austria.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 731
Theodor Herzl tries to garner support for his vision of a Jewish State amongst the Hasidic Jews of Europe. Herzl sets forth his ecumenical vision, where Jews would be free to practise (or to not practise) their religion in their own way, with no "falling out over matters of religion." Herzl mentions the first Zionist Congress, confident that the Jews will obtain their ancestral homeland of Palestine.
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Theodore Herzl Admits to Exhaustion But Swears to Continue "The Great Campaign...As Long as I am Able"
November 10, 1896
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 732
Theodore Herzl admits to exhaustion but vows to continue the "great campaign" for as long as he is able.
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Theodor Herzl Writes of a Matter Unknown, He Says, Even to His Editor, Amidst the Dreyfus Affair
July 27, 1899
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 736
Theodore Herzl writes excitedly about a matter unknown to his editor, Edward Baher. He doesn't want his correspondent to lose one day on this scoop, so Herzl returns his manuscript immediately. Given the date of the letter, it's very likely that it has to do with Dreyfus's having just been brought back from Devil’s Island to face a second trial in Paris.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 754
Max Nordau agrees to help a Mrs. E. Woodruff with her book, vowing to send his "literary might" shortly.
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Max Nordau Praises the Juvenile Poetry of "E. Babette Deutsch" and Predicts an Exceptional Future
October 22, 1907
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 755
Over a decade before she became famous as a poet, novelist, critic and translator, Babette Deutsch received this letter of praise from Max Nordau.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 759
Max Nordau had put forth the idea of "Muscular Judaism" at the 1898 Zionist Congress. His vision was one of men who were physically and morally fit. Here, he exchanges photographs with Hubert Carleton, the proponent of the Episcopalian version of his vision, called "Men and Religion Forward."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 769
David Ben Gurion tells his correspondent that Israel was founded by pioneers but now needs immigrants from free countries, most notably the United States, to come and populate it.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 771
David Ben-Gurion encourages Ida Camelhor Silverman, an eighty-six year old Hadassah officer, to visit Israel, citing the Biblical Sarah and Moses Montefiore as examples of people who travelled to Israel at advanced ages. Two years after receiving this letter, Silverman actually settled in Israel, where she would die two years after making Israel her home.
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Fifteen Years as Prime Minister is Enough, David Ben-Gurion Says: Now He's Writing the History of Israel
June 27, 1966
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 772
David Ben-Gurion explains to an admirer that he left politics because no single person should be practically synonymous with a country. He has a different and important task at hand: writing his epic history of Israel from 1870-1965.
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David Ben-Gurion Asks a Manuscript Collector About a 1945 Photograph, At the Start of the Six-Day War
June 6, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 774
A day into the Six-Day War, David Ben Gurion asks manuscript collector and Lincoln scholar Justin Turner for a photo.
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Chaim N. Bialik on the Jewish Persecutions in the Diaspora and the Determination to Make a Home in Zion
May 19, 1934
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 782
Writing in 1934, Bialik affirms that the latest persecutions of the Jewish people necessitate the creation of a Jewish state.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 792
Here, Einstein writes a conciliatory letter, appreciating that Selig Brodetsky is not alienated by his gruff manner in handling and discussing the Hebrew University, a cause so dear to his heart. At the time a mathematician at the University of Leeds, Brodetsky would go on to become the Hebrew University's president twenty years later.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 793
Einstein expresses support for creating a Jewish homeland in Peru, and offers to do what he can to promote the project, cognizant that lending his name to a project concerning Jews will certainly have an impact.
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Autograph Letter of Astronaut Judy Resnik-Killed in the Challenger Disaster-About Autographs
January 25, 1978
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 819
Judy Resnik, the second American woman, and second Jewish person in space, responds to requests for autographs and photographs.
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Campaigning for General Land Office Commissioner, Lincoln Asks Congressman to Write to “Old Zach” About Him
June 1, 1849
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 853
Abraham Lincoln writes to Representative Moses Hampton of Pennsylvania, a congressman with whom whom he had served. Lincoln was seeking the position of commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington. and wanted Hampton to put in a good word for him with President Zachary Taylor. Lincoln did not get the position.
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Rare Gerald Ford Presidential Letter Written After His "Tough and Traumatic" Defeat By Jimmy Carter
November 6, 1976
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 876
Defeated President Gerald Ford writes to Congresswoman Edith Green of Oregon to thank her for her support during the difficult loss of the presidency.
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Five Weeks After Having Been Shot and Almost Killed, Ronald Reagan is Pleased with Recovery
May 4, 1981
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 890
Five weeks after the assassination attempt, President Ronald Reagan writes to his friend Glenn Ford, telling him that he feels fine, and is even surprising the doctors, which, in turn, makes him feel even better.
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Grover Cleveland Celebrates a Great Deception: The One Year Anniversary of His Secret Cancer Surgery
July 1, 1894
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 891
President Grover Cleveland writes to his friend and personal physician, Dr. Joseph Bryant, on the occasion of the one year anniversary of Cleveland's secret cancer surgery. The surgery, to remove a tumor on the president's jaw, was astonishingly performed on a yacht anchored on Long Island Sound, in order to conceal the President's condition from the public. Remarkably, the secret was kept for a quarter of a century.
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"Honest Abe" Lincoln, Annoyed About an Unpaid Bill, Orders It Paid – On the Day He Effectively Declares War
April 19, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 907
On a very busy day for Lincoln; the day we would declare war on the South, he discovers that his bill for his ten day stay at the Willard Hotel prior to his inauguration remains outstanding. He sends his secretary, John Nicolay, with this letter to the hotel owners, instructing them to give Nicolay the receipt and he will write a check for the amount immediately.
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Abraham Lincoln, in a Prelude to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Agrees to Follow Douglas to Bloomington
July 15, 1858
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 909
Abraham Lincoln writes to his friend William H. Hanna to assure him that he will follow Douglas on his speaking tours to take advantage of any "openings."
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President James Madison Tracks Down His Shipment, Seized in the Embargo, of 114 Gallons of Brandy
November 24, 1809
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 932
Here President Madison writes to the Collector of the Port of New York, David Gelston, that a pipe of brandy (114 gallons) was sent him to him but "carried into England," resulting in the condemnation of the offending vessel. The brandy, being "neutral cargo," was saved. Now Madison asks that the brandy be sent to him in Washington.
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President James Monroe on Purchase of Florida and John Adams's Recommendation of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse
June 15, 1821
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 934
President Monroe writes to his Secretary of War, James Calhoun about the Purchase of Florida, and about John Adams's recommendation of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse as medical superintendent of military facilities in New England.
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The Ultimate Presidential Rarity: An Autographed Letter of the Sick, Soon to Die, William Henry Harrison
March 10, 1841
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1558
One of three autographed letters in existence by President William Henry Harrison. The bedridden president confesses that he is "so much harassed by the multitude that call upon me that I can give no proper attention to any business of my own."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1462
Though Harry Truman called Richard Nixon a lying bastard, Nixon writes to Truman's nephew (and namesake) and tells him their differences were not personal, and that he should be proud of his heritage.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1575
Young Mark Twain, during his four month stint in Hawaii, makes plans to see Haleakala, a volcano on Maui.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1544
President Lincoln asks Major Ramsey on behalf of a widowed woman to find work for her two sons. "Wanting to work is so rare a merit, that it should be encouraged," Lincoln continued, echoing his own famous work ethic.
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Fresh From His Capture of Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant Reports From Gettysburg: "Meade Whipped Lee Badly"
July 10, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1545
General Ulysses S. Grant assures Major General Banks-whose army lay in siege around the Mississippi-with two pieces of news. The first is that he is sending reinforcements. The second is that Major General George Meade defeated General Lee, and was pursuing him.
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Lincoln Asks General Grant as a Friend, for a Favor: Find a Place for His Son, Robert, on His Staff
January 19, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1548
In order to broker a compromise between his wife, who had already buried two sons, and Robert Todd, who desperately wished to experience the war, Lincoln writes to Grant, not as President, but as a friend, asking him to find a place on his staff for Robert to serve. Lincoln asks merely for his son to be given a nominal rank and that Lincoln himself, and not the public, would furnish his necessary means.
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Reagan Promises To Work for Foe Nixon in '68 : "We Haven't Too Many More Chances in This Land of Ours"
August 22, 1968
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1473
Ronald Reagan, who lost the Republican nomination to Nixon, promises to "beat his brains out" in supporting his former foe; the Republican party doesn't have "too many more chances."
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Ronald Reagan Describes Himself as a "Crier of Doom"– And Claims Not to Aspire To the Presidency
August 4, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1474
Ronald Reagan contends that America cannot survive another four years of Lyndon B. Johnson's administration's "aimlessness." He therefore calls himself a "crier of doom," as he vows to help enact political change.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1475
Governor Reagan responds to a man who sharply condemns his unwillingness to prevent the execution of a man convicted for killing a policeman. Despite the combative nature of the man's letter (also transcribed here), Reagan willingly engages the man in discussing the function and protocol of the judicial system in the context of capital punishment.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1476
Ronald Reagan's draft of a letter to a Vietnam serviceman expressing his gratitude for his and other soldiers' service. Reagan calls for both a policy and leadership change, alluding to Johnson's handling of the war.
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Reagan, Arguing for Capital Punishment, Discusses the Rabbinic Interpretation of the Sixth Commandment
April 20, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1477
Reagan corrects protestors of the death penalty who quote the Bible saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill," referring to capital punishment. According to the original Hebrew, Regan argues, the Bible commands one not to murder - the convicted was, himself, charged with murdering a police officer in the first degree. The Bible also calls for reciprocal justice, ie, "an eye for an eye."
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Ronald Reagan Declares that JFK Was Much More "Intelligent and Perceptive" Than President Johnson
June 2, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1478
Ronald Reagan admits that he doesn't know exactly what President Kennedy would have done with regards to the Vietnam War, though he is certain that JFK was more "intelligent and perceptive" than Johnson, whom he doesn't name directly.
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Christa McAuliffe, a Teacher, Writes About Her Excitement Going Into Space on the Ill-Fated Challenger
August 16, 1985
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1508
Christa McAuliffe was the first civilian selected to join astronauts on a space mission. A school teacher, she was planning to give lessons from the spacecraft, to be broadcast live; she would show her students how astronauts ate, slept, and lived on the space shuttle. This letter, written five months before the tragic live broadcast explosion of the Challenger, reflects McAuliffe's enthusiasm for her mission.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1510
Dick Scobee writes that he hopes to be selected as a space shuttle astronaut. He eventually would become the commander of the ill-fated Challenger.
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Benjamin Harrison Names Solomon Hirsch Minister to Turkey, the Third Jew to Hold That Diplomatic Rank
May 15, 1889
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1531
Solomon Hirsch tops President Benjamin Harrison's list of diplomatic appointees. Harrison was indebted to the German-born Hirsch, who carried his home-state of Oregon as Republican.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1552
Though Lincoln had almost no experience in government, his new Republican party swept to victory in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in the Congressional elections of October 9th, and it looked, almost for a certainty, Lincoln writes here, "as if the Government is about to fall into our hands."
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Abraham Lincoln's Scarce Reference to Deaths of Mother and Sister, With Accompanying Poem About Memory
April 18, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1553
In all of Abraham Lincoln's surviving letters, he only mentions the death of his mother twice, and the loss of his sister once; both are mentioned here. Lincoln also includes a poem he wrote on the occasion of returning to his home state twenty years after he departed it.
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Lincoln is "Not in a Sentimental Mood" Having Heard Reports of the Bloody Battle of the Wilderness
May 7, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1554
After just having heard that the union lost 1776 men in the Battle of the Wilderness, amongst other bad news, Lincoln was asked to give a sentiment for an autograph collector, Lincoln replied "I would give a sentiment, but just now I am not in a sentimental mood."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1298
After being betrayed by his mentor, Theodore Roosevelt, who tried to secure the Republican nomination for himself, Taft, having recently won the nomination, lets schadenfreude wash over him as Roosevelt is defeated.
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Vice President Calvin Coolidge: His New Job is of Little Responsibility But He's Kept Busy All the Same
November 8, 1921
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1339
Vice President Calvin Coolidge tells the Archbishop of Boston that though his job carries little responsibility, the demands on his time are enormous.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1342
A scarce autograph letter from Coolidge's presidency, thanking a retiring Republican congressman for his service, and wishing him well.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1347
One of six or seven autographed handwritten letters by Herbert Hoover as President. Here, he is conscious of the rarity of his letters, and playfully writes this one, his quota for the year, he jokes.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1373
After forgiving his old and dear friend many missteps, Franklin Roosevelt finally fires Harry Woodring as Secretary of War.
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He's "Young, Inexperienced and Hopeful. Let's Hope the Hopeful Works." - Truman on Kennedy
September 25, 1961
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1406
Truman initially regarded Kennedy as as young, inexperienced, and up for office because his father bought him the vote. Here, Truman supports Kennedy's handling of the Berlin crisis, which saw the city divided between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. Rather than seeing Kennedy's actions as weak, he praised the President's leadership in buying time with the Soviets in order to retain control of half the city.
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Former President Rutherford Hayes Expresses Satisfaction with Himself, His Successor, and John Sherman
March 6, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1213
Two days after leaving office, Rutherford B. Hayes writes to John Sherman, his Secretary of the Treasury, to thank him for his help. Hayes also adds that he's happy with his successor, and that he read Sherman's farewell speech to the Treasury, which did much to dispel the notion that Sherman was "too cold in temperament."
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An Eerie Prescience: James Garfield Finds a "Streak of Sadness" in His Nomination as President
July 3, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1216
President James Garfield, who would be assassinated, or mortally wounded nearly a year to the day he wrote this letter, eerily finds a "streak of sadness" in his nomination for the Presidency. Garfield was shot less than four months into his term; he lingered for seventy-nine days before finally succumbing to his wounds.
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President Benjamin Harrison Discusses a Letter Written by his Grandfather, William Henry Harrison
May 25, 1892
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1235
President Benjamin Harrison thanks Curtis Guild, Sr., a collector, for sending him a copy of a letter written by his grandfather, William Henry Harrison. The President is pleased to have obtained a letter of "great family interest."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1236
Young Benjamin Harrison, who had made stump speeches for President Lincoln's campaign calls in a favor just two days into Lincoln's administration: he endorses Senatorial Elector and Lincoln canvasser Will Cumback as worthy of "a mark of Administrative favor." Lincoln appoints Cumback paymaster.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1204
The election of Rutherford B. Hayes hung, precariously, on disputed returns from four states -- chief among them, Louisiana. Here, long after the fact, Hayes reviews with one of his chief lieutenants, John Sherman, what happened there, and why.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1206
President Rutherford B. Hayes claims that the Roman punch served in his White House contains no alcohol.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1238
President Benjamin Harrison writes to his aunt, and tells her that with not a soul in the White House but himself, it is "very lonesome."
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Former President Benjamin Harrison Explains That Former Presidents Should Be Seen and Not Heard
September 4, 1900
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1244
Appalled by William McKinley's imperialism, Benjamin Harrison declines to endorse and speak on his behalf, insisting that former presidents should be "seen and not heard."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1250
Roosevelt writes to his friend and family physician Dr. Alexander Lambert, whose father had recently passed away.
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Theodore Roosevelt Pens Congratulatory Letter on White House Card: Lauds Utica Public Library
December 15, 1908
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1251
President Theodore Roosevelt salutes Utica philanthropist Frederick T. Proctor and the Public Library he supported, on the excellent work it is doing, and wishes it good luck.
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Edith Roosevelt on Her Husband's Recovery from an Assassination Attempt and the Bullet Left Inside Him
February 3, 1913
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1254
Edith Roosevelt writes to a friend who had asked the Roosevelts for medical as well as financial guidance. Mrs. Roosevelt answers that the medical advice should be left to their family physician; Theodore will dispense with the financial advice after the medical issue is resolved. She mentions in passing that the surgeon has deemed it safer to leave the bullet in Theodore's chest, which makes her anxious.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2182
General Butler, discussing the arrest of two Jewish blockade-runners, displays his notorious anti-Semitism.
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Writing to Gideon Welles, Abraham Lincoln Attends to a Request From Jewish Congressman Leonard Myers
September 9, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2340
Republican Congressman Leonard Myers of Pennsylvania, renowned for his dedication to civil rights, wrote to President Abraham Lincoln not infrequently on behalf of those seeking an introduction, an appointment, or something to do with the machinations of war. Here, Lincoln writes to the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, that he wishes to accommodate Myers's request to appoint Charles R. Wilson to the Naval School.
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Republican Nominee Abraham Lincoln Mentions His Childhood Friends of Spencer County to Former Employer William Jones
June 18, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2342
Abraham Lincoln, returning to Indiana, says it would be rather nice to see his "old Spencer County friends."
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Mary Surratt's Daughter Petitions Andrew Johnson for the Return of Her Mother's Remains
February 5, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2033
Mary Surratt was hanged as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. She was also the first woman executed by the United States government. Here, her daughter, Anna, successfully petitions President Andrew Johnson for the return of her body.
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General Custer Wants Brother Who Would Die With Him at Little Bighorn Appointed a Second Lieutenant
March 14, 1872
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2054
General Custer unsuccessfully requests that his youngest brother, Boston, be appointed second lieutenant in the Seventh Cavalry. Boston was not even admitted to the US army, due to his frail health. Custer ensured his brother was with him, and ultimately died with him, by appointing him as a scout.
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Grover Cleveland, Recovering From Secret Cancer Surgery, Reports He is "Getting to be Quite a Drunkard"
December 17, 1893
Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 1970
Recovering from his secret cancer surgery aboard a yacht a few months prior, Grover Cleveland reports to his physician and dear friend that he is having "a couple of drinks of whiskey a day, with very good results; and I smoke a cigar every day too."
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Former First Lady Frances Cleveland Reports Ailing Grover Cleveland is "Breaking Up Generally"
December 4, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 2018
Although Grover Cleveland seems to be on the mend, with his "temperature, pulse & respiration" now normal, Frances Cleveland is still a bit distraught over her husband's slow recovery. He still has "trouble with his gut" and is perturbed that he's not gaining strength. It appears he's "breaking up generally." Cleveland would live for another seven years.
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Incredibly Rare Czolgosz Letter – 5 Weeks Before He Assassinated McKinley – as "Fred Nobody"
July 30, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1817
A rare and disjointed letter from Leon Czolgosz, ominously written in red ink, approximately five weeks before he would assassinate President William McKinley, signed as his alias, Fred C. Nieman.
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While "Driving Out" Indians From Little Bighorn, Custer Envisions the Mining Fortunes to be Made There
May 13, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1822
General Custer writes to his old classmates from Hopedale Normal College - which he attended before West Point - to tell them of the potential of a serious fortune made from their collaboration in mining in the Bighorn country.
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Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 1849
In Istanbul, Grant was struck by scenes of the refugees – many of them, Bulgarian Jews – who had fled the notoriously anti-Semitic Russian invaders during the just-concluded Russo-Turkish War. Grant also discusses the gift of an Arabian horse from the sultan and the logistics involved in shipping it back to the United States.
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Titanic Postcard: Rare Postcard From the Titanic - Sent at Beginning of Voyage; Ship "A Peach," In NY "Next Tuesday"
April 11, 1912
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1893
Charlie Shorney writes to his father from the Titanic, telling him that the sea is calm, the ship is a "peach," and that he will be in New York next week. Charlie went down with the ship, and his body was never recovered.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1895
Just five days after Zola published “J’accuse!” in the French newspaper L’Aurore, Pissarro writes to say that he wishes his name added to “the protestation against the awful judgment of the court-martial” to be published, apparently, in that crusading paper.
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President James Garfield's Assassin, Charles Guiteau, Convicted and in Jail, Declares He is Not a Lunatic
April 11, 1882
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1907
Here the disagreeable, disputatious, and insane assassin of President Garfield, Charles Guiteau, declares he is not a lunatic, and that the woman, his sister who raised him, and the brother-in-law who acted as his lawyer at his trial, are nuisances, with whom he, a convicted assassin awaiting execution in jail, wants nothing to do.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1914
Millard Fillmore loses the nomination but his party maintains the Compromise measures done in his term, which he considers a greater personal victory than the presidency.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1928
President William Henry Harrison's secretary, Henry Harrison, writes to his father, Benjamin Harrison, to inform him of the impending death of the President.
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William T. Sherman Recalls His Trip to the Levant, and Teases His Lady Friend About Harem Life
January 20, 1890
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1587
William T. Sherman writes to Mary Audenried, teasingly warning her that travelling in the Middle East is especially hazardous to women, and that she could find herself in a harem. Sherman insists that western women are treated more as equals than women in the Levant.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1615
Replying to Mrs. Cleveland's letter thanking him for his stirring eulogies of her husband, President William Howard Taft reiterates his genuine respect for President Grover Cleveland as a man of courage and public duty.
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Grover Cleveland Complains of an Avalanche of Unwelcome Invitations, As He Plans a Pleasure Trip Out of Town
August 18, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1622
Grover Cleveland expresses his exasperation for the niceties and public appearances necessitated by being the President of the United States, and says he's as "cross as a bear."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1648
Justice Benjamin Cardozo thanks Emanuel Hertz for his pamphlets on Lincoln, "which are sure to interest" him.
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William McKinley Invites Old Friend to Go with Him to His Gubernatorial Inauguration: "Don't fail me."
January 5, 1892
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1666
William McKinley urges his friend John Taylor and his wife to join him and his wife to travel together to McKinley's induction ceremony as Governor of Ohio. He would later call upon the same friends to accompany him to his inauguration as president.
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Olivia Clemens Quotes “Mr. Clemens” - Mark Twain - About a Phrase in “Following the Equator”
January 9, 1898
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1670
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1673
Mark Twain gently Emerson's prose as being like "gravel in the bread," while at the same time complimenting Laura Wright Benjamin on her husband, William Wright, whose nom de plume was Dan de Quille.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1676
James Buchanan, a confirmed bachelor, teasingly laments his "usual hard fate when ladies are the question" – having missed a social call – and comments on a pending marriage.
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Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 1684
A long and flirtatious letter from the young bachelor Mark Twain to Emma Beach, primarily about their recently shared “Quaker City” excursion to Europe and the Holy Land. He discusses, amongst other things, a lecture he's been up all night writing, and how the photos taken of him in Egypt are a terrible likeness.
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Mark Twain's Last Day in New York Before Leaving on the "Quaker City," Spent Drinking With Writers
June 8, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1686
A letter written in the wee hours of the morning after an evening and night spent drinking. Twelve hours later, Twain would be aboard "The Quaker City."
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Mark Twain Promotes his "Quaker City" Roommate to His Publisher as a Promoter of The Innocents Abroad
December 28, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1687
Dan Slote, Mark Twain's roommate on the "Quaker City" voyage, has sold about 200 copies of The Innocents Abroad to his friends, and given away about a dozen more. He is very well-connected, and can sell more copies. Twain asks his publisher to supply Slote with about 50 more copies of the book at a 40% discount, to be paid after he's sold the books.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1688
Twain is asked by a correspondent for recommended reading. Here he lists his favorite books.
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Mark Twain Says He Cannot Deliver a "Light and Nonsensical Speech" While President Garfield is Dying
August 23, 1881
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1693
Mark Twain explains he cannot deliver a "light & nonsensical speech" while fatally wounded President Garfield is dying. Signed as Samuel Clemens.
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Mark Twain Discovers His Newfound Celebrity Status Upon his Return from His "Quaker City" Voyage
December 13, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1681
Mark Twain only realizes that his correspondence from his travels have made him something of a celebrity writer upon his return.
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1695
Mark Twain deflects the responsibility for offending a Madame Blanc, and blames her French lack of humor.
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Mark Twain Can't Remember Recent Things But Vividly Recalls His Hannibal Courier Co-Workers
January 17, 1886
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1699
Mark Twain declares that "recent names & things take no hold" on his "bald-headed memory; they slip-up & slide off" so he isn't sure about a Mrs. Brackett - but to the mention of names and things from thirty-five years ago, his memory is alert.
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Abraham Lincoln Declares He is Not a "Man of Great Learning, or a Very Extraordinary one in Any Respect"
October 13, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1701
Abraham Lincoln consents to having a law book dedicated to him, but begs "only that the inscription may be in modest terms, not representing me as a man of great learning, or a very extraordinary one in any respect."
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Mark Twain on the San Francisco Earthquake and a Picture He Cannot Get Out of His Mind
April 30, 1906
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1708
Though himself a writer, Mark Twain says that the picture of the San Francisco earthquake entitled "The Spirit of Humanity," expresses the tragedy of the earthquake in a way that words cannot.
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President-Elect Garfield Turns Down a Loan to Tide Him Over Until Assuming the Presidency
November 16, 1880
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1710
President-elect Garfield graciously turns down Edwards Pierrepont's offer of a loan to tide Garfield over until he resumed the presidency and would earn $50,000 annually.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1738
This letter, written by David Rice Atchison, debunks the long-held erroneous idea that he acted as President of the United States for the 31 hours between the end of Polk's term and the beginning of Taylor's.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1740
President John F. Kennedy writes to eight-year-old Aine Tubridy to thank her for her picture of a painting he made of the Kennedy compound at Palm Beach, Florida.
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John Wild Bets the Black Hills Gold Rush - Set Off by Custer's Discovery of Gold There in 1864 - is a Bust
February 6, 1876
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1752
John Wild is willing to bet that those flocking to find fortune in the Black Hills "will be disappointed by going there."
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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1759
Grant marvels at Egypt's antiquity, at "ruins that have been standing - as ruins - some of them, for many ages before the beginning of the Christian era." This causes Grant to find Egypt more interesting than any other place he has visited.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1767
Millard Fillmore accuses abolitionists of "destroying the Constitution" and attempting to "prevent a reunion of the states," in addition to "perverting this war into a war for emancipation."
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First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Two Weeks After McKinley's Death: "Life Does Not Seem Very Simple Just Now"
September 27, 1901
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1778
Two weeks after President McKinley's death and Theodore Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency, First Lady Edith Roosevelt thanks a friend in Boston for her warm wishes, and confides in her that "Life does not seem very simple just now."
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Albert Einstein Renounces German Citizenship;"I Will Not Be Returning to Germany, Perhaps Never Again"
March 28, 1933
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1792
Albert Einstein writes to his son from aboard the Belgenland, where he has learned that Hitler had given orders to ransack not only his Berlin apartment, but also his summer cottage. He decides whilst onboard to renounce his German citizenship, and tells his son that he will likely never return to Germany again.
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White House Card
1 page
SMC 334
The genial Harding inscribes a White House Card with a cordial sentiment - "Good wishes!" – just two months into his Administration.
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White House Card
1 page
SMC 537
On January 29, 1898, his first birthday in the White House, President William McKinley, turning fifty-five, signed this Executive Mansion card.
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An Autograph Innovation: President Rutherford B. Hayes Signs an Executive Mansion Card
December 13, 1878
White House Card
1 page
SMC 514
Around the time of Hayes's presidency, it became fashionable to request the president's signature on Executive Mansion stationery. This card, dated, December 13, 1878, suggests that President Hayes might have filled requests for his autograph in his "down time."
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Early Variant of Executive Mansion Card Signed by American President Millard Fillmore
January 4, 1853
White House Card
1 page
SMC 1067
Card signed by Millard Fillmore as President, being an early variant of a White House Card.
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White House Card
1 page
SMC 1316
President less than two weeks, Wilson signs this White House card – in the top left corner, as would be his wont, to protect against anything being added above his signature.
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White House Card
1 page
SMC 1269
President Theodore Roosevelt renamed the Executive Mansion "The White House," and wastes no time ordering and signing the new White House stationery.
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White House Card
1 page
SMC 1485
A fine example of a rare White House Card signed by the 40th President, Ronald Reagan.
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President Cleveland Appoints Nageeb Arbeely to Replace Anti-Semitic Selah Merrill as Consul at Jerusalem
October 15, 1885
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1595
The wildly unpopular Consul at Jerusalem, Selah Merrill, is replaced by the Greek-ancestry-Syrian-born naturalized-American, Najeeb J. Arbeely.
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President Millard Fillmore Acknowledges the Gift of "a Beautiful Picture of 'Ancient Jerusalem'"
June 17, 1852
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 2034
The Unitarian President Fillmore thanks the Presbyterian Rev. Septimus Justin for "a beautiful picture of 'ancient Jerusalem.'" Although he has only had time to glance at it, the appears to him to be well-executed.
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Abraham Lincoln Corrects His Presidential Salary Payment, Which Credits Him With Days Not Worked
April 5, 1861
Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1848
Abraham Lincoln applies for his paycheck as President, and asks to be paid on the first of each month. He then realized that he started work on the fifth of the month, and immediately amends the request for the fifth of the month, lest he be paid for four days of work he did not complete.
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Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1237
Benjamin Harrison declines to write a short tribute to Abraham Lincoln, explaining that as he is short on time, it would not be appropriate to take on the task, as one must choose one's words wisely when discussing Lincoln.
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Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1108
When asked if Chester Arthur should be kept under heavy guard, Robert Todd Lincoln responds that if a deranged person wants to kill the president, "it is impossible to thoroughly guard against those classes of people."
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Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 739
Theodor Herzl considers, and ultimately rejects, a lecture tour in the United States.
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Contemporary Copy of Chase's Letter to Abraham Lincoln in Support of General Hunter's Emancipation Order
May 16, 1862
Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 501
Salomon P. Chase, President Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, was the most ardent abolitionist in Lincoln's cabinet. Here, he praises General Hunter's declaration of emancipation of all slaves in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
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President Franklin Pierce Appoints the First United States Consul to Serve in Jerusalem
October 20, 1856
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1741
President Franklin Pierce appoints Boston physician John Warren Gorham as the first United States Consul at Jerusalem on October 20, 1856.
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Jewish Confederate Hero Alexander Hart Grants Leave to Officers During a Brief Lull in the Civil War
March 9, 1864
Document Signed
2 pages
SMC 1642
Alexander Hart, a storied and battle-proven Major in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, directs and signs off on thirty-day leaves for officers.
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Document Signed
4 pages
SMC 1619
Collection of documents signed by Henry C. Corbin, who, as Assistant Adjutant General during the Spanish-American War, established the policy that religious furloughs were to be granted freely to Jewish men in uniform.
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President William McKinley Orders Seal Affixed to His Proclamation on the Death of Vice President Hobart
November 21, 1899
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1187
Death warrant of Vice President Garret Hobart, signed by his dear friend, President William McKinley.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1190
Document signed by President William McKinley two weeks before he was fatally shot.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1196
Promotion of war hero Lt. Commander James Kelsey Cogswell to Commander; signed by William McKinley on the first day of his second term as president.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1179
Commission for Second Lieutenant Earnest M. Reeve, signed by President William McKinley in December of 1899.
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President Benjamin Harrison: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of America
July 29, 1892
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1173
President Harrison leads the nation in celebrating the Columbus quadricentennial by authorizing the Seal of the United States to be affixed to a document entitled "The administration of the United States Government at the beginning of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America."
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President Benjamin Harrison Appoints a Commissioner for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
May 23, 1890
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1176
President Benjamin Harrison appoints a commissioner for the exposition celebrating four hundred years since Columbus discovered America. The Exposition was held in Chicago and ran from 1 May 1893 until 30 October of that year.
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Dr. Jacob Da Silva Solis Cohen Certifies the 1864 Death of a "Contraband" in Philadelphia
March 17, 1864
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1132
Here J. Solis Cohen certifies the death of a former slave in Philadelphia, identifying him as a "Contraband": a legally complicated and politically fraught designation indicating a "self-emancipated" human chattel, many of whom, as the Union armies moved in the South, rushed toward the advancing troops, there to join the ranks of their liberators.
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Abraham Lincoln Appoints Edward Joy Morris Minister to the Ottoman Empire - and by Extension, Palestine
July 15, 1861
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1099
In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln replaces the Southern minister to the Ottoman Empire with Edward Joy Morris.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1076
President Buchanan pardons a former judge, Daniel Vandersmith, serving a sentence for forgery.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1081
Benjamin Isherwood designed steamboats that would quickly outrun blockade runners. Isherwood expanded the US Navy's fleet from 28 to 600 steam vessels in the course of the Civil War. Here, President Abraham Lincoln appoints Isherwood Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1084
Abraham Lincoln's draft order for the state of New York, which sparked riots and racially-motivated violence and murders. It was the second largest civil insurrection in American history.
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John Tyler, as President of the 1861 Washington Peace Convention, Certifies a Delegate From Massachusetts
February 4, 1861
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1050
President John Tyler, who would eventually support the secession of the Southern states, certifies Charles Allen of Massachusetts as a delegate from that state, in the failed 1861 Washington Peace Convention.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1040
Signed as General-in-Chief, Bonaparte signs papers for a soldier to join his campaign in Syria. The campaigns were deployed for French commercial interests, with the additional motivation of disrupting Britain's.
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John Tyler, as President of the 1861 Washington Peace Convention, Certifies a Vermont Delegate
February 4, 1861
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 1048
President John Tyler, who would eventually support the secession of the Southern states, certifies Lucius Chittenden of Vermont, as a delegate from that state, in the failed 1861 Washington Peace Convention. Chittenden took it upon himself to take the minutes of the Conference and indeed, published them three years later.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 999
Bogged down at the Siege of Acre on what, only weeks before, he thought would be a quick victory on his way to Jerusalem, Napoleon here orders that his generals and the infantry, lancers and sappers, be paid.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 878
On the last full day of his life, Abraham Lincoln appoints William Kellogg as Collector at the Port of New Orleans.
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President Abraham Lincoln Appoints Jewish West Pointer Alfred Mordecai Jr. Second Lieutenant
August 10, 1861
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 445
President Abraham Lincoln appoints Alfred Mordecai Jr. a Second Lieutenant four months into the Civil War. Mordecai would climb the ranks and die a general.
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James A. Garfield's Appointment of the Anti-Semitic Selah Merrill as Consul at Jerusalem
May 23, 1881
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 438
Merrill, who held the post of U.S. Consul at Jerusalem for almost three decades – appointed by three Republican presidents – is here installed in that position for the first time by James Garfield. Cleveland would remove Merrill, but he was re-appointed by Harrison and McKinley. He is generally considered to be the greatest reviler of the Jews to ever occupy the post of consul at Jerusalem.
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Jerusalem Consul Wallace and Chief Rabbi Salant Solicit American Funds for the City's Institutions
1894
Document Signed
8 pages
SMC 836
The situation of two of Jerusalem’s loftiest institutions - the Talmud Torah House and the General Hospital - are in dire straights, Rabbi Salant and Consul Wallace attest: this, the unhappy result of the “terrible loss of employment and income of our brothers in Russia who have heretofore been great supporters.” They appeal to American Jews for funding.
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General Custer Signs Off on the Tobacco Allotment for Enlisted Men Who Died With Him at Little Bighorn
July 1, 1875
Document Signed
2 pages
SMC 390
Here, General Custer certifies that four non-commissioned officers of the 7th Cavalry have taken possession of a pound of tobacco each.
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Document Signed
1 page
SMC 307
Promotion of war hero Lt. Commander James Kelsey Cogswell to Commander; signed by William McKinley on the first day of his second term as president.
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Custer's Aide, Frederick Benteen, Takes the Oath of Office as Captain in the 7th Calvary
November 6, 1866
Document Signed
2 pages
SMC 303
Here Benteen, infamous for coming to Custer's aide too slowly at the Battle of Little Bighorn, steps into history, taking the Oath of Office as Captain in the 7th Cavalry.
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President Franklin Pierce Sets in Motion the Recall of the American Minister Resident in Turkey
September 7, 1853
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 238
President Franklin Pierce recalls the American minister resident in Turkey, George Marsh, in order to dispatch him to Greece. Pierce needed Marsh to negotiate with the Greek authorities in order to free an American Consul stationed there who had been arrested and his property seized.
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Abraham Lincoln Appoints Henry Ernest Goodman as Surgeon of Civil War Union Volunteer Army
May 16, 1864
Document Signed
1 page
SMC 160
President Abraham Lincoln promotes the eminent and beloved physician, Henry Ernest Goodman, of Philadelphia, from assistant surgeon to surgeon. Edward Stanton, the Secretary of war, co-signed the document.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 399
President Andrew Jackson invites a friend to the most famous cheese tasting in American history. On Washington's birthday, March 3, 1837, the President opened the White House for the American public to consume a cheese wheel, four feet in diameter, and weighing 1400 lbs. It took citizens of all walks of life approximately two hours to consume the block of cheddar.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 391
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 409
Newly-minted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln humbles himself before formal rival Cassius Clay in order to secure his position.
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Abraham Lincoln in 1860: "Just Now, The Skies Look Bright. What Clouds May Hereafter Rise, We Know Not."
July 2, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 410
Lincoln reports to his friend that his prospects for winning the 1860 election looked promising.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 414
Here, relating to the Mexican War ending, Abraham Lincoln alludes to "Othello's occupation's gone."
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Herman Melville "Disinters," a Rare Copy of "Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land" to Send it to an Admirer
January 22, 1885
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 419
Herman Melville sends his only presentation copy of Clarel to an admirer, noting that the poem was so unpopular, the admirer would have a difficult time getting his hands on a copy.
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Former President Franklin Pierce Defends Himself Against Treason Charges Brought by William H. Seward
March 24, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 422
Franklin Pierce, a public detractor of President Lincoln and of the Union, is charged with being a member of a secret league, intending to overthrow the government. Incensed by the publication of the allegations, Pierce arranges for his old friend, Senator Latham of California, to introduce a resolution demanding that all the correspondence in the matter be submitted to Congress for inquiry.
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Shortly After Firing General MacArthur, President Truman Writes of His "Trials and Tribulations"
April 14, 1951
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 428
In the days following MacArthur's dismissal, and all of the upheaval surrounding it, President Truman thanks his Secretary of State Dean Acheson for his unwavering support and friendship.
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Harry Truman Looks at the Potsdam Conference 12 Years Later: An Astonishing Appraisal of What Went Wrong
April 8, 1957
Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 429
Knowing that his papers would be released for reporters to examine his version of the Potsdam Conference twelve years prior, Harry Truman paints a revisionist history of what happened and what went wrong.
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It Was His Boyhood Reading, Harry Truman Recalls, That Prepared Him for When His "Terrible Trial Came"
December 18, 1962
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 430
Harry Truman, the only U.S. President of the 20th century who did not receive a university education, reflects on how his childhood love of reading and self-education prepared him for his sudden ascent to the presidency.
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George Washington Dreads Assuming the Presidency: He Feels as if He's Being Led to His Execution
April 1, 1789
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 433
Draft of George Washington's letter to Major General Henry Knox, in which, thirty days before his inauguration, Washington compares assuming the presidency to being lead to his execution. He insists he doesn't have the political skill, ability, or even the inclination to lead. He fears, terribly, that he risks his good name in assuming the presidency.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 443
At the request of his correspondent, John Coulter, Lincoln wrote this letter outlining his electoral win-loss record against his long-time detractor, the Reverend Peter Cartwright.
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Edgar Allan Poe Details His Literary Life and Says "The Raven and "The Valdemar Case" Are His Best Work
April 16, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 458
Poe discusses literary merit and the business of publishing; identifies "The Raven" and "The Valdemar Case" as his best work.
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30-Year-Old Theodore Roosevelt Declares His Affinity for the West, and His Identification with its Heroes
February 25, 1888
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 464
Researching his history about the conquest of the North American frontier, Roosevelt writes to the president of the Tennessee Historical Society, declaring his affinity for, and identification with, such great Tennesseans as John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Clark, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Sam Houston.
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Abraham Lincoln Suggests Suffrage for Some Louisiana Blacks: The "Very Intelligent" and Union Veterans
March 13, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 448
Abraham Lincoln tactfully suggests to the new governor of the freshly freed state of Louisiana, Michael Hahn, that Hahn might grant suffrage for blacks who either fought for the Union or were "very intelligent." This proposal was a very elegant compromise between those who did not want suffrage for blacks and those who did; it also ensured that Lincoln, right before an election, didn't rock the boat too much.
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Mourning Daughter Susy, Mark Twain Describes His Family Life as Adrift, Indifferent, and Derelict
January 19, 1897
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 484
Mark Twain describes the listlessness of his family life since the sudden death of his daughter Susy. Whereas once they had a charted course, now they are adrift. And what is more, they are "derelict" and indifferent to their plight.
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Ronald Reagan Offers Ethel Kennedy His Help as Robert F. Kennedy, Shot in Los Angeles, Lay Dying
June 5, 1968
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 502
In this telegram, Ronald Reagan, a political opponent of Robert F. Kennedy, sets aside partisanship and offers Ethel Kennedy assistance.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 508
David Ben Gurion places responsibility for peace with the Egyptians at their feet, but also remarks that "a great deal depends on Russia."
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 517
In this short sketch of his public career, Johnson recounts his various elective offices, and suggests additional published sources of his “humble history."
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