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Topic

Human Aspect

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Manuscripts (49)

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The Baltimore Plot and Attempted Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Autograph Letter Signed

2 pages

SMC 2024

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Mary Surratt's Daughter Petitions Andrew Johnson for the Return of Her Mother's Remains

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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Signed Photo of Lyndon Johnson Taking the Oath of Office Inscribed to the Photographer

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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A Last Thing Signed: John F. Kennedy Autographs a Dallas Newspaper on the Morning of His Murder There

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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John F. Kennedy Letter, Post-Dated November 26, 1963, Signed Before He Left for Dallas

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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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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Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness Recalls Running to Fetch Dr. Liebermann Who Attended Lincoln's Deathbed

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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McKinley's Last Tour: Cortelyou Thanks the Mayor of San Francisco for His Help

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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Rutherford B. Hayes Responds to Lincoln's Assassination: Now He is

Autograph Letter Signed

1 page

SMC 124

On the day Lincoln died, General Rutherford B. Hayes wrote that Abraham Lincoln would ever be remembered as the "darling of history."
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John Wilkes Booth Letter, Written Eight Weeks Before Lincoln's Assassination, Mentions Ford's Theatre

Autograph Letter Signed

3 pages

SMC 142

John Wilkes Booth writes to his friend to request that he send his card photographs to an address in New York City. After that, he shall collect his mail at Ford's Theatre. Ironically, the cards that Booth has sent for, his "favorite" photo of himself, later became the image on the wanted poster associated with the assassination of President Lincoln.
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On the Day of President McKinley's Death, Asst. Secretary of State Cridler Writes of His Horror and Fury

Autograph Letter Signed

4 pages

SMC 143

Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Wilbur Cridler expresses his anguish at President McKinley's death, and his rage at the assassin. Cridler, as a religious Christian, expresses difficulty conceiving of why God would allow this tragedy to happen.
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Quintessential Reagan Speech: He's Sick About RFK's Assassination, About Lawlessness, About Blame

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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Woodrow Wilson Suspends His Campaign on Account of Theodore Roosevelt Assassination Attempt

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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Despite Being Shot, Theodore Roosevelt is, Reportedly,

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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Extraordinary Eyewitness Account of the Assassination of President McKinley-Dated One Day After

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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Unused Ticket for Ford's Theatre April 14, 1865 - The Night Lincoln Was Assassinated There

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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Mary Todd Lincoln Issues 1865 Invitation to Presidential Box At Ford's Theatre

Autograph Letter Signed

1 page

SMC 229

Two months before Lincoln's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln invites some of Washington's most famous socialites to Ford's Theatre to watch the brother-in-law of John Wilkes Booth perform.
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One of the Last Things Signed by William McKinley: A Souvenir Booklet from the Pan-American Exposition

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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Theodore Roosevelt Confidently Reports that the Mortally Wounded President McKinley is Doing Well

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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Days After William McKinley's Death, Theodore Roosevelt Swears to Do His Best

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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A Secret Service Agent's Account of the Reagan Assassination Attempt, Signed by Reagan

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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Theodore Roosevelt Comments On, and Then Annotates, a Manuscript Detailing the Attempt Made on His Life

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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John Wilkes Booth Writes to John Ford to Arrange His Performance in a Play Which Lincoln Was to Attend

Autograph Letter Signed

1 page

SMC 304

Though this was not the play at which John Wilkes Booth would jump from the stage and assassinate President Lincoln, here, a year and a half before he would do so, Booth writes to John Ford in order to arrange his performance at the latter's theatre for a play which Lincoln was to attend.
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Ronald Reagan Offers Ethel Kennedy His Help as Robert F. Kennedy, Shot in Los Angeles, Lay Dying

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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Rabbi Sabato Morais Sends His Synagogue's Contribution to the Lincoln Monument

Autograph Letter Signed

1 page

SMC 538

Rabbi Sabato Morais of Congregation Mikve Israel sends his congregation's contribution to the Lincoln Memorial to be built in Washington. The synagogue was part of an appeal to all religious institutions in Philadelphia, and Morais, who revered Lincoln, was proud to report to the city's mayor that his congregation had raised $300.
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James Garfield on Assassination:

Autograph Letter Signed

2 pages

SMC 556

Though he is reviewing the "usual number of threatening letters on that subject," President-Elect James Garfield does not think that assassination is anything to worry about, as it cannot be prevented. He was shot in the back twice by Charles Guiteau eight months later.
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President Harry Truman Writes about the Assassination Attempt on His Life Just the Day Before

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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Rare Ticket to

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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JFK’s Drafted Letter to Medgar Evers' Widow, Myrlie, on Evers' Assassination

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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Five Weeks After Having Been Shot and Almost Killed, Ronald Reagan is Pleased with Recovery

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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The Eyewitness Account of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination by the Physician Who Treated Him at the Scene

Autograph Letter Signed

8 pages

SMC 1004

Charles Leale, a surgeon and first responder to Lincoln's shooting, gives a detailed summary of the night of the assassination to a friend.
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Robert Lincoln Witnesses Assassinations of Three Presidents

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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Pass to President Abraham Lincoln's Funeral in the East Room of the Executive Mansion

Ephemera

1 page

SMC 1116

Pass to Lincoln's funeral, on Wednesday, April 19, 1865.
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A Union Officer in the Field Describes the Reaction to News of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination

Autograph Letter Signed

2 pages

SMC 1128

Here, an Ohio lieutenant, serving in Alabama, describes how the troops there received, and took, "news of the shocking murder of our president."
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Lucretia Garfield On How Her Husband's Portents at Chicago Convention Foreshadowed His

Autograph Letter Signed

2 pages

SMC 1150

Lucretia Garfield, President Garfield's widow, writes two months to the day after his death, still in disbelief. She shares with her correspondent that "the spirit of prophecy fell upon" her late husband, with many of his utterances now coming back to her as eerily foreshadowing his own demise.
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Physician of Assassinated President William McKinley Quotes McKinley's Last Words

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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A Contemporary Account of the William McKinley Assassination by a 15 Year-Old Girl

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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Secretary of Navy Long: President William McKinley,

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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Edith Roosevelt on Her Husband's Recovery from an Assassination Attempt and the Bullet Left Inside Him

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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Ronald Reagan Declares that JFK Was Much More

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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Famous Painting by John Falter of the 1912 Attempted Assassination of Theodore Roosevelt

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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Newly Sworn-in Theodore Roosevelt Reacts with Foreboding: a Heavy and Painful Task Has Fallen Upon Him

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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Mark Twain Says He Cannot Deliver a

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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First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Two Weeks After McKinley's Death:

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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Leon Czolgosz's Incredibly Rare Confession to the Assassination of President William McKinley

Document Signed

2 pages

SMC 1813

Czolgosz's twice-signed confession to assassinating President McKinley, stemming from anarchist convictions.
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Incredibly Rare Czolgosz Letter – 5 Weeks Before He Assassinated McKinley – as

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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Abraham Lincoln’s Final Hours, Death, and Autopsy Report Documented by Dr. Robert Stone

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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President James Garfield's Assassin, Charles Guiteau, Convicted and in Jail, Declares He is Not a Lunatic

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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Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, On Hearing that McKinley Has Been Shot, Wires For News

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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