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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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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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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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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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 298
Thomas Edison says he cannot complete the megaphone, as he is in the midst of working on the light bulb; that same day, however, the light bulb would be burning successfully.
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Major Archibald Butt, Military Aide to Roosevelt and Taft, Writes the Day Before Boarding the Titanic
April 9, 1912
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 305
Archibald Butt enquires about a refund for train travel, instructing the refund be sent care of the White House. Butt, in Europe to restore his health, would board the Titanic home to the United States the next day. He was last seen standing on the sinking deck with John Jacob Astor.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 328
Former President Herbert Hoover expresses his preference for typewritten letters for the sake of efficiency, but since "the typewriter is a poor method of conveying emotion," he handwrites this letter in order to "convey more than usual wishes of a happy and prosperous New Year."
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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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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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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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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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George Washington Argues for a "Professional Man" to Supply Technical Guidance on Canal Infrastructure
May 31, 1786
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 587
Though passionate about the construction of a canal in the Potomac, George Washington confesses to having little more than a layman's knowledge of the technical aspects of the project, and urges the company to retain a professional canal engineer.
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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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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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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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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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James K. Polk Gives Orders for a Fireproof Celebration for the Battle of Cerro Gordo in Washington
May 8, 1847
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1052
Here Polk-mindful of the dangers of unattended candles and oil lamps-gives orders not to illuminate public offices in honor of General Scott’s victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1062
The railroad connecting the Atlantic to the Great Lakes was a cause for national celebration. It would extend the web of the railway network, contributing to the industrial boom in the United States, enlarging the markets while reducing shipping and production costs.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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