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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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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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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 103
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 2024
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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Buchanan Approves Abraham Lincoln’s Ordering Fremont to Rescind His Emancipation Proclamation
September 27, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 984
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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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Account of Execution of Deserters at Beverly Ford Mentions Rabbi Praying With One of the Condemned Men
August 29, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
5 pages
SMC 1026
Captain Jacob Winans writes to his father about the execution of deserters at Beverly Ford, mentioning the presence of a rabbi to pray with one of the convicted soldiers.
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Breathtaking Detailed Eyewitness Account of the Execution of Deserters at Beverly Ford
September 3, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1027
This eyewitness account details the chronology of events, or protocol of the execution of deserters at Beverly Ford. Those executed had with them the clergyman of their faith. They "were accompanied by a Catholic priest, a Jewish Rabbi and a Methodist preacher."
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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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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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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
4 pages
SMC 1061
In this sometimes scathing letter mostly concerning Thurlow Weed, former President Millard Fillmore can say only one good thing about him: Weed was "the first among his friends to see and admit the danger to the country from Lincoln's election."
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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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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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1090
This note from Lincoln to the Naval Secretary Gideon Welles instructs him to get a firsthand report about the infamous attempted prison break of Confederate POWs on Johnson's Island.
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Oliver Wendell Holmes: At Fort Stevens, Abraham Lincoln Was Forced to Duck From Enemy Fire
June 14, 1922
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1106
Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes confirms that during the Civil War, when he was serving as a captain, President Abraham Lincoln came to visit the troops at Fort Stevens, during which they were fired upon. This was the only time in American history a sitting president has exposed himself to combat. President Lincoln was forced to duck from enemy fire.
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A Union Officer in the Field Describes the Reaction to News of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination
April 20, 1865
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 566
Shortly after having been part of the Union loss at the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln, in an effort to encourage the troops, promotes Sherman to General. Sherman would devastate the South and ensure Union victory three years later.
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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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"All is Over and Lincoln Elected," John Tyler Writes, "As Confidence Between Man and Man is Giving Way"
November 10, 1860
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 586
Here, just six days after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with a scant 40% of the vote, Former President John Tyler laments the election.
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General Edmund Allenby Commemorates His Victorious Entrance Into Jerusalem One Year Later
December 18, 1918
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 595
General Edmund Allenby, in celebrating the Allied victory of World War I, humbly commemorates the year anniversary of his conquering of Jerusalem.
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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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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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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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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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 108
Nelson jubilantly reports that the French are being pushed back from Acre and from Zante (Greece), pleased at Napoleon "the villain's" ignominious end.
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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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 110
Primarily discussing his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," T.E. Lawrence confides in Brig. General Sir Gilbert Falkingham Clayton that no person of any "race or creed" living in Palestine trusts the British for "more than two minutes." If they would, he ruefully comments, "things would be more stable there."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 111
T.E. Lawrence writes to his superior at the Arab Bureau, General Clayton, to ask if he should send a letter he wrote to Sir Mark Sykes, the man responsible for divvying up the Middle East between the English and the French. Here, Lawrence mentions to Clayton that the "Jewish section" should be cleared up, and when they fight the French, the French section will fall into English hands, as well.
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"Doomed to the Gallows" By Public Opinion, James Buchanan Says History Will Vindicate Him
May 8, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 127
Despite being condemned by the Chief Justice and public opinion, Buchanan, unwaveringly trusts in the words of his Secretary of War, James Holt, who wrote that Buchanan's "labors will yet be crowned by the glory that belongs to an enlightened Statesmanship & to an unsullied patriotism."
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At the behest of President Lincoln, General Grant Decline's Lee's Suggestion of Armistice Negotiations
March 4, 1865
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 147
General Grant obediently replies to Secretary of War Edward Stanton with repeated crossed out protestations that he was not trying to usurp any authority. He had previously written to Stanton to ask if he could accept General Lee's invitation to negotiate an armistice, and had received a rebuke from President Lincoln himself.
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Benjamin Mordecai, Jewish Benefactor of Confederate Cause Honored by the Famed Palmetto Riflemen
January 12, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 148
Benjamin Mordecai graciously responds to the soldiers of the Palmetto Riflemen, who had thanked him for his donation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 150
Ronald Reagan denounces socialism to a correspondent abroad, and makes special mention of the atrocities committed by the socialism of the Soviets and the Germans during World War II. Reagan mentions that the Soviets held back whilst the Nazis slaughtered the Polish freedom fighters who were mostly, he mistakenly claims, Jews from the Ghetto.
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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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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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Congressman Lincoln Praises Future Vice President of Confederacy for his Opposition to the Mexican War
February 2, 1848
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 161
In 1848, Abraham Lincoln and Alexander H. Stephens were both Whig supporters of Henry Polk, and ardently against the Mexican War. Here, Lincoln praises Stephens. Thirteen years after their short-lived alliance, the country was embroiled in a civil war; Lincoln was President of the United States, and Stephens Vice President of the Confederacy.
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In Refusing a Parole, Lincoln Notes That Federal Prisoners Are Being "Frozen and Starved" in Libby Prison
March 3, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 162
Here, Lincoln replies to a request from his wife Mary’s cousin, Lyman Todd, that he cannot "enlarge on parole" a Colonel Smith. Such a thing would set a precedent, he says, upon which nearly all the prisoners held by the Union might act – and this, in the face of how the Confederacy was treating Federal prisoners, is completely unacceptable.
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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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Union Soldier After Gettysburg: "We Will Whip Lee's Army So That He Will Not be Fit to Do Anything More"
July 6, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 168
A letter from a Union soldier to his family after the battle of Gettysburg. He lists missing soldiers, and reports the numbers of dead, wounded, and missing.
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Jewish Confederates: Letter Regarding Benjamin Mordecai's Support of a Commission for Jacob Valentine
February 1, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 181
The secretary to the governor of South Carolina assures Charleston native Benjamin Mordecai that Jacob Valentine would be considered for a commission in service to the state. Mordecai had made possible South Carolina's secession from the Union with a generous donation.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 189
David Ben-Gurion recalls Dwight D. Eisenhower as a "lovely person," who wanted to help the Jews immediately after World War II, but was prevented from doing so by the British Foreign Office and the American State Department.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 190
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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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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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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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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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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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William Tecumseh Sherman Vents Anti-Semitic Prejudices, Discusses Runaway Slaves, & Sketches Total War
November 2, 1862
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 259
Writing during the war, Sherman casually blames smuggling and theft on Jews. Additionally, he depicts the hatred of the Southern population towards the North, justifying, presumably, his harsh conduct of war.
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General Custer Gives an Order to His Loyal Adjutant Cooke, Who Would Die Next to Him at Little Bighorn
December 12, 1874
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 289
This order to Cooke concerns another 7th Cavalry regular who also rode with Custer – though not as a friend. Major Lewis Merrill, with whom Custer had numerous run-ins, is alleged here to have taken some instruments belonging to the 7th Cavalry band: Cooke is tasked with making sense of what happened.
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Prime Minister Winston Churchill on Orde Wingate: A Man of Genius Who Might Have Become a Man of Destiny
September 10, 1944
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 293
On his way to the second Quebec conference, Winston Churchill remembers that a year ago, he, Orde, and Lorna Wingate were on their way to the first conference. Churchill offers his condolences to the newly-widowed Lorna.
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Winston Churchill Thanks Ormsby-Gore for Accepting Post to the Permanent Mandates Commission
February 24, 1921
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 294
Winston Churchill Thanks Pro-Zionist Ormsby-Gore for Accepting Post to the Permanent Mandates Commission Responsible for Palestine.
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Letter From Gettysburg Battlefield, July 4th, 1863: Union Soldier Hopes "This Battle Will End the War"
July 4, 1863
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 299
Writing to his mother on the fourth of July, Private Strouss tells his her that he is alive, unharmed, and although unsure who has won, he hopes that "this Battle will end the war" so that he may return home.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 302
Ben-Gurion claims that as long as the USA and the USSR fight the Cold War by proxy in the Middle East - by arming Arab countries - there will be no peace in the region, and Israel will have to continuously fight for its survival.
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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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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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Jewish General Edward S. Salomon Accepts an Invitation to Meet With His Old Comrades-in-Arms
January 28, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 308
Edward S. Salomon was a hero of Gettysburg and Atlanta, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming a Brigadier General. He commanded a Jewish regiment, the 82nd Illinois, and here accepts an invitation "to meet the officers of the late Army of the Cumberland."
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In 1936, As Hitler Closes In, Freud Acts to Help a Colleague's Son Who Has Been Charged With High Treason
November 8, 1936
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 314
Sigmund Freud writes to support his friend Paul Federn, whose anti-fascist son has been arrested for the second time for high treason in Austria. Freud had previously lent his friend 3000 francs and insists that he accept the additional 2000 enclosed in the letter.
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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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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 347
Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, pleaded with Lincoln not to go to Petersburg because of great personal risk to the President. Lincoln responds that he had already been to Petersburg with Grant, and plans to go to Richmond, newly fallen, as well. He assures Stanton that he will take care of himself.
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"Occident" Subscriber Begs Rabbi Leeser to Write Abraham Lincoln and Convince Him to Stop the Civil War
May 22, 1861
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 349
A subscriber of Leeser's periodical The Occident beseeches the publicly neutral Leeser to intervene with President Lincoln in order to end the Civil War.
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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Chaim Weizmann to Lorna Wingate on the Jewish Brigade: "There is No Shortcut to Jerusalem"
January 23, 1941
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 375
Chaim Weizmann tells Lorna Wingate that the Jewish Brigade, and future army, is a long game, and will come with hard work and fortitude.
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Chaim Weizmann in 1943: "Nothing Short of a Miracle if We Do Get Something Out of this War"
December 10, 1943
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 376
Writing during World War Two, Chaim Weizmann assures Lorna Wingate that her husband Orde is on the mend after a bout of typhoid. In the interim, he comments that many things are happening in Palestine that would provoke the British, though he hopes they will not allow themselves to be provoked. It would be "nothing short of a miracle if we do get something out of this war," he ruefully remarks.
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 378
Chaim Weizmann agrees to stand as Godfather to the son of Major General Orde Wingate, Orde Jonathan Wingate.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 379
Chaim Weizmann writes to Lorna Wingate, the widow of Major-General Orde Wingate, to tell her that the British government finally approved the creation of the Jewish Brigade. Weizmann's feelings are mixed, though, as Wingate - who died five months earlier - would have made this Brigade "a powerful force."
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Ben-Gurion Predicts Victory Under Dayan in 6-Day War; Discusses How Many Arabs Equal One Israeli Soldier
June 6, 1967
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 385
Moshe Dayan is appointed minister of defence; Ben Gurion predicts that Israel will triumph over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the coming Six Day War.
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Eisenhower's Trip to Ohrdruf Concentration Camp: "I Never Dreamed... It Was Horrible."
April 15, 1945
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 393
General Eisenhower writes to his wife, after seeing the Ohrdruf concentration camp, that he never dreamt that such cruelty could exist in this world. Poignantly, he mentions that many American soldiers do not seem to know what they are fighting for. Eisenhower ordered every unit not on the front lines to tour the camp, and writes here "now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against."
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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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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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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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