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Collection Reference Number GLC03876
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to the 1860s 
Title Abraham Lincoln to George C. Latham encouraging him to reapply to Harvard
Date 22 July 1860
Author Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865)  
Recipient Lantham, George C.  
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description Lincoln writes to his son's friend, who had been rejected by Harvard. He writes a letter of encouragement: "It is a certain truth, that you can enter, and graduate in, Harvard University; and having made the attempt, you must succeed in it. 'Must' is the word. [....] In your temporary failure there is no evidence that you may not yet be a better scholar, and a more successful man in the great struggle of life, than many others, who have entered college more easily. Again I say let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed." According the Lincoln's editor, Roy P. Basler, this document is Lincoln's greatest personal letter. Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. IV 1860 - 1861, p. 87.
Subjects President  Education  Philosophy  Children and Family  
People Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865)  Latham, George C. (fl. 1860)  
Place written Springfield
Theme Education; The Presidency
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945
Additional Information Notes: Basler 4: 87. George C. Latham of Springfield had attended Phillips Exeter Academy with Robert T. Lincoln.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
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