Historical Documents Library Page

John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States was well known for his use of words. The below handwritten poem, dated September 10, 1841 and transcribed from the 104th Psalm, is a wonderful example of not only Adams' appreciation for the Word of God, but also of his firm conviction [...]

Below is a letter that WallBuilders came across from Benjamin Rush (Declaration signer) to Elisha Boudinot, brother of Founding Father Elias Boudinot. Rush wrote this letter on September 8, 1797 in condolence for the loss of Elisha's wife. Notice the specifically religious content in this letter.   Philad. September 8th. 1797. [...]

Entrance to Lodz In Poland, the Nazi persecution of the Jews was concentrated at two main centers throughout the Second World War—Warsaw and Lodz. Both of those cities were transformed into large Jewish Ghettos which served as slave labor camps with the express intention of working the Jews to [...]

Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk (1924-2014) was the navigator on the Enola Gay when it dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II on August 6, 1945. As navigator, Van Kirk was responsible for guiding the plane to its target destination and confirming where exactly to drop [...]

Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) was the second of three daughters born to a well-respected family, her father being a Congregationalist minister in Massachusetts. [1] Due to her poor health in her early life Abigail had no formal education. [2] In fact, at a time when female education was “neglected” and it [...]

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was a lawyer, a Civil War brigadier general, and eventually the twenty-third president of the United States from 1889-1893. In this letter to his son, Russell Benjamin Harrison, on July 12, 1894, he admonishes the younger Harrison to remain steadfast in the faith. The former president explains to [...]

When writing to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813, John Adams discusses the fact that America achieved independence through the general principles of Christianity. The letter itself, however, was the culmination of events which began nearly fifteen years earlier. Adams and Jefferson were friends for many years but fell out after [...]

Sergeant John Basilone showed great heroism during his service in WWII. During the Campaign of Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943), he and his handful of men were responsible for holding back a Japanese assault on October 24-25, 1942. Throughout this engagement, he personally repaired and manned multiple machine guns. When his small [...]

This is a brief issued by Governor John Hancock on June 20, 1788. It includes his request for the people of Massachusetts "to contribute to their abilities, in money, public securities or other property" to the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others in North-America who had originally [...]

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt printed copies of his famous D-Day speech to give to give as gifts. Below is a picture of that 1944 Christmas gift and the transcription of the prayer Roosevelt prayed on D-Day (June 6, 1944). D-Day Prayer by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the white [...]