Union Major General Oliver Otis Howard (1830–1909), Medal of Honor recipient, commander of the Army of the Tennessee under Sherman, founder of Howard University, and first Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau. TLS signed “O. O. Howard” in black ink, one page, 8.5 × 11 inches, Burlington, Vt., June 28, 1905. Typed on the printed letterhead of Lincoln Memorial University at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, where Howard is identified at the head of the letterhead as “Gen. O. O. Howard, President of the Board and Managing Director.” Addressed to the Editor, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine, the letter reads in full: “Dear Sir: Will you kindly send me a few copies of the Journal which contain the Commencement exercises with my address in it? Sincerely yours, O. O. Howard.” Some staining and edge tears consistent with age; text and signature fully legible throughout. Accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity from One of a Kind Collectibles.
Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was one of the most distinguished and consequential figures of the Civil War and Reconstruction era. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, he lost his right arm leading his men at the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines in June 1862, an action for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Despite suffering reverses at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, he rebuilt his reputation commanding the XI Corps and then the Army of the Tennessee in the Western Theater, serving under Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea. After the war, Howard served as the first Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–72), working to secure the rights and welfare of formerly enslaved people, and founded Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1867 — the institution that still bears his name. He subsequently commanded campaigns against the Nez Perce in the Pacific Northwest and against Geronimo’s Apache, before retiring in 1894. His role as founding President of the Board of Lincoln Memorial University, a school established at Cumberland Gap specifically to serve the Appalachian poor in the spirit of Lincoln’s legacy, reflects the philanthropic and educational mission that defined his later years.