In this letter, Lincoln writes to encourage a young man who had just been rejected from Harvard University. The recipient, George Latham, was a close friend of Lincoln’s son Robert. Latham’s father had recently passed away, and the news of his rejection from Harvard upset him further. Lincoln suggests Latham meet with the President of Harvard to discuss how he can secure admission. The letter reflects Lincoln’s life-long concern with education for the youth, a point he reflects on in speeches like the Lyceum Address, the Wisconsin State Fair Address, and in the brief autobiographies he prepared from 1858-60.