Title: William T. Otto to Walt Whitman, 11 May 1865
Date: May 11, 1865
Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00221
Source: Oscar Lion Papers, 1914–1955, New York Public Library, New York, N.Y. The transcription presented here is derived from Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1914), 3:471. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Alex Kinnaman, Elizabeth Lorang, Kathryn Kruger, Eric Conrad, and Vanessa Steinroetter
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D. C.,
May 11, 1865.
Walt Whitman of New York is hereby promoted to a Clerkship of the Second Class in the Office of Indian Affairs to take effect from and after the first instant.
William T. Otto, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
Correspondent:
William T. Otto
(1816–1905) was assistant secretary of the interior. Initially, William D.
O'Connor had arranged an interview for Whitman with Otto for a clerk position in
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. See O'Connor's December
30, 1864, and Otto's January 12, 1865,
letter to Whitman.