RICHMOND, Va. -- History buffs will soon be able to explore the private thoughts and official writings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers in a public, online clearinghouse of their letters, journals and other documents. The University of Virginia Press is putting the published papers of Washington, Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin on a National Archives website that is expected to be accessible to the public in 2012.
When complete, the website will allow users to read, browse and search the text of tens of thousands of documents from the period.
"There's great interest in the founding era now, more than there has been for the last 30 years," said Penny Kaiserlian, director of the Charlottesville, Va.-based publisher. "People want to go back to what the founders said, rather than what people say they said. This will give people the ability to check out quotations and get documents, and in general, get a picture of the daily life of the founders."
Offering the texts online and free of charge helps takes the Founding Fathers' correspondence out of the scholarly realm and move it into the hands of the public, including history teachers and students, said Edward Lengel, editor-in-chief of the Papers of George Washington, at the University of Virginia.
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission, part of the National Archives, will provide up to $2 million for the project.
The archive will give people direct access to primary sources that tell the stories of the men in the context of the times during which they lived and helped shape. Some of the collections also include documents from their childhood and retirement years, giving fuller glimpses into their lives.
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