ILLINOIS (WAND) – An online database now holds thousands of documents that shine a light on Abraham Lincoln’s life.
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project, available at this link, contains 340 documents written by or to Lincoln, along with another 4,839 papers that explain what he went through as a lawyer and lawmaker. Each document, along with a typed transcription, can be found on the website.
The collection is through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which hopes to put together every document written by or to Lincoln so that it can be available to researchers and scholars.
“This project has the potential to transform Lincoln scholarship,” said museum executive director Alan Lowe. “Not only will researchers have immediate access to what President Lincoln wrote himself, but they’ll also be able to see what others were telling him. How did he navigate conflicting demands and make decisions? Now this information will all be in one place for students and scholars around the world.”
The first set of documents released covers Lincoln’s childhood after his 1809 birth to the end of his days as a lawmaker in 1842. It includes a workbook Lincoln had as a child that contains his math education, along with poems he wrote. All 11 pages of that book are in the collection after each page originally went to different places.
The full collection will have up to 175,000 documents in it.
Organizers plan to make changes to the website based on feedback from the public.
