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Letter to the editor

200 years later, early U.S. papers still hidden

Historians press for results before another half century passes.

By Washington Post
Published December 15, 2007

WASHINGTON - More than 200 years after they were written, huge portions of the papers of America's founding fathers are still decades away from being published, prompting a distinguished group of scholars and federal officials to pressure Congress to speed the process along.

Teams of experts have been laboring since the Truman administration to compile and annotate the letters, correspondence and documents of George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. About $58-million has been spent in the past 30 years alone.

Yet, according to a study by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the Washington papers will not be finished until 2023, with 54 volumes published and 35 more to go. The Adams papers, 29 volumes shy of the planned 59-volume set, will not be done until 2050.

Only the papers of Alexander Hamilton have been finished, largely because scholars did not have as many papers to comb through. He died at age 49.

An assortment of highbrow lobbyists - led by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and including presidential historian David McCullough, the librarian of Congress and the archivist of the United States - have been trying to persuade lawmakers to allocate more money for the Founding Fathers Project.

"I feel very strongly that this is as worthy as any publishing effort that I know of," said McCullough, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. "It's just a shame that it is taking so long."

Dan Jordan, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, describes the delay in harsher terms: "It's an embarrassment."

Access to the documents, which include letters to and from the principals, diary and journal entries as well as official papers, has been strictly limited.

Many of the founding fathers' letters have been transcribed and made available over the years, and the original documents can increasingly be found online. But scholars in charge of the five remaining sets of papers strongly believe that those annotations cannot be rushed. Scholars check and double check each reference and then try to explain each one and put it in context.

[Last modified December 15, 2007, 01:52:01]