The "Papers of George Washington" research project at the University was awarded a 2005 National Humanities medal for its contributions to the field of humanities.
Theodore J. Crackel, editor-in-chief of the project, accepted the medal, which was awarded yesterday by President George W. Bush, on behalf of the project, according to a National Endowment for the Humanities statement.
The National Humanities medals are awarded each year to individuals or groups whose "work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities," according to the National Endowment for the Humanities Web site.
The project, which began in 1969, was created with support from the University and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union with the goal of creating a comprehensive collection of George Washington's correspondence spanning much of his life. The compilation process involves going through all the correspondence to and from Washington, transcribing it and putting it into volumes, said Liz Smith, administrative specialist for the project.
Philander Chase, senior editor of the project, said the group has published 53 of an expected 90 volumes so far and expects to complete the project in the next 15 to 20 years.
Smith said the nationwide recognition that will come with the National Humanities medal could help the project, which is almost entirely grant-funded, attract more financial support.
Chase said he believes the project is garnering this national attention for several reasons, namely the innovative nature of the project, as well as the popularity and historical importance of Washington.
"One reason obviously is that it's George Washington, and even more than two hundred years after his death, he's still very much at the center of what we are as a nation," he said.
Chase added that, with the help of the University press, the group has been able to be highly productive and forward-looking so it can get the materials out for both scholars and the public to use and benefit from.
The project will be taking "quite a step forward" in the next year, as it has recently announced that it will be digitizing the volumes to make them available in electronic form, Chase said. Because of the financial support from the University and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association that will make the digitizing possible, Chase said the project will become the "first large amount of historical materials edited this way and available in this way."
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