Bradburn Heads New Library at Mount Vernon

Our congratulations go out to Douglas Bradburn, whom the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association has named the founding director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. As library director, he will oversee Mount Vernon’s efforts to safeguard original Washington books and manuscripts and to foster new scholarly research about George Washington and the Founding Era.

‘People of the Founding Era’ Launches

UVa Press announces the release this week of a powerful new online resource, People of the Founding Era, a  digital biographical dictionary that will be open to the public during its beta release. This new resource provides biographical information for thousands of individuals active during a crucial period in American history. Beginning with 12,000 but eventually expanding to over 60,000 people born between 1713 and 1815, the subjects include members of many of the most important families of the era, as well as individuals—such as artisans, merchants, slaves, and Native Americans—whose lives are not typically documented in historical archives.

Founders Online Launches

The University of Virginia Press announces this week the launch of Founders Online, a website offering free access to the papers of six of the most important figures from America’s founding era. The site, developed by the Press’s electronic imprint, Rotunda, will be officially launched at a ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. on June 13. University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan will offer remarks on this unique collaboration between the Archives and the University. This new resource will provide free public access to nearly 120,000 documents from the papers of George Washington, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin.