WILLIAMSBURG — Two Williamsburg institutions are among five Virginia organizations participating in a statewide consortium that has received a $749,939 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to preserve and digitize collections documenting American independence and Virginia’s early government.
The consortium is led by the Library of Virginia and includes The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, William & Mary Libraries, Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. The award is part of the NEH’s Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition initiative.
The grant will fund conservation of manuscripts, bound volumes, artwork and printed materials from 13 historically significant collections held by the consortium partners. Once conserved, the items will be digitized, with images uploaded to each partner’s digital asset management system.
In Williamsburg, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will use the grant to conserve and digitize the Elizabeth Jacquelin Ambler Brent Carrington papers and James Anderson & Son account books.
Emily Guthrie, the Abby and George O’Neill Executive Director of the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, said the collections document the lives of people in and around Williamsburg during the Revolutionary War.
“As the research hub of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library holds important documentation of the lives of everyday individuals in and around Williamsburg, Virginia, during the Revolutionary War,” Guthrie said. “Our participation in this grant will allow us to have several key examples of this documentation preserved for future generations.”
William & Mary Libraries will use the grant to conserve and digitize the Leven Powell papers, Jonathan Boucher papers, Colonel James Madison Account Book and Almanac, and selected manuscript items from the Tucker-Coleman papers.
“The collections we’ve selected highlight the history of the American Revolution and the early establishment of Virginia’s government,” said Afua Ferdnance, head of processing at William & Mary Libraries and project lead.
The Library of Virginia will use the grant to conserve and digitize the executive papers of Gov. Benjamin Harrison.
Washington and Lee University digitize the William and Anne Fleming papers and 14 oaths of allegiance to the Commonwealth from the Andrew Reid family papers.
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture will digitize and preserve wood panel portraits of James and Dolley Madison painted by Joseph Wood in 1817, six manuscript and print items related to the Founding Fathers, Lee family correspondence, personal diaries and military order books.
Students will transcribe a selection of the original source materials. After the grant period, consortium members plan to create shared finding aids, educational materials, online and physical exhibits, public transcription projects and other ways for the public to explore and engage with the materials.
