About
The Washington Papers was established in 1968 at the University of Virginia, under the joint auspices of the University and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, to publish a comprehensive edition of George Washington’s correspondence. Forty years later, the project broadened that scope to include other significant editions, such as the George Washington’s Financial Papers, the Martha Washington Papers, and Washington Family Papers projects.
Work on The Papers of George Washington, our first edition, is now more than two-thirds complete. It will consist of approximately ninety-two volumes, to be published in print and online. Our Martha Washington and Washington Family Papers editions are also underway, and the George Washington Financial Papers is now available online.
Our work is generously supported by grants from the Florence Gould Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the Packard Humanities Institute, the University of Virginia, and gifts from private foundations and individuals.
Today there are copies of over 135,000 documents in the project’s document room. This is one of the richest collections of American historical manuscripts extant. There is almost no facet of research on life and enterprise in the late colonial and early national periods that will not be enhanced by material from these documents. The publication of the Washingtons’ papers will make this source material available not only to scholars, but to all Americans interested in the founding of their nation.