National Archives and Footnote Launch Project to Digitize Historic Documents Online

Footnote, Inc. and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration have announced a new partnership that will place millions of historical documents online. These documents have not been available online previously and many of them have never been microfilmed. Most of these documents were previously available only by traveling to the National Archives and examining the documents in person.

The new announcement describes a service that will make high-quality images available on any computer with an Internet connection. The potential here is huge for genealogists, historians, re-enactors, students, teachers, railroad history buffs, and many more people.

The following announcement is a joint press release written by Footnote, Inc. and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

Washington, DC and Lindon, UT - Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Footnote, Inc. CEO Russell Wilding today announced an agreement to digitize selected records from the vast holdings of the National Archives.  The 4.5 million pages that have been digitized so far are now available at www.footnote.com/nara.

This non-exclusive agreement, beginning with the sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm, will enable researchers and the general public to access millions of newly-digitized images of the National Archives historic records on a subscription basis from the Footnote website.  By February 6, the digitized materials will also be available at no charge in National Archives research rooms in Washington D.C. and regional facilities across the country.  After an interval of five years, all images digitized through this agreement will be available at no charge through the National Archives website.

"This is an exciting step forward for the National Archives," said Professor Weinstein.  "It will immediately allow much greater access to approximately 4.5 million pages of important documents that are currently available only in their original format or on microfilm.  The digitization of documents will also enhance our efforts to preserve our original records."

"The partnership with the National Archives will expand significantly the content we are able to offer professional and amateur researchers," said Footnote CEO Russell Wilding. "We will continue to add millions of original documents and images monthly. "

The following represents a portion of the millions of historic documents that will be made available as part of the National Archives - Footnote Agreement. 

Papers of the Continental Congress (1774-89).  The Papers of the Continental Congress include Journals of the Congress, reports of its committees, papers submitted by state Governments, and correspondence of its Presidents and other officers with diplomatic representatives of the United States abroad, officers in the Continental Army, State and local officials, and private persons.  Among the Papers are copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance, the Constitution, and other documents instrumental in molding the new Government.  Also included are drafts of treaties and commercial agreements, papers relating to expenditures and loans, reports of military progress during the Revolution, and papers relating to Indian treaties and tribes.      

Mathew B Brady Collection of Civil War Photographs. One of the largest and most frequently researched bodies of Civil War photography anywhere, this series originated with some 6,000 glass plate negatives acquired by the War Department from Brady in 1874-1875. Encompassing images by the enterprising Brady and more than a dozen other photographers, including Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan, directly or indirectly associated with him, the series ranges from Brady Gallery portraits of leading military and political personalities of the 1850's-1860's to views of units, battlefields, ruins, landscapes, camps, hospitals, prisons, fortifications, bridges, and railroads from Fredericksburg to Chickamauga to Atlanta.

Southern Claims Commission.  In the 1870s, some southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.  The claim files contain a wealth of genealogical information and they consist of petitions, inventories of properties lost, testimony of family members and others, reports, and certificates submitted by claimants to the Southern Claims Commission as proof of loyalty to the Federal Government and value of property damaged or lost during the Civil War.  The materials are arranged by state and thereunder by the name of the claimant.

Name Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files.  Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1900, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.  The name index to the Civil War and Later Pension Application Files contains over 3 million index entries documenting the applications of soldiers, sailors and their widows.  The index is the entry point for one of the most significant bodies of Federal records documenting the lives of volunteers who served in the Civil War, the western Indian Wars, and the Spanish American War.

Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation, 1908-22.   The Bureau of Investigation investigated real and perceived threats to the nation and its citizens before it became the FBI.  The materials compiled by the BOI from 1908 to 1922 consist of an index to the investigative case files, general investigative records, investigative records relating to German Aliens from 1915 through 1920, investigative records relating to Mexican Neutrality Violations from 1909 through 1921, and investigative records transferred from the Department of Justice from 1920 through 1921.  The records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the person or organization investigated. 

About the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration, an independent federal agency, is the nation's record keeper. Founded in 1934, its mission is unique -to serve American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government.  It supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience.  The National Archives meets a wide range of information needs, among them helping people to trace their families' history, making it possible for veterans to prove their entitlement to medical and other benefits, and preserving original White House records. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at www.archives.gov.

About Footnote, Inc.
Founded in 1997 as iArchives, Inc., Footnote is a subscription based website that features searchable original documents that provide users with an unaltered view of the events , places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com all are invited to come to share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues.  For more information, visit www.footnote.com.

Comments

[Dino (All Dino, All the Time)]

Great. Another subscription service to look at records that should be available to view free of charge.

[Dick Eastman]

If the records were available online free of charge, who would pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year required to keep the servers in operation? Who would pay for the high-speed connections so that you and thousands of others can access the documents? Who would pay the labor charges to have people perform the scanning? Who would buy the scanners? (Book scanners typically cost thousands of dollars each and several of them are required to create this many digital documents per year.) Who would pay the salaries of the software developers who create and maintain the web site? Who would pay for the database administrators who add records to the databases and keep those databases operational? Who would pay for the tech support personnel to answer customers' questions?

The documents may be free. The labor, hardware and software required to make all these documents available to you online is not free. Footnote, Inc. is investing several million dollars to make those documents available to you and me. If they don't charge for access, these documents would never become available online.

By the way, if you read the announcement, you will notice that the National Archives receives a FREE digital image of every document for the Archives' own use. The National Archives also receives unlimited FREE access to the online documents from within any National Archives building. All of this is done at no expense to the taxpayers.

- Dick Eastman

[Beau Sharbrough]

Dino, these documents ARE available to view free of charge. All you have to do is visit the National Archives and load the film into the reader.

And as a result of this agreement, as Dick pointed out above, you will soon be able to visit the National Archives and view the images for free in their reading room from one of the computers there.

Further, after five years, the National Archives will be free to post these images on their website, and make them available to everyone for free. The scanning and keying of this information will be done at no expense to the US taxpayer.

I admit to a bias - I work at footnote, and I've been anxious to see these documents myself. Still, I think this arrangement is not going to be the only one of its kind that NARA enters, and that all of them will provide increased access and preservation for these important historical records.

Beau

[Jason Presley]

Seems to me the subscription price for a whole year is still pennies compared to the costs involved with an actual trip to the Archives. I'm glad someone found a creative way to improve access to the Archives' contents even amid the ongoing budget issues and operating restrictions of the Archives. Services like this are the very definition of the term "value-added". Microfilm readers also don't have search engines.

[Kathy Meyer]

I just went to the website; it works quickly and is easy to understand; they have multiple options for subscribing with the annual price being $99.99; in my case, I don't really have a bunch of ancestors that would be covered in these particular documents but if I did have one or two, they allow me to pay a much smaller price for limited access--I dont' have to pay for a full year-I like that kind of flexibility. I always say the site that has your family member listed on it the most valuable one, whatever it's source! And ditto, ditto, ditto to all the comments supporting subscription sites; I couldn't afford to be without them!

[Nancy Hamilton]

Some of this information may be already available through the Mormon Family History Libraries. I know I have looked at microfilms of the Civil War Pension files at SLC. They are indexed.

[Dick Eastman]

Correct. As mentioned in the press release: "...beginning with the sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm..."

I think that all of the above collections, or at most most of them, are available on microfilm. The exciting part is the press release's announcement that many future projects will include documents that have never been microfilmed or available in any format other than the original copies.

- Dick Eastman

[Ann Lamb]

I would appreciate if you could post some Search Tips or tell us if there is such an area on the site. I tested it a bit and found a vast number of returns for a name and no way to limit them except to a particular record group. Submitting "surname, given" often brings lots of returns of same surname, different given name. Otherwise it looks very useful, once I learn how to limit me search.

[Ceil Wendt Jensen]

I really like the naturalization documents!
This will be great for the 10 million Polish-Americans in the US.

I would have bought a membership today if any of the following were online:

Ohio Civil War pensions (Moses Stedman)The index skips Ohio.
Naturalization papers - Michigan
City Directories- Detroit

Ceil

[Ceil Wendt Jensen]

I'm dreaming now ;-) but it would be nice if footnote would post a list and tentative dates of new collections.
ancestry.com and world vital records announce upcoming databases.

Ceil

[Robert M. Gerrity]

Will accessing NARA material via Footnote be FREE at the NARA regional centers as is the case with Ancestry now?

[Cheryl]

Thanks for the clarification on the details of this project.

[Dick Eastman]

---> Will accessing NARA material via Footnote be FREE at the NARA regional centers as is the case with Ancestry now?

Yes.

The press release states, "By February 6, the digitized materials will also be available at no charge in National Archives research rooms in Washington D.C. and regional facilities across the country. After an interval of five years, all images digitized through this agreement will be available at no charge through the National Archives website."

[Dick Eastman]

If you have an interest in this topic, you might want to read the blog of Chris Willis, one of the developers of Footnote.com. His site is available at http://www.hypergene.net/blog/weblog.php

[Shirley Crenshaw]

I paid a quick visit to view the Confederate War Claims in Mississippi. Who transcribed these records? Obviously it was done by someone who is not familiar with Mississippi county names. There are so many that are wrong. I would consider subscribing to a service like this but if this is the quality we can expect, I think we may be better off without it! I understand that technology can be expensive but being able to read the handwriting of the time and being familiar with the locations is critical to good, accurate information.

[Bobbi]

I am not thrilled coming up with the subscription fee for Ancestry.com, but in considering how much it would have cost me to send away for all the documents I have gotten from them, it is truly a bargain.

[Jason Presley]

It is important to understand that when a company like Ancestry or Footnote transcribe documents into their searchable database systems like they do, the only transcribe, they don't interpret. They enter into their database exactly what they find on the documents they are transcribing. The most likely case is the the persons creating the original records were unfamiliar with Mississippi County names and it was they that listed them incorrectly. It's not Footnote's place to correct bad data from the original record.