The George Washington Financial Papers Project

About The Project

In 2013 work began on the George Washington Financial Papers Project (GWFPP). Funded by a grant from the NHPRC, the GWFPP’s two main objectives were to develop a freely accessible digital edition and an open-source editorial platform. Over the course of three years, the project accomplished the following goals:

  • Developed a platform to edit and publish financial documents.
  • Transcribed documents held in the George Washington Papers, Series 5, 1750–1796, collection at the Library of Congress.
  • Created a digital edition of George Washington’s three ledger books of accounts.
  • Worked with the editors of the Gouverneur Morris Papers project to prepare Morris’s 1811–1816 account book for digital publication.
  • Developed a web prototype that allows users to perform simple queries and download data.
  • Conducted user testing of the digital edition.
  • Held a conference to discuss discoveries and lessons learned.
  • Wrote and distributed a guide for creating editions of financial papers.

See also: Stertzer, Jennifer. “Working with the Financial Records of George Washington: Document vs. Data.” Digital Studies / Le champ numérique. https://www.digitalstudies.org/article/id/7246/

Project Director: Jennifer Stertzer

Host Institution: The University of Virginia

George Washington Financial Papers Project on a computer screen

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