UIS receives gift for Papers of Abraham Lincoln

February 28, 2013

SPRINGFIELD – A gift of $25,000 will aid the Papers of Abraham Lincoln in continuing its search for Lincoln documents at the National Archives.  Since 2006, researchers for the Papers of Abraham Lincoln have been searching for documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln in the vast holdings of the National Archives, both at its familiar facility on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington, and at its newer facility in College Park, Maryland.  Thus far, they have identified more than 56,000 documents within the project’s scope, including scores of new documents and hundreds of brief notes written by Lincoln.

This generous gift, made possible through the efforts of Benjamin Shapell and the Shapell Family Foundation, will aid the project in replacing funding that has supported the research at the National Archives since 2008.  For the past five years, the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund has supported a team of professional researchers for the Papers of Abraham Lincoln at the National Archives.  The Davis Charitable Fund completes its five-year commitment in the summer of 2013, and the Papers of Abraham Lincoln needs to attract approximately $325,000 per year to continue the search for documents.