Documentary editing, the practice of publishing collections of writings, letters, and speeches by prominent historical or literary figures, dates back to the late eighteenth century. Editions of collected writings or speeches became more widespread in the mid-nineteenth century, with figures like Henry Clay having collections of their speeches published during their lifetimes.
In the mid-twentieth century documentary editions dedicated to the United States Presidents began to proliferate. For example, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, which began at Princeton University in 1943. In 1951, the editors of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson presented their first volume to President Harry Truman and he expressed hope that the project would inspire educational institutions and civic organizations to plan similar efforts for other national figures. Truman’s encouragement led to the formation of the National Historical Publications Commission (NHPC), now the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), to explore how to support and facilitate other documentary editing projects.
With the turn towards digital methodologies our field has become deliberately more capacious and open in welcoming folks working on a wide variety of recovery of texts, artifacts, and other materials from a wide range of historical, literary, and public figures. While projects dedicated to the US Presidents are still a vital part of the field, members of the ADE contribute to a wide variety of projects ranging in geographical scope beyond the United States, and to marginalized voices and materials, such as oral histories of Native Americans, recovering the history of enslaved peoples in the American South, the manuscripts of early women writers, and the material culture of immigrant communities.
