Dated December 29, 1801, this letter from President Thomas Jefferson notes the lack of procedures or a “safe deposit” for his Presidential papers. His concerns were well founded. Before the advent of the Presidential Library system, it had been customary for Presidents to take these records with them as their personal property. The records were often passed from one generation to the next with little concern for their value to the history of the nation. Some presidential collections were well preserved by their heirs, but others were broken up and dispersed, or were partially destroyed. The Presidential Libraries Act after 50 Years
Pop-upView Separately

Dated December 29, 1801, this letter from President Thomas Jefferson notes the lack of procedures or a “safe deposit” for his Presidential papers. His concerns were well founded. Before the advent of the Presidential Library system, it had been customary for Presidents to take these records with them as their personal property. The records were often passed from one generation to the next with little concern for their value to the history of the nation. Some presidential collections were well preserved by their heirs, but others were broken up and dispersed, or were partially destroyed.

The Presidential Libraries Act after 50 Years

Source: archives.gov

227 Notes/ Hide

  1. sportsmemorabiliablog reblogged this from npr
  2. oldandgrey reblogged this from npr
  3. retrocampaigns reblogged this from npr
  4. classictimeless reblogged this from todaysdocument
  5. charlesemerson reblogged this from todaysdocument
  6. cherrybegonias reblogged this from todaysdocument
  7. freedimension reblogged this from todaysdocument
  8. This was featured in #History
  9. todaysdocument posted this