The Lincoln Archives Digital Project started in 2002 with a simple idea for a vast undertaking: to digitize all federal records that exist from the administration of Abraham Lincoln.  Over 6,000 documents are currently online and over half a million documents are scanned and in the process of being placed online.  People from around the world now have access to the documents of  Abraham Lincoln's administration, including Civil War records. 

The project is the first undertaking of its kind to digitize the entire holdings of the administration of any single U.S. President.   Also, we are digitizing newspaper accounts, correspondence, photographs, and other documents of the period.  The Lincoln Archives Digital Project is truly a virtual archive of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. 

Original documents are scanned in color at 600 dpi, which gives the online users a crystal clear view of these historical documents.  Although blank pages within a document are not scanned, a page of a document is scanned even if it contains only unclear or informal markings and notations.  Because of the high quality scanning equipment that we use, the various colored inks characteristic of 19^th Century documents are readily apparent in the documents of the Lincoln Archives Digital Project.  We use the software program Zoomify™ to enable the user to enlarge documents to further study stamps, markings, and difficult-to-read text.

Why subscribe to the Lincoln Archives Digital Project?

Although these historic American documents belong to the people of the United States, not everyone is able to visit the facilities of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., and in other cities to see original documents. 

With a subscription, you can view and print out scanned color copies of original documents.  And you can view these documents any time of day for as long as you want.  There’s no need to worry that the Archives are about to “close for the day.” 

However, all users of the website—even those without a subscription—have free access to entry descriptions, the index of documents at the “box” level, a timeline of President Lincoln’s life, Civil War photographs, and so much more. 

Why is a fee charged for subscriptions? 

The Lincoln Archives Digital Project is a private enterprise.  We are not part of the Federal Government, and we are not affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.  The Lincoln Archives Digital Project receives no federal funding or grants, and we accept no advertising.  Your subscriptions help make it possible for us to continue our work to search for, scan, and catalog the records of the Abraham Lincoln administration.

How much do subscriptions cost?

Individual subscriptions are available for $15 for a month or $150 annually.  The cost of our individual subscription will always remain low because we want to ensure that even the most obscure documents of Abraham Lincoln’s administration are easily available to anyone in the United States and around the world.  PayPal™ is our secure method for payment online.

When we launched this project, our prime objective was to make Abraham Lincoln’s presidential documents available to millions of people who will never be able to travel to Washington, D.C., and other cities with National Archive facilities.  The individual subscription cost will always remain low so that as many people as possible may study and enjoy the history of the Lincoln presidency.

We also accept personal checks.  Checks may be mailed, along with a printout of the subscription form, to:

Karen Needles, Director

Lincoln Archives Digital Project

6904 Carlton Terrace

College Park, Maryland  20740

 

Subscription rates: 
Individual: $15 per month or $150/yr

K-12 Districts: $2000/yr unlimited access with all district computers or $150 per computer terminal

Public Libraries: $500/yr or $150 per computer terminal

Universities: $5000/yr unlimited access for all university computers or $150 per computer terminal