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Introduction

Volumes Published

Microfilm Set Locations

Microfilm Guide

Permission to Quote




Introduction

The Adams Papers project was founded in 1954 to prepare a comprehensive published edition of the manuscripts written and received by the family of John Adams of Quincy, Massachusetts. The Adams Family Papers manuscript collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society forms the nucleus of the project. In addition, the editors have gathered over 27,000 copies of Adams items from hundreds of libraries, institutions, and individuals in the United States and abroad. The project's cut-off date is 1889, the year Abigail Brooks Adams died. The editors do not edit the Adamses words; rather, they continue the search for Adams documents, select the material to be included in the edition, provide a faithful transcription of the manuscripts, and supply annotation. To date, 41 volumes have been published by Harvard University Press.

The Adams Papers was funded originally by Time-Life Inc. and the Ford Foundation. At present funding is provided primarily by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional funding from the Lyn and Norman Lear Fund, the Packard Humanities Institute, and private donors. Over the years, these supporters have included The J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The Charles E. Culpeper Foundation through the Founding Fathers Papers, Inc.


Contact Information

If you have questions regarding the collection or the editorial project, please contact us:

     The Adams Papers
     Massachusetts Historical Society
     1154 Boylston Street
     Boston, MA 02215
     Tel: 617.536.1608

     adamspapers@masshist.org



John Quincy Adams designed and used this acorn and oak
leaf seal after 1830. The motto is from Cæcilius Statius as
quoted by Cicero in the First Tusculan Disputation: Serit
arbores quœ alteri seculo prosint
("He plants trees for the
benefit of later generations").



Online:

Adams Time Line

Adams Genealogy

Biographical Sketches

Quotations

Selected Manuscripts

Adams Electronic Archive

JQA: One President's Adolescence


Other Resources:

Related Web Sites

Books about the Adamses

Adams Family Papers manuscript collection






Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street (directions)
Boston, MA 02215-3695
Tel: 617.536.1608
Fax: 617.859.0074
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