Hi! I’m Donna and I’ve worked at Footnote for over a year. Part of what I do is write Story Pages and other miscellany. Here is my Footnote profile.

I found this interesting recommendation when I was annotating in the Confederate Amnesty Papers. The Governor of Tennessee wrote, in behalf of John Russell’s application for amnesty, that he was an old man and a bad rebel. He continued that Russell “had been badly whipped and has not long to live.” You can see the entire case free here.

You may have noticed that on the new Title Information Pages we try to include at least a couple of sample images to give people a better idea of what they’ll find in each title.

You’ll see these images in the left hand column of the page, as in this example for the Lincoln Assassination papers. Sample images are always free.

Often we find these sample images by just poking around the title. I’ve been surprised by how easy it is to find interesting and unexpected things from any title if you just take a few minutes to browse.

Recently, I had a lot of fun looking for sample images for a couple of titles that may have slipped under the radar of most site users:

Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919 is a report of some of the first uses of aircraft in war. Edgar S. Gorrell was assigned to gather information that would “assist in establishing Army aeronautics on a sound basis for the future,” and this title is the result of his work.

Browsing this title, I found great descriptions of the kinds of things the military was learning about air warfare and some fascinating pictures, including stitched aerial photos that must be among the earliest precursors to Google Earth.

Historical Files of the American Expeditionary Force, North Russia, 1918-19 includes reports from the US involvement in a multinational task force that was sent to North Russia in 1918 following the signing of a treaty between Russia and Germany. I had no idea the US was involved in Russia at this time, and this title provides intimate details about what was going on.

I found lists of troop activities, reports of soldiers missing or killed, more early learnings about the military use of aircraft and much more.

These documents and those from individual Member’s shoe boxes, tell some of the most interesting stories of history. It’s our hope that as you and Footnote make more of these documents available, their stories we’ll give us not just a clear vision of the past but a better idea of how we got where we are.

If you find something that you think would make a good sample image for one of the titles on the site, please send us a link to the image and tell us why you think it would make a good sample.

After nearly seven months, we’ve hit the 14 million mark and continue to add documents at a pace of more than 2 million a month.

As a comparison: According to Agence France-Presse, the Library of Congress has digitized 11 million documents in 12 years (as of April 2007).

There is no master plan of History.

Events happen, we witness and, later, we try to make sense of them.

When tragic or momentous events do occur, we often seek to forgo patience for prescience. We want it all to make sense now. We want order and meaning restored.

In an age when reporting has mostly given way to analysis, a look back into history suggests that observations and facts are far more valuable since true perspective can only come with time.

As an example, I came across this letter written by Thomas Jefferson 218 years ago today:

It is vivid and striking not only because of its rich details but in its lack of any superfluous prognostication or color commentary. It’s just the facts written by a shaken but brilliantly coherent observer.

The letter describes an angry mob storming a prison, taking up arms, freeing captives and beheading authorities.

Jefferson, for all of his intellect, cannot see beyond that moment. So he writes for it. It’s what a good reporter would do.

He stands amid the chaos watching the instant one of the world’s most powerful countries begins to furiously unravel at the seams.

He witnesses the genesis of something before its consequences can be known, or before the master plan can be seen - even before it has a name: The French Revolution.

Cross-posted at Hypergene Media Blog

In July 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) issued a press release saying they had recovered debris of a crashed “flying disc” sparking intense media interest. They later corrected themselves by stating the materials were that of a downed weather balloon.

60 years later, speculation and fascination about the incident continues. Just this week, a peculiar eyewitness report by a retired public relations officer for the base surfaced.

If you’re curious about what people have seen in the sky over the past 60 years, we might have something to keep you busy.

Footnote has free and complete access to more than 129,000 documents of Project Blue Book - investigations conducted by the US Air Force’ from 1947-1969. Note: The original Roswell incident was not covered by this series of investigations. But the reading is fascinating. First-hand accounts from everyone - farmers to fighter pilots.

You can also view more than 1,600 documents that the FBI has released.

Even the night before the Fourth of July, it’s easy to obtain (where legal, of course) nearly an unlimited supply of fireworks, sparklers and other brilliant incendiary devices. Though such gunpowder-based confections stir delight in children and swelling patriotism in grown-ups, they belie the true state of affairs that General George Washington and his troops faced during the American Revolution more than 230 years ago.

But don’t take our word for it. You can see for yourself in this letter - and many others in our free Birth of America preview this month. Notice Washington’s distinctive signature as he endorses yet another plea to the Continental Congress begging for more gunpowder and ammunition.

In a time when it was customary to fill correspondences with platitudes, excessive praise and indirect requests, Washington makes the situation clear:

“… but there are operations, which may hereafter become practicable, and adviseable, that we should not be able to undertake for want of ammunition, unless we can derive a supply elsewhere.”

– General George Washington to the Continental Congress on 29 July 1779

What are the Papers of the Continental Congress?

The Papers of the Continental Congress are comprised of nearly 180,000 official records from the first three representative bodies of the original United Colonies and ultimately the United States of America. The First Continental Congress was formed in 1774 to address “intolerable acts” by the British Parliament.

It ultimately formed the Second Continental Congress in May 1775 which, through 1781, was famously responsible for the Declaration of Independence and many critical articles establishing the United States of America.

The Congress of the Confederation (1781-1789) immediately succeeded it after ratification of the Articles of Confederation and lasted through the end of the War for American Independence.

These are the important papers, letters, treaties, reports and assorted records—famous and obscure—relating to the formation of the United States government. While they contain exceedingly important reports, many of which may be well-known, they also contain much covering the day-to-day government of a fledgling country.

The original documents are currently held at The National Archives.

The Papers give you a privileged view that few other resources can. They show the dangers, debate and ultimate consensus that gave birth to the country we’ll be celebrating this Fourth.

How did Footnote get these online for the first time?

Getting nearly 200,000 documents digitized and online was not the hardest part - making them easily findable was.

Computers are getting good at reading typewritten text but handwritten text is nearly impossible for them - and many of us - to decipher.

Paying a staff to cross reference the millions of different names, dates, places and topics would have been too time consuming and expensive.

Instead we found a printed five-volume set of books that referenced each document in the microfilm and had our computers “read” that typewritten text. We then matched those descriptions up with our digitized collection and indexed that with our search engine and it worked.

For the first time, anyone can access, annotate, comment or share this great American collection.

Where do I start?

Here’s a small sampling of some of interesting finds:

• Read George Washington’s Acceptance as General of the Continental Army
• Read the first printed draft of the Constitution
• John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations…” Read what Adams was referring to
• Read a letter by Thomas Jefferson
• A timeline of British colonization of America
• Franklin wanted to call America “The United Colonies of North America”
• Read about medical treatment during the Revolutionary War
• Read Adams’ report on European opinion of the Revolutionary War
• Read George Washington’s Acceptance as General of the Continental Army
• Read Washington’s resignation speech

If you find some interesting writings, please share them with us by either annotating the document in the Viewer or creating a Spotlight or Story Page with more details.

We look forward to your discoveries.

There was a time not long ago when researching a Revolutionary War soldier or battle meant spending lots of money and time sifting through dusty archives in hopes that your document could be found.

Today, we’re happy to announce that we’re much closer to making such an experience a thing of the, uh, past.

When Footnote launched the site had nearly 200,000 images from the American Revolution. A respectable collection but with room to grow.

Five months later we have millions of original War documents from muster rolls, officer pay, supply records, service records, pensions and Continental Congress Papers - more are being added daily.

For us, it would have been easier and cheaper to have just created simple indexes to these images. But it wouldn’t have been fun.

Being able to examine an original document first-hand can be a powerful experience. Click on a document and a richer story soon unfolds before you. Each document, with its unique handwriting, marginalia and weathered creases, tells more than the words say.

On Footnote, each document can also show you other interested Members or be attached to Story Pages.

We believe that being able to access the actual image is important not only for serious researchers but also for those whose interest in history is just awakening.

But making it easy to search and view any of these 10 million images on Footnote takes some effort.

To start, the documents need to be findable. Using our Annotation tool found in the Viewer, we and our Members have added 3.5 million annotations. Each annotation identifies that person, place, date or transcribed text down to the pixel and makes hard to decipher handwriting a breeze to read.

The Annotation tool also lets anyone identify anything of interest in images that they upload to Footnote. Each annotation then becomes findable within seconds.

As of today, storing just these images requires more 5.4 terabytes of hard drive space - an amount equal to about what two public libraries might hold. But unlike a library, the vast majority of documents on Footnote are not available online anywhere else.

At Footnote we make the image the center of the history experience because this is where it all started. This is the evidence, the story. This where your research can begin, end or take you places you never expected.

Here are few unexpected stories that we have come across:

• Read a document about 3 American soldiers (dressed in British and Hessian uniforms) who captured a spy - an accomplice of Benedict Arnold. Found in the Revolutionary War Rolls, which are now 96% complete.
• Find out how the FBI investigated the seditious writings of Charles Lindbergh’s Father back in 1919. Found in Bureau of Investigation Case Files.
• Read about the legend of the Flatwoods Monster in the U.S. Airforce’s Project Blue Book U.F.O. investigation files, which are now 100% complete.

With our unique partnership with the National Archives you can expect to see many as 2 million new historical document added each month.

But those documents will never be able to tell the complete story. There are millions of other stories and missing pieces sitting in attics, photo albums and old shoe boxes across the country.

If you have a story to share, we encourage you to start a Free Story page.

Together we can discover a more complete history.

Until recently, interest in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) seemed to be waning. But lately they appear to making a comeback - especially in Canada where this year they have become more conspicuous. According to a study mentioned in the Toronto Star:

Aliens and spaceships are a bit passe these days, but 736 reported UFO sightings across Canada last year shows an “underlying, real phenomenon” going on, according to one of the country’s top UFO researchers.

Interest in UFOs seems to be growing worldwide from Northeast China to Chicago to France where, last month, the French government created a stir when its space agency published more than 1,600 reports online from its archives relating to UFOs and sightings of other unexplained phenomena.

If you’re interested in examining the evidence for UFOs, you can now access for free the Project Blue Book report documents compiled by the US Air Force from 1947 to 1969.

A little more than half of the 130,000 documents are available now but we’re hard at work to bring the complete NARA collection to the web for the first time.
In the meantime, we’ve enjoyed browsing the latest images. Here are two recent favorites to get you started:

If you’re looking for the full Footnote UFO experience, try out our enhanced viewer by clicking on any of these search results.

It’s an expensive way to spend President’s Day but, by all accounts, worth it.
According to The Washington Post:

It was a speech so moving the crowd wept. It was a speech so personally important George Washington’s hand shook as he read it until he had to hold the paper still with both hands. After the ceremony, he handed the thing to a friend and sped out the door of the State House in Annapolis, riding off by horse.

For centuries, his words have resonated in American democracy even as the speech itself — the small piece of paper that shook in his hands that day — was quietly put away, out of the public eye and largely forgotten.

Today, however, amid festivities celebrating his birthday, Maryland officials plan to unveil the original document — worth $1.5 million — after acquiring it in a private sale from a family in Maryland who had kept it all these years. It took two years to negotiate the deal and raise money for the speech, which experts consider the most significant Washington document to change hands in the past 50 years.

The speech, scholars say, was a turning point in U.S. history. As the Revolutionary War was winding down, some wanted to make Washington king. Some whispered conspiracy, trying to seduce him with the trappings of power. But Washington renounced them all.

Read the full transcription and view Washington’s speech.
Footnote Members (subscription required) can see the copy of Washington’s 20 Dec 1783 letter stating his intention to resign to Congress.

Update: Almost forgot to mention this document detailing the motion of Congress regarding Washington’s resignation (subscription required).

This past weekend Beau, Donna, and I traveled to sunny St. George to participate in the conference. Donna and I enjoyed the conference as we talked to both novice and experienced family historians as they visited the Footnote booth in the Exhibit Hall. We were thrilled to meet many people who were already using the site. Our own Beau Sharbrough gave three classes and spoke at the Footnote sponsored dinner on Friday night. Dick Eastman joined Donna and me in the Footnote booth. I must say it was fun to have a genealogy celebrity with us at the conference. Footnote recently began sponsoring Dick’s fabulous newsletter.

Those that visited in the booth asked some great questions and offered great suggestions. We learned that it would be beneficial to clearly communicate the level of completion for the different collections. There was a lot of curiosity surrounding the content from NARA we will be featuring on the site next. We also heard the need for a Footnote newsletter. It’s this type of feedback that will help us build a better product.

The conference had a great turn out and I had the chance to meet a lot of wonderful people. Throughout the conference people shared their enthusiasm for family history. I loved hearing people’s eureka moments when they finally found a record that was crucial to the next step of their research. The family historians I met at the conference had a great passion for the past and the documents that preserve history. I must say the family history bug was contagious and I spent several hours this week working on my own family history research. We would also like to congratulate Em Shipley who won a free Annual Membership to Footnote. We felt the conference was a great success and like to thank all those that participated!