Contributing to PJD
The Papers of Jefferson Davis project needs your support to be able to continue its work. Here are several ways that you can help:
Tell us of any Davis documents that you find
We have made
every effort that we can to identify all known Davis documents, as well
as those to or from his wife Varina, but we still regularly find out
about materials that are in private hands, or being sold at auction. We
do not have the funds to purchase documents, but we do attempt to gain
permission to publish. The records that we have of ownership of Davis
materials have also proved invaluable in catching and convicting several
document thieves.
Make a tax-deductible contribution to the project
Even with government grants, our budget is very limited. Recent
government cutbacks threaten the future of the project, especially for
the volumes covering the postwar period. All contributors are listed in the acknowledgments section of our volumes. Checks should be made payable to the Jefferson Davis Association and sent to us at Rice University, MS-43, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77251-1892. If you have any questions, please email us
Buy our books
If not for yourself, order them
for the local or school library. Or raise money through a community
organization to fund the purchase. The best way to interest students of
any age in history is to expose them to original documents. Our volumes
allow the readers to know Davis through his own words. See the section on Volumes for more information on purchasing.
Support the NEH and NHPRC
Cuts to the budget of the
National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) have meant the elimination of grants to a number of important
historical projects. Our other major source of operating funds, the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission
(NHPRC), is a tiny agency that supports literally hundreds of projects
from a total budget of only $5 million. It is easy for such agencies to
get lost in the federal shuffle, so let your senators and congressmen
know of your interest in the NEH and NHPRC, both of which help maintain
projects such as the Davis Papers.