Relationship to the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the biggest and arguably the most prestigious library in the world. It is custodian of historic materials of all kinds and from many periods. The main library in Washington DC houses their Manuscripts Division and, after we published extensive records from the contents of our trove of letters in an early website, their staff kindly took a detailed interest in the contents of the Thomas Jackson Collection. As a result, the Library is now holding all these original materials in its permanent collections.

Serious historians may wish to see and handle some of the original documents and it is possible to make an appointment to travel and do that in person.

However, our two related websites have been designed to provide a far more convenient alternative. This first introductory site will give new visitors an easy way to become aware of the range of topics that Thomas Jackson wrote about.

In contrast, the second site (currently https://thomasjacksletters.com) is really the place where amateur and professional visitors can examine the whole range of the materials in the Thomas Jackson Collection in full. Here can be found scans of each page of every letter along with transcriptions to aid in the understanding of the manuscripts as well as vintage articles often on decaying paper.

To have access to the original materials in the Thomas Jackson Collection, contact: Civil War and Reconstruction Section,, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E. (LM-102) Washington, D.C. 20540-4680 Tel: (202) 707-1085. Fax: (202) 707-6336