Press Releases
January 30, 2008 Release - The Constitutional Sources Project Receives $80,000 Grant from Verizon to Allow Free Access to Documents Penned by Washington
August 30, 2007 Release - The Constitutional Sources Project to Launch Fully-indexed Free Online Library of Constitution-related Source Documents
August 8, 2007 Release - Top Supreme Court Law Firm Uses New Online Constitutional Source Library to Prep for Gun Law Cert Petition
--------------------------------------February 2, 2010--------------------------------------
Lost Document Proves James Wilson Authored 3 Drafts of U.S. Constitution
ConSource Founder Finds Missing Piece of Constitutional History
Philadelphia, PA—Feb 2, 2010—While searching for reports from the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Lorianne Updike Toler, ConSource Founding President, found a remarkable piece of constitutional history buried in an unmarked folder inside an unmarked box within the vaults of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The re-discovered document, which had been missing for decades, demonstrates that James Wilson wrote three, not two drafts of the Constitution while serving on the Convention's Committee of Detail.
Toler was reviewing documents the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) has catalogued as James Wilson's First and Second Draft of the Constitution when she found an abbreviated introductory section of what appeared to be a third draft written upside-down on the back of a subsequent draft. The short, incomplete text begins with a “We the People” preamble and two sections vesting legislative power in a Congress composed of two houses—similar to the beginning of our current U.S. Constitution. She wondered if there was more.
According to a transcription of Wilson's drafts by Yale scholar Max Farrand published in 1911, a missing document entitled “Continuation of the Scheme” apparently picks up where the abbreviated introduction ends. However, this document was nowhere to be found in HSP catalogues.
After obtaining permission to enter the vaults to look through Wilson's boxes of uncatalogued legal documents, Toler was intrigued by a box labelled simply “Volume 2”. Without cataloguing, the identity and contents of such documents are not known to either patrons or staff. Inside the box Toler was delighted to find an unmarked folder with the missing “Continuation of the Scheme,” along with a wealth of Wilson's constitutional treasures. Based on HSP records, Toler discovered this document has been missing since at least 1970, if not since 1911 when Farrand published his transcription.
“This document demonstrates there were three, not two drafts of the Constitution authored by Wilson,” said Toler. “Because of the hurried manner in which it was written, it supports the theory that Wilson worked alone on three drafts and therefore was the key figure in compiling the Constitution.”
On July 24, 1787, Wilson was selected with four other members of the Constitutional Convention–John Rutledge, Edmund Randolph, Nathaniel Gorham, and Oliver Ellsworth–to serve on the Committee of Detail, tasked with adding flesh and bones to the Convention's 28 skeletal resolutions to be part of the Constitution. One draft, or outline, from the Committee is in Edmund Randolph's hand, the other three in James Wilson's hand. On August 6, 1787, this committee produced their report, which followed, with very few edits, Wilson's third draft of the Constitution.
“This discovery by our Founding President Lorianne Updike Toler is significant,” said David Marble, ConSource Executive Director. “It underscores the importance of our technological vision of digitizing both transcribed and untranscribed documents from throughout Constitutional history, which will make discoveries such as hers more frequent and more accessible.”
Lorianne Updike Toler, formerly Lorianne Updike, is on leave from ConSource while pursuing graduate studies in constitutional history at Oxford. She is available for interviews subject to a busy research schedule.
--------------------------------------September 16, 2008--------------------------------------
The Constitutional Sources Project Identifies McCain and Obama’s Top 10 Constitution and Founders’ Quotes
Top 10 Lists Show Contrasting Views of the Constitution and Founders
Washington D.C. – 16 September 2008 –In commemoration of the 221st anniversary of the signing of the Constitution tomorrow, The Constitutional Sources Project, creator of ConSource.org, the only free, fully-indexed online library of Constitutional sources, today identifies the Top 10 Constitution and Founders’ Quotes for presidential candidates Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. The Top 10 lists reflect each candidate’s priorities and contrasting interpretation of the Constitution.
The Constitutional Sources Project created each list from the candidates’ references to the Constitution or the Founders in past speeches and priorities as listed on campaign websites. Senator McCain’s campaign approved his Top 10 List while Senator Obama’s campaign was unable to comment.
“These Top 10 lists demonstrate that no one party or candidate owns the Constitution or the Founders,” said Lorianne Updike, President and Executive Director of The Constitutional Sources Project. “The Founders just speak to us a little differently.”
In their Top 10 lists, the candidates share common ground on treatment of veterans. Both have quoted George Washington in his admonition to treat veterans well: “[T]he willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.”
Yet in other areas, their interpretation of the Constitution and the Founders differs greatly.
To view the full Top 10 Constitution and Founders’ Quotes for both candidates, click here: http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=640
About The Constitutional Sources Project
The Constitutional Sources Project has created www.ConSource.org®, the free online library of the Founders’ constitutional documents. Since its public launch last Constitution Day, September 17, 2007, ConSource has attracted over one million unique visitors, including sixth graders in Alaska studying American History to Supreme Court justices reviewing whether individuals have a constitutional right to bear arms. Current collections include James Madison’s handwritten notes of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, state ratification debates for seven states, the Bill of Rights’ legislative history, the papers of George Washington, pre-1787 state constitutions, charters, and bills of rights, and constitutional precedents. ConSource will eventually contain texts and images for all constitutional sources from Antiquity to 1992 when the 27th Amendment was passed.
--------------------------------------August 20, 2008--------------------------------------
James Madison Wanted
Constitutional Sources Project Calls on Washington Leaders: The Founders’ Cause Needs a Modern-Day Madison
Washington, DC—August 20, 2008—The Constitutional Sources Project, creator of the online-library of the Founders’ documents related to the Constitution (ConSource.org), today predicts that because the Founders do not reside in a Congressional district, Congress will go home again this year without taking care of them.
Over the last 30 years, Congress has spent over $30MM to publish the Founders’ personal letters, speeches, and journals and make them accessible to “We the People.” Yet according to a survey performed by The Constitutional Sources Project, not one of the 201 public libraries at the state and local level have access to the published papers.
“This issue has gone on too long,” said Lorianne Updike, president of The Constitutional Sources Project. “Unless someone steps forward, Congress will go home this year to get re-elected without thanking those who have made their elections possible. We need a modern-day Madison.”
Dozens of scholars have toiled for over 50 years to painstakingly transcribe the papers of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. The work of these scholars has made the popular John Adams book and HBO series by David McCullough possible. In fact, McCullough called these documents “American Scripture” in the February 7, 2008 Judiciary Committee Hearing held to address the fact that transcribing these papers—collectively called the Founding Father Papers—could take another 45 years to finish, a period spanning more years than Benjamin Franklin lived by 11 (who died at 84).
Based on the hearing held that day, all parties—the Archivist of the United States, the Librarian of Congress, the editors of the papers, The Constitutional Sources Project, and all Senators and staffers involved from both parties—agree that technology solutions should be pursued to speed up the process so that the American public could access this “scripture.”
Yet because the Founders do not reside in any one district, and because the resources involved are not off-shore, Congress will go home—again—without making any substantive movement on the issue.
The situation is not unlike that faced by the First Congress when creating a Bill of Rights. The Constitution was ratified in many states with misgivings, and many, including New York, Massachesetts, Virginia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, proposed substantial amendments to the document. The Anti-Federalists behind the amendments supported the new government only conditionally: they wanted a Bill of Rights.
Although Father of the Constitution James Madison was an ardent Federalist and initially believed the Constitution did not need a Bill of Rights, he eventually found himself compelled to support, draft, and muscle a Bill of Rights through Congress: he lost the Senate race to Patrick Henry (famous for his “give me liberty or give me death!” speech which ignited support for independence in Virginia), and was forced to run for Congress instead in a largely Anti-Federalist district. There, he made a campaign promise to support a Bill of Rights.
The largely Federalist Congress (there were only a dozen total Anti-Federalists in Congress, 10 in a 59 member-House, and two in a 22-member Senate) believed that other issues—like establishing a national budget, judiciary, army, and navy—were more important than creating a Bill of Rights. It took circulating a luke-warm note from George Washington in support of the amendments for James Madison to even introduce them on the House floor. Thereafter, every step of producing the eventual 12 amendments (the states ratified 10 of the 12 amendments in 1791, now called the Bill of Rights, and later ratified an eleventh in 1992 as the 27th Amendment) protecting speech, press, religion, jury trials in civil cases, and individual property rights was a struggle.
“Most Americans are deeply grateful for the individual liberties secured by the Bill of Rights, and probably could not imagine a Constitution without them,” said Updike. “Americans would be similarly grateful for access to the national treasures contained in the Founding Father Papers,yet the Founders’ cause will require a patron saint akin to James Madison to muscle the issue through Congress. I hope some Member is up to the challenge.”
###
--------------------------------------March 17, 2008--------------------------------------
CONSOURCE.ORG PROVIDES ACCESS TO SECOND AMENDMENT SOURCE DOCUMENTS IN HELLER
ConSource.org Saves Time, Money in Searching for Hard-to-Find Source Documents
Washington, DC—March 17, 2008 -- The Constitutional Sources Project, creator of ConSource.org, the only free, fully-indexed online library of Constitutional sources becomes a landmark research tool in a landmark case, District of Columbia v. Heller set for oral argument in the Supreme Court March 18, 2008.
Individuals involved in Heller have used ConSource in preparing briefs and arguments for tomorrow’s 10:00 a.m. oral argument before the Supreme Court. ConSource is the first online research tool to cross-reference every legally-significant clause in the Constitution to many of its primary sources, including the Second Amendment, for the legal community.
“Cases like Heller can be expensive for law firms to research because the documents, if digitized, are often not searchable, let alone indexed in a manner that makes sense for attorneys,” said Lorianne Updike, President and Executive Director for the Constitutional Sources Project. “Add to this the cost of traveling to undigitized document collections, and the cost becomes prohibitive. We are pleased that so many have been able to leverage ConSource’s simple, sophisticated functionality in preparation for this landmark case.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument for District of Columbia v. Heller tomorrow, March 18, 2008. This is the first significant Supreme Court Second Amendment case in 70 years, and the first time ever that the Court will determine whether the Constitution guarantees an individual right to bear arms.
“This case has great implications for gun laws across the country,” said Tom Goldstein, head of Akin Gump’s Supreme Court practice. “It is extremely important that we get the constitutional history right. With the help of ConSource, we have been able to access the full documentary record of the Second Amendment in presenting the case to the Supreme Court.”
The documents and legal constitutional index that pertain to the case can be accessed through the Second Amendment at http://www.consource.org/, and are provided below.
“ConSource is a powerful tool for people interested in learning how our Constitution came to be, and in discovering the Constitution’s original meaning.” said Alan Gura, lead counsel for Heller. “Much of the legal argument in the Heller case involved proper understanding of the history surrounding the drafting and ratification of the Second Amendment. Identifying and locating key historical documents was a critical and time-consuming part of preparing our briefs in that case.”
The District of Columbia is represented by O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and will be argued by Walter Dellinger of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Heller is represented by Alan Gura of Gura & Possessky, P.L.L.C., Clark Neily, an Arlington-based public interest lawyer who specializes in Constitutional litigation, and Robert Levy, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the CATO Institute, and will be argued by Alan Gura.
About The Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project launched the only free fully-indexed online library of Constitution sources for “We the People” at www.ConSource.org® on September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders, Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court justice with the best history of the Constitution. Current collections include James Madison’s handwritten notes of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, state ratification debates for seven states, the Bill of Rights’ legislative history, and the newest collection added in February 2008, the papers of George Washington.
Excerpts of Related Second Amendment Documents on ConSource.org
I. Federalist Papers & Anti-Federalist Papers
Federalist 29
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=706&ssug=1
The Dissent of the Minority of the Pennsylvania Convention (December 18, 1787)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=851
II. Ratification Debates
Journal Notes of the Virginia Ratification Convention Proceedings (June 27, 1788) http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=5148&ssug=1
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=995
Journal Notes of the Massachusetts Ratification Convention Proceedings, A.M. (February 6, 1788)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=5063
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9570
Alexander J. Dallas’ Notes of the Pennsylvania Ratification Convention P.M. (December 12, 1787)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=2051
III. Legislative History of the Bill of Rights
Madison's Resolution for Amendments to the Constitution (June 8, 1789)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9506
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9580
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9581
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9507
The Congressional Register (August 17, 1789)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9700
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9707
John Randolph to St. George Tucker (September 11, 1789)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9665
Articles of Amendments, As Agreed to by the Senate (September 14, 1789)
http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&documentid=9518
--------------------------------------February 11, 2008--------------------------------------
DAVID MCCULLOUGH TO TEACH ONLINE CLASSROOM ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON AT WWW.CONSOURCE.ORG
Event Marks Addition of Washington’s Papers to ConSource.org
Washington DC, February 11, 2008: The Constitutional Sources Project, creator of ConSource.org, the only free, fully-indexed online library of Constitutional sources, will partner with The History Channel, the New York Historical Society, Ustream.TV and Verizon Thinkfinity.org in hosting an online President’s Day event with David McCullough February 13, 2008 webcast at www.ConSource.org from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT. This event will mark the addition of approximately 20,000 letters, speeches, and other documents written to and from George Washington in raw format to ConSource.org and the launch of a new public proofreading tool.
During the webcast, David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will teach a nationwide audience of students about George Washington using documents newly accessible on ConSource.org. Any student who participates in the live webcast will be able to ask questions of Mr. McCullough. The webcast will be permanently available at www.ConSource.org, and will also be available on Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org website.
The New York Historical Society will play physical host for the event, to which high school students from the Academy of American Studies and the High School of American Studies in the New York area will attend. The Ustream.TV, live Web-based broadcasting platform will provide streaming technology for the webcast, while the History Channel will produce and sponsor the event as well as link the network mini-site www.history.com/minisites/washington to Consource.org to provide supplemental George Washington resources for participating teachers. Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org will sponsor the event and provide teachers lesson plan materials through its partners.
“We are pleased to partner with these organizations and to host David McCullough in creating another opportunity for students to interact with the Constitution,” said Lorianne Updike, President and Executive Director of ConSource.org. “This event represents a significant step in providing the public free access to all of our Founders’ documents which created the Constitution.”
To watch the webcast with David McCullough on February 13, or to review the documents that David McCullough will teach with, the lesson plan materials provided by Verizon and its partners, or the George Washington video clips provided by the History Channel, go to www.ConSource.org.
About The Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project launched the only free fully-indexed online library of Constitution sources for “We the People” at www.ConSource.org® on September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders, Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court justice with the best history of the Constitution. Current collections include James Madison’s handwritten notes of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, state ratification debates for seven states, and the Bill of Rights’ legislative history.
About David McCullough
David McCullough has been widely acclaimed as a “master of the art of narrative history” and “a matchless writer.” He is twice winner of the National Book Award and twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize. In December 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. Mr. McCullough’s most recent book, 1776, the number one New York Times national bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, has been called “brilliant…powerful” and “a classic.” There are three million copies in print, while Mr. McCullough’s previous work, John Adams, remains one of the most critically-acclaimed and widely-read American biographies of all time. It is presently in its sixty-third printing. Other books by Mr. McCullough include The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, The Path between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback, Brave Companions, and Truman.
The History Channel® is a leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned four Peabody Awards, three Primetime Emmy® Awards, ten News & Documentary Emmy® Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History® campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 95 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at www.History.com. Press Only: For more information and photography, please visit us on the web at www.historychannelpress.com.
About Ustream.TV
Ustream.TV is a platform for live online interactive video broadcasts that lets people everywhere connect, interact and engage with one another more deeply. Ustream.TV allows anyone with a camera, computer, and Internet connection to broadcast live video to a global audience. Each day, people ustream talk shows, concerts, sporting events, even weddings and graduations. The company was founded by two U.S. military veterans and a technologist who strived to create a way for people of all ages around the globe to connect with each other through the power of live online video broadcasts. Ustream.TV is headquartered in Los Altos, California, and is privately held. For more information, please visit: http://www.ustream.tv/.
About The New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society, one of the country’s preeminent educational and research institutions, is dedicated to presenting exhibitions and public programs fostering research that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, its mission is to explore the richly layered history of New York City and State and the country, and serve as a national forum for the debate and examination of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.
About Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation’s largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon’s inception in 2000.
For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Webb
Coltrin & Associates for ConSource
(212) 221-1616
Jennifer_webb@coltrin.com
--------------------------------------January 30, 2008--------------------------------------
THE CONSTITUTIONAL SOURCES PROJECT RECEIVES $80,000 GRANT FROM VERIZON TO ALLOW FREE ONLINE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS PENNED BY GEORGE WASHINGTON
ConSource.org Plans To Have Approximately 20,000 Washington Papers Online By Presidents Day
Washington D.C., January 30, 2008 – The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource.org), the only free fully-indexed online library of Constitutional sources, announced it has received a $80,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, to digitize approximately 20,000 of George Washington’s writings. The digital collection will be accessible in raw text format and will provide public access to thousands of documents that have lain dormant and inaccessible since our nation’s inception. The collection will be unveiled online at www.ConSource.org in time for Presidents Day, Feb. 18.
“We are proud to recognize Verizon’s commitment to democratize the documents that shaped our Constitution,” said Lorianne Updike, President and Executive Director of the Constitutional Sources Project. “The addition of Washington’s papers represents a significant and exciting addition to the five collections already housed in our digital archive.”
In conjunction with the digitization of George Washington’s papers, ConSource announces the release of a public online proofreading tool to facilitate the transcription process for these precious historical documents. After documents are scanned and converted to text, a process which typically renders the text 90-95 percent accurate, anyone with Internet access who meets a few simple reading qualifications can volunteer through ConSource.org to proofread the transcriptions along-side the original source, improving the accuracy and legibility of the documents. After the review, the document’s transcription will be given the ConSource certification seal of accuracy and placed in the ConSource Archive.
“For the first time in history, anyone can play an integral part in preserving our nation’s history, particularly those who love George Washington,” said Ms. Updike.
As the papers are proofread by the public, ConSource staff will add images of the original documents from all of the 300+ private and public archives housing George Washington’s documents included in the project.
“This is a wonderful example of how technology can play a vital role in creating greater educational opportunities for all. Through the click of a mouse anyone within reach of a computer will have access to documents penned by our nation’s first president, providing us all with a greater awareness of our civic responsibilities” said Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston. “Verizon is proud to partner with The Constitutional Sources Project on this valuable program.”
The grant to ConSource is the latest in the Verizon Foundation’s efforts to provide free online access of educational materials for teachers, students and parents. Last year, the Verizon Foundation committed more than $31 million to Thinkfinity,org, which provides more than 55,000 eductional resources, K-12 lesson plans and student interactives online for free.
Thinkfinity.org will feature many special lesson plans and resources focusing on George Washington to commemorate President’s Day and ConSource’s launch of George Washington’s papers online.
Washington’s papers and the proofreading tool will be available on ConSource.org beginning February 13, 2008.
About the Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project launched the only free fully-indexed online library of Constitution sources for “We the People” at www.ConSource.org on September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders, Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court justice with the best history of the Constitution. Current collections include James Madison’s handwritten notes of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, state ratification debates for seven states, and the Bill of Rights’ legislative history.
About Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation’s largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon’s inception in 2000.
For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.
Media Contacts
Jennifer Webb
Coltrin & Associates (for ConSource.org)
212-221-1616
801-400-4615
Brian C. Malina
Verizon Media Relations
908-559-6434
Brian.c.malina@verizon.com
--------------------------------------August 30, 2007--------------------------------------
CONSTITUTIONAL SOURCES PROJECT TO LAUNCH FULLY-INDEXED FREE ONLINE LIBRARY OF CONSTITUTIONAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS AT CONSOURCE.ORG
Lynne Cheney, Senator Reid and Justice Breyer Teach Students about the Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17
WASHINGTON, August 30, 2007 — The Constitutional Sources Project, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., will partner with the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to launch ConSource.org, the only free fully-indexed online library of constitutional sources, on Constitution Day, September 17, the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
To celebrate, author and historian Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will teach a nationwide audience of students about the Constitution via webcast from three separate venues using documents accessible on www.ConSource.org.
In partnering with The Constitutional Sources Project, the National Constitution Center will kick off its annual Constitution Day celebration with the ConSource launch. The day also includes the induction of Elizabeth Eckford—one of the students who integrated Little Rock, Arkansas’s Central High School in 1957—into a permanent exhibit honoring 100 people who shaped Constitutional history.
“ConSource is a remarkable resource,” said Joe Torsella, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. We are delighted to be part of a project that makes available to all—students and adults alike—historic documents that can connect them to our nation's constitutional heritage."
Silhouetted by Independence Hall, Mrs. Cheney will teach the story of the Constitution to sixth-graders from Independence Charter School, live from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Constitution Day morning.
“Without the Constitution, America was weak and divided,” Mrs. Cheney said. “With it, we have become a great and mighty nation. Our children deserve to know the story of this amazing document.”
Senator Reid will join the launch via broadcast from the United States Capitol, where he will teach a group of eighth-graders from Frost Middle School and Wooton High School in Maryland about the constitutional role of Congress.
“The Constitution is a living document that remains very relevant to our day-to-day work in Congress,” said Senator Reid. “In bringing to light documents that explain the Constitution, ConSource is providing a valuable service to students, scholars, and public officials alike.”
Justice Breyer, who recently wrote Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution for teenagers and college students, will also join the launch via broadcast from Harvard Law School. He’ll be teaching City Year’s youth leadership programs, Young Heroes and City Heroes, as well as Beacon Academy students and alumni about constitutional review.
“I see this project and say thank you!” said Justice Breyer. “This fine tool will be useful to all Americans, but especially here at the Court and in similar courts across the country. The more information we have to interpret the Constitution, the better.”
The Constitutional Sources Project began in February 2005 with the mission to create the first complete, reliable, easy-to-use and fully searchable online database of original source materials for the United States Constitution so that scholars, educators, lawyers, judges, and government personnel could have free remote access to them.
“This mission was inspired, in part, by James Madison’s vision for creating the ‘best history’ of the country (see footnote below),” said Lorianne Updike, co-founder, president & executive director of ConSource. “I had to travel two thousands miles just to see the transcriptions of the documents I needed to publish a paper on Thomas Jefferson’s ‘wall of separation between church and state’ letter. Without the ‘best history’ of the Constitution’s creation, we cannot effectively study, teach, interpret, or apply the document that has changed our every day lives, the country and the world over.”
The project currently houses approximately 1,000 of the most important source documents of the Constitution, including all of James Madison’s handwritten notes of the Constitutional Convention and the very first digital collection of the original Federalist Papers. The website has various social networking capabilities and uses wiki technology so that individuals and institutions can upload content and interpretive materials and help the project to transcribe, proofread, and index source materials.
“There is something powerful about seeing the original handwriting of those who authored these documents; it brings the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the founders of our remaining 17 amendments to life,” said Ms. Updike.
On September 17, visit www.ConSource.org to search digitized and indexed versions of Constitution-related documents previously archived in 90 separate locations across the country. The ConSource public launch is sponsored by Davis, Polk & Wardwell, UPS, and Verizon.
About The Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project is creating the first, comprehensive, online library of fully-indexed Constitution-related source materials and providing it to “We the People” for free at www.ConSource.org. Full access to the site and collections will be available on Constitution Day, September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders, Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court justice with the best history of the Constitution. Collections include James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, State Ratification Debates for seven states, the Bill of Rights’ Legislative History and personal letters detailing the workings behind-the-scenes during ratification and the passage of the Bill of Rights called the Founders’ Papers.
About the National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas and values it represents. The Center serves as a museum, an education center, and a forum for debate on constitutional issues. The museum dramatically tells the story of the Constitution from Revolutionary times to the present through more than 100 interactive, multimedia exhibits, film, photographs, text, sculpture and artifacts, and features a powerful, award-winning theatrical performance, “Freedom Rising”. The Center also houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which serves as the hub for national constitutional education. Also, as a nonpartisan forum for constitutional discourse, the Center presents – without endorsement – programs that contain diverse viewpoints on a broad range of issues. For more information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.
Contact
Amber Henrie
Coltrin & Associates for ConSource
(212) 221-1616
amber_henrie@coltrin.com
Jennifer Webb
Coltrin & Associates for ConSource
(801) 350-9412
Jennifer_webb@coltrin.com
Footnote Reference
It has been the misfortune of history that a personal knowledge and an impartial judgment of things rarely meet in the historian. The best history of our Country, therefore, must be the fruit of contributions bequeathed by contemporary actors and witnesses to successors who will make an unbiased use of them. And if the abundance and authenticity of the materials which still exist in the private as well as public repositories among us should descend to hands capable of doing justice to them, the American History may be expected to contain more truth, and lessons, certainly not less valuable, than those of any Country or age. James Madison to Edward Everett (Mar. 19, 1823) in 3 Letters and Other Writings of James Madison 308-09 (Philadelphia, 1855) (emphasis added).
--------------------------------------August 8, 2007--------------------------------------
TOP SUPREME COURT LAW FIRM USES NEW ONLINE CONSTITUTIONAL SOURCE LIBRARY TO PREP FOR GUN LAW CERT PETITION
Online Resource Saves Law Firm Time, Money
WASHINGTON, August 8, 2007 — Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a leading law firm, is using the collection of founding documents compiled on ConSource, the first comprehensive online collection of Constitution-related source materials, to research and present the District of Columbia’s position that the District’s handgun ban withstands Constitutional scrutiny. These documents will play an important role in the petition for certiorari presented to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the March 9 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holding that the District’s law violates the Second Amendment.
“This case has great implications for gun laws across the country,” said Tom Goldstein, the head of Akin Gump’s Supreme Court practice. “It is extremely important that we get the constitutional history right. With the help of ConSource, we will be able to access the full documentary record of the Second Amendment in presenting the case to the Supreme Court.”
Through ConSource, Akin Gump has access to digitized collections relating to the Second Amendment: the Anti-Federalist Papers, the state ratification debates for seven states, and the legislative history of the Bill of Rights. Online access to these documents will drastically cut the research time necessary to research the case.
“Akin Gump is using this resource in one of many ways we envisioned this project could be used.” said Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director of The Constitutional Sources Project, which is creating ConSource. “Attorneys and practice groups are able to easily find prominent and obscure historical documents relating to different provisions in the Constitution via ConSource, and will soon be able to create their own collections, post briefs, and publish or block access to their practice groups’ work product.”
ConSource houses more than a thousand of the most important founding documents from over 30 archives across the eastern seaboard, the Midwest, and California, and will soon be adding documents from an archive in France.
To view a full case study regarding Akin Gump and the firm’s use of ConSource, visit www.ConSource.org/akingump.
About The Constitutional Sources Project
Founded in May of 2005, The Constitutional Sources Project created the first, comprehensive, online library of Constitution-related source materials and provides free access to “We the People” at www.ConSource.org. Full access to the site and collections will be available on Constitution Day, September 17, 2007. This new medium will give the Founders, Reconstructionists, and original Feminists voices in the classroom and courtroom, providing everyone from the sixth grader to the Supreme Court justice with the best history of the Constitution. Collections include James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist Papers, the Anti and Pro-Federalist Papers, State Ratification Debates for seven states, the Bill of Rights’ Legislative History and 188 personal letters detailing the workings behind-the-scenes during ratification and the passage of the Bill of Rights called the Founders’ Papers.
About Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Taipei and Washington.
Contact
Jennifer Webb
Coltrin & Associates for ConSource
(801) 350-9412
Jennifer_webb@coltrin.com
|
Mission Statement
Leadership
