The U of A Libraries will be helping to preserve historical documents related to the Arkansas Constitution in a joint effort funded by the office of Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin.
University Libraries will digitize the current constitution, ratified in 1874, previous versions and other related documents as a part of the Quill Project, which includes a broader, searchable database of documents from all 50 states and the federal government.
“The Quill Project is an exciting undertaking, and we are grateful to Attorney General Griffin for entrusting the University of Arkansas Libraries to lead this collaboration with the University of Oxford to make available the rich constitutional history of the State of Arkansas,” said Jason Battles, Dean of Libraries. “The University Libraries’ efforts in locating, digitizing, and adding descriptions to these documents to make them searchable will achieve multiple worthy goals. In addition to preserving at-risk documents and bringing these documents together on one site, the University Libraries will also add important context surrounding convention proceedings, related committee activities, newspaper coverage, and delegate correspondence. This work will provide a more complete story of how these critical documents of our State’s history came to be.”
“As a land-grant institution, the University of Arkansas is dedicated to serving the people of our state and nation,” U of A Chancellor Charles Robinson said. “Joining the Quill Project provides an incredible opportunity to fulfill this commitment by preserving Arkansas’ constitutional history and enriching our collective understanding of the foundations of American democracy.”
The project announcement includes more information and comments from the Attorney General Griffin; Cynthia Nance, dean of the U of A School of Law; Jason Battles, dean of the University Libraries; and Howard Brill, professor at the U of A School of Law and former chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.