Re-writing history: a criminal offense (too bad the statute of limitations is up)

This morning a co-worker pointed out this startling story about the Abraham Lincoln researcher who admitted to altering a document housed in The National Archives. Specifically, Thomas Lowry altered Abraham Lincoln's Presidential pardon for Patrick Murphy, a Civil War soldier in the Union Army who was court-martialed for desertion. Using a fountain pen, Lowry changed the date of Murphy’s pardon from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865, the day Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Lowry then claimed the pardon had historical significance, because it could be considered one of, if not the final official act by President Lincoln before his assassination.

According to a press release from The National Archives, the matter was referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution; however the Department of Justice informed the National Archives that the statute of limitations had expired, and therefore Lowry could not be prosecuted.  Lowry has been permanently banned  from all of  The National Archives' facilities and research rooms.

Besides just being a fascinating read, this story poses an interesting question. Those involved in the digital humanities strive to make resources more accessible to students, educators, researchers, and the general public. In doing so, will they also help safeguard those materials from theft, alteration or mis-use? We'll see.

The photo above is a close-up of the altered date on the Lincoln pardon. It comes from the National Archives.

The Homestead Act 148 years on

Searching for primary source materials can be an extraordinarily easy task when the Library of Congress does all the work for you. I view the library’s American Memory Project as a go-to-site for digitized primary source materials. However, the library’s collection of resources for researchers can, in some cases, provide one-stop-shopping for such images and documents. Take the Homestead Act, for example. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln 148 years ago today, that legislation was devised to provide small farmers with the opportunity to purchase public land at minimal cost. The act gave 160 acres of land to any applicant, both citizens and intended citizens, who was the head of a household and 21 years or older, provided that the person settled on the land for five years and then paid a small filing fee. Under the Library of Congress’s resources for researchers section, you’ll find web guides which feature primary documents in American History. Those web guides are organized by historical period and subdivided further by particular issues or events. Browse through the Homestead Act Guide and you will find links to digitized copies of the Congressional Globe, a periodical which published the floor debate that preceded the act’s passage. You’ll also find digitized copies of articles concerning the act that appeared in periodicals of the day, and a copy of a letter written by a Canadian citizen to President Lincoln, inquiring as to how he could take advantage of the act. The photo above comes from The National Archives and shows a family posing in their the wagon that served as their home and transportation during thieir homesteading journey.