C.A. Tripp--Author of Gay Book on Lincoln--Leaves a Large Bequest to Lincoln Papers

The late Dr. Clarence A. Tripp, author of The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, left a bequest to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s Public Trust Fund. Illinois State Historian Dr. Thomas F. Schwartz, who chairs the committee in charge of the bequest, indicated that $100,000 would be given annually to the Papers of Abraham Lincoln for the next five years. According to Dr. Schwartz, “Any serious study of Lincoln is dependent upon a comprehensive compilation, accurate transcription, and informed editorial annotation of all his correspondence. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln will be the most significant contribution to Lincoln studies since the 1953 publication of The Collected Works.”

In addition to this generous gift, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Foundation pledged $50,000 to support the project in the current fiscal year. The project will use the funds primarily to begin research at the National Archives facilities in College Park, Maryland, and in Washington, D.C. These two repositories hold most of the official records of the federal government. The papers of the Civil War-era State Department, Treasury Department, and Interior Department are at the facility in College Park.