Attention U.S. history buffs: Founders' papers are online.

• Position: ARCHIVES - Brief article

If you haven't yet discovered the new Founders Online website, launched this summer by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), now may be a good time to do so. The site, which was still in beta at the time of printing, features correspondence and other writings of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

For the past 50 years, through its National Historical Publications and Records Commission, NARA has invested in documentary editions of the original historical records of the Founding Era. Dedicated historians and experts in editing historical documents have collected copies of original 18th and 19th century documents, transcribed them, provided annotations, and produced hundreds of individual volumes --all of which eventually will be fully searchable and available for free on the...