September 25, 1998

Contact:
Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217

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"A Century of Lawmaking" On-Line Collection Expands

In celebration of the 209th anniversary of the Constitution, the Law Library of Congress and the National Digital Library Program have released the second series of historical congressional documents and debates dating from 1774.

"A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873" is part of the American Memory Collections, available at www.loc.gov/.

The Journals of the Continental Congress, the Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 and the Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution have been added to "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation."

Beginning with the Continental Congress in 1774, America's national legislative bodies have kept records of their proceedings. The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention and the U.S. Congress comprise a rich documentary history of the development of the federal government and its role in the national life in the words of those who built it.

Books on the law formed a major part of the holdings of the Library of Congress from its beginning. In 1832 Congress established the Law Library of Congress as a separate department of the Library. It houses one of the most complete collections of U.S. congressional documents in their original format. To make these records more easily accessible to students, scholars and interested citizens, "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation" will bring together on-line the records and acts of Congress from the Journals of the Continental Congress through The Congressional Globe, which ceased publication with the 42nd Congress in 1873.

This is a collection in progress: Additional materials will be added to the site every few months.

American Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program, which, in collaboration with other institutions, will make available on-line the most important American history materials of the Library and other major repositories. More than 40 collections are now available, including the recent addition of many never-before-seen photographs in "America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photos from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, 1935-1945."

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PR 98-150
9/25/98
ISSN 0731-3527