The Source

The Papers of Andrew Johnson

By Michael K. Shaffer · Originally published March 2022 · p. 22

Our nation’s seventeenth president, Andrew Johnson, rose to the chief executive position upon the assignation of President Abraham Lincoln. Thanks to the efforts of editors Roy P. Graf, Ralph W. Haskins, and Paul H. Bergeron, the University of Tennessee Press has published 16 volumes of Johnson’s papers. Due to a shortage of Johnson’s actual writings, either lost or misfiled, many books contain correspondence from other people to the president. Researchers studying the American Civil War can benefit from drilling into these papers; several websites offer additional sources. The 16 volumes cover the period of 1822 through 1875 and break out as follows: volume 1, 1822-1851; volume 2, 1852-1857; volume 3, 1858-1860; volume 4, 1860-1861; volume 5, 1861-1862; volume 6, 1862-1864; volume 7, 1864-1865 (cover shown); volume 8, May-August 1865; volume 9, September 1865 – January 1866; volume 10, February – July 1866; volume 11, August 1866 – January 1867; volume 12, February – August 1867; volume 13, September 1867 – March 1868; volume 14, April – August 1868; volume 15, September 1868 – April 1869; and volume 16, May 1869 – July 1875. Those interested in purchasing copies may find them at the UT Press site, https://utpress.org/papersof-andrew-johnson/. The scope of the UT collection resides at https://scout.lib.utk.edu/

UVA image, The Papers of Andrew Johnson.

repositories/2/resources/2387. Users can also check www. worldcat.org to locate copies in a nearby library. Each volume contains a detailed index for quickly locating topics under review, and the University of Virginia offers a digital edition at https://rotunda. upress.virginia.edu/founders/ AWJN.html. See UVA image. To browse the UVA site, one must create a free user account. Read instructions for using the site at https://rotunda.upress. virginia.edu/founders/default. xqy?keys=AWJN-info-about. A quick method of searching the site resides at https://rotunda.upress. virginia.edu/founders/default. xqy?keys=AWJN-info-search. Researchers can enter their search term at the top, for this example, Atlanta. Next, select specific date ranges for the search; for this test, 1864-65. A new page will open and reveal the search results, like this letter from Benjamin C. Truman to President Johnson, dated July 17, 1864, from Marietta, Ga. Try various searches at the UVA site, and explore additional archival information on Johnson at the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/collections/ andrew-johnson-papers/aboutthis-collection/. Continued good luck in researching the American Civil War! Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and instructor, who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at [email protected] or request speaking engagements via his website www.civilwarhistorian. net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer, and Twitter @ michaelkshaffer.

Original letter image to Johnson.