University of Virginia to Publish Martha Washington’s Letters

The University of Virginia has begun a major project to publish the correspondence of Martha Washington. After her husband death, Martha Washington destroyed most of the correspondence between her and the nation’s first president. But thousands of letters between Martha Washington and others have survived and about half of these have never been published.

The University of Virginia Press will published two volumes of Martha Washington’s letters. Another three volumes will be published containing the correspondence of other members of Washington family. The Washington Papers Project will also publish the diary President Washington kept while traveling to Barbados in 1751 and 1752.

The entire project is expected to be completed by 2020. Both print and digital editions will be published.