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News Release
Contact: Tom Parisi, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-3635
October 1, 2003
NIU's Thoreau Edition named 'We the People' project
DeKalb, Ill.--The National Endowment for the Humanities has designated NIU's center dedicated to the writings of American author Henry David Thoreau as a "We the People" project.
The goal of "We the People," a high priority NEH initiative, is to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture. Projects that share the designation have a common goal of advancing knowledge of the principles that define America.
Since 1966, NEH has funded the Thoreau center, more formally known as The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau or the Thoreau Edition. The project's mission is to edit all of Thoreau's writings. While the special "We the People" designation was not accompanied by a new grant, it could open future funding avenues.
"We're pleased that the NEH continues to recognize the value of our work," said Elizabeth Witherell, who has been editor-in-chief of the Thoreau Edition since 1980. The project moved to NIU in 1999 and is located at Founders Memorial Library.
The Thoreau Edition leads scholars from around the country in recovering the lost words of one of America's most influential writers. Without the project, a large portion of Thoreau's manuscript journal, now considered his most significant work, might never appear in print.
Witherell has devoted her scholarly life to creating the definitive edition of the complete works of Thoreau, including published writings, his journal and his correspondence. Working from thousands of almost indecipherable hand-written pages left behind by the author, the project has produced 14 volumes, each with scholarly notes and introductions that document the editorial work and provide the historical background for the contents. The project will ultimately require about 30 volumes.
"Dealing with and recovering from the events of Sept. 11, 2001 requires a deep understanding of what it means to be an American," Witherell said. "Thoreau's writings both expressed and shaped fundamental aspects of the American character--our individualism, our optimism, our confidence in an inner voice as a reliable guide to moral action. Thoreau reminds us that we have a duty to discover that inner voice and act in consonance with it."
More information on the Thoreau Edition is available at the project's newly redesigned Web site at www.thoreau.niu.edu.
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