Following a site makeover, The Papers of George Washington Project has dropped from its list of online exhibits the most important papers of all -- and this is after its having been there since 1996 when discovered by this writer for the first time. Not only did it feature an outstanding introduction and indexed transcript but also high-resolution images of the original manuscript as well.
This is bad -- REAL BAD. It is akin to someone having a website dedicated to memorializing the legacy of Ludwig van Beethoven and leaving out Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral." It's THAT big of a deal!
Whereas Ludwig van Beethoven has for nearly 200 years been widely regarded as one of the greatest composers who ever lived, George Washington, in a little more than that same amount of time, has been similarly regarded as one of the greatest defenders of liberty and honorable characters to have ever led an army and orchestrate the creation of an "experimental" constitutional republic destined for greatness. And, whereas Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is acknowledged as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Western tradition -- the crowning achievement of an immortal body of music for the ages, President Washington's Farewell Address is, in the words of renowned U.S. presidential historian, Richard Norton Smith, ``justly famed, not merely as the capstone of Washington’s political philosophy, but as a brilliantly drawn road map to national survival and a fully realized independence” (Pg. 283, Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation). It, too, was written for the ages to be revered as a supreme masterpiece for the cause of liberty by countless generations of people who place a high value on Liberty and Justice for All.
On 31st October 2013, the following message was sent to them via contact form:
I see that your web-site has been given a make-over. I am astonished to find that President Washington's Farewell Address is nowhere to be found either in the Presidential Series listing or even as a search result of keywords "farewell address."
How could something this important in the history of George Washington, as well as U.S. history, be omitted -- especially since it had been there for years -- unlike the ones referenced below?
http://firstuspresident.blogspot.com/2013/10/glaring-omissions.html
Thank you for your immediate attention and correcting this serious deficiency.
To be continued ...
The project admin is pleased to report the restoration of the Farewell Address and receipt of e-mail from staff advising it was a mishap related to the extent of the site makeover.
Founders Online: The Farewell Address, United States, 19th September 1796
On YouTube: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
