Donation of financial grants and in-kind services will support the
digitization of Lincoln’s writings and creation of a digital archive for
preservation and education
BOSTON & SPRINGFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the storage and information
management company, today announced a new partnership with The Papers of
Abraham Lincoln, a project dedicated to identifying, imaging,
transcribing, annotating, and publishing all documents written by or to
Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime. Sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum and cosponsored by the University of
Illinois Springfield and the Abraham Lincoln Association, the project
has already located nearly two hundred thousand documents from his legal
and legislative careers, his personal and political life, and his
Presidency.
The partnership, a combination of financial contributions and in-kind
services, will help support the Papers’ efforts to acquire, archive and
preserve the documentary record of Lincoln’s life and career. Iron
Mountain’s funds will increase the number of researchers searching for
and contextualizing Lincoln documents as well as develop a public
interface to showcase important finds and help educate visitors. In
addition, Iron Mountain will help build a long-term archival solution to
safeguard the Papers’ data in perpetuity.
As president during the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and his
correspondents generated tens of thousands of documents. The Papers of
Abraham Lincoln is assembling a vast archive of high-resolution images
from hundreds of repositories and private collections all over the
United States and the world. By transcribing and contextualizing each
document, the project will make them accessible to a worldwide audience
eager to learn more about this pivotal leader during a decisive period
in American and world history. With 2015 marking the 150th
anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death, the Papers’ mission has taken on
added significance, helping current and future generations continue to
learn from, and be inspired by, his legacy as a lawyer, statesman,
president, leader, father and husband.
“President Lincoln’s legacy as a statesman has marked him as one of the
most important and influential leaders our country and the world have
ever known,” said Dr. Daniel Stowell, director and editor of The Papers
of Abraham Lincoln. “He was also perhaps the most well-written, and
written to, presidents in history, with thousands of personal and
political documents, all of which tell the story of our country during
one of the most important eras in our history. Our organization is
dedicated to finding these documents, preserving them, and making them
available for study. Iron Mountain’s support is meaningful for us beyond
just the financial commitment. It is a true partnership, a union of two
organizations dedicated to preservation and access of some of our most
important cultural items so that we can continue to learn from, and be
inspired by, what they represent.”
In the same way, Iron Mountain’s Living Legacy Initiative is dedicated
to preserving critical cultural and heritage information so that we may
better understand ourselves and the world around us. Drawing from the
company’s 60-year history and expertise in protecting, preserving and
managing the critical information of more than 156,000 customers the
world over, the Living Legacy Initiative is able to provide nonprofit
agencies, museums and other organizations with critical support. It does
so by offering financial support and information management services to
help support key projects that match the company’s commitment to
preservation and accessibility.
“We launched the Living Legacy Initiative because we believe that
everyone deserves equal access to the ideas and artifacts that compose
our human experience, regardless of economic or geographic barriers,”
said Ty Ondatje, senior vice president, Corporate Responsibility and
Chief Diversity Officer, Iron Mountain. “Supporting projects and
organizations like The Papers of Abraham Lincoln allows us to fulfill
this mission, providing them with the expertise and support they need to
implement the policies, processes and resources needed to safeguard
their collections and advance their mission of preservation and
education. We’re proud to call them a partner and support the legacy of
Abraham Lincoln.”
About The Papers of Abraham Lincoln
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln is a long-term documentary editing project
dedicated to identifying, imaging, transcribing, annotating, and
publishing all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his
lifetime (1809-1865). The project is administered through the Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, a division of the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency, and is cosponsored by the Center for State
Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield and by
the Abraham Lincoln Association. Visit www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org
to learn more.
About Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is a leading provider of storage
and information management services. The company’s real estate network
of over 67 million square feet across more than 1,000 facilities in 36
countries allows it to serve customers with speed and accuracy. And its
solutions for records
management, data
management, document
management, and secure
shredding help organizations to lower storage costs, comply with
regulations, recover from disaster, and better use their information for
business advantage. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain stores and protects
billions of information assets, including business documents, backup
tapes, electronic files and medical data. Visit www.ironmountain.com
for more information.
Source: Iron Mountain