Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The records of the Confederate States of America, also known as the Pickett Papers, were purchased by the United States in 1872 from John T. Pickett, former diplomatic agent of the Confederacy, and transferred by the Department of the Treasury to the Library of Congress in 1906 and 1910. Other items received by gift, purchase, or transfer also comprise part of the collection, including approximately one hundred additions between 1898 and 1956, and a document purchased in 2011. The James Wolcott Wadsworth Collection was given to the Library as an addition to the records by James W. Wadsworth in 1926. The Department of the Treasury also transferred a large group of Confederate treasury records in 1920, and in 1921, much of the material processed as part of the War Department series was received from descendants of Confederate officers.
Processing History
The records of the Confederate States of America were arranged, described, and microfilmed in 1967. The finding aid describing the collection was revised in 2001 by Patrick Kerwin with the assistance of Ahmed-Jahmal Johnson to include additions to the collection.
Transfers
Some photographs, lithographs, and illustrative material have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on seventy-one reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Online Content
The records of the Confederate States of America are available on the Library of Congress Web site at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000027. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the online edition as available.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Records of the Confederate States of America, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.