At a time when both the format and broader goals of documentary editions are changing, CWG-K contributes to larger conversations on the digital humanities. CWG-K counts among a growing number of “born digital” projects nationwide that are providing leadership in the application of new technologies to documentary editing and its digital dissemination, and exploring new ways of engaging in and managing the work of documentary editing. At the same time, CWG-K is providing an innovative new model for conceptualizing and creating a documentary edition.

Rather than applying a traditional “biographical” approach to Kentucky’s five Civil War governors, CWG-K places the “office of the governor” at the center of its focus. In this way, CWG-K will bring to life and illuminate the poorly understood and historically silenced voices of Kentuckians heretofore marginalized or excluded from the historical record.