Office of the Historian

Quarterly Releases

From 2016 to 2018, the Office of the Historian released newly digitized volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series on a quarterly basis. This initiative was carried out in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center. The University graciously provided the Office with high quality scanned images of the series covering 1861–1960, and the Office then further digitized the text from these images and enriched the text to create a full text searchable edition.

With the print volumes now complete, the Office has begun digitizing microfiche supplements from the series. Each volume undergoes two phases: first, a "preview edition" is prepared, containing the front matter booklet and PDFs of the documents; then, as resources allow, a full text edition is prepared, replacing the preview edition.

Recent Releases

The most recent releases are summarized in the list below, with a link leading to the full list of volumes included in the release and the announcement.

  • December 6, 2018: These volumes cover events that took place between 1861 and 1866 and were originally published in print between 1861 and 1867. This release completes the digitization of the printed volumes of the Foreign Relations series.
  • August 23, 2018: These fifteen volumes cover events that took place between 1866 and 1873 and were originally published in print between 1868 and 1874.
  • May 31, 2018: These fifteen volumes cover events that took place between 1874 and 1887 and were originally published in print between 1875 and 1889.
  • March 1, 2018: These seventeen volumes cover events that took place between 1886 and 1899 and were originally published in print between 1889 and 1901.
  • December 7, 2017: These seventeen volumes cover events that took place between 1900 and 1911 and were originally published in print between 1902 and 1918.
  • September 6, 2017: These thirty-two volumes cover events that took place between 1920 and 1941 and were originally published in print between 1935 and 1943.
  • June 15, 2017: These sixteen volumes represent the second quarterly release on the United States and the First World War, documenting the search for peace and stability in the aftermath of the war. The volumes cover events in 1919 and were originally published between 1934 and 1947. This quarterly release also includes the new publication Foreign Relations of the United States, Iran, 1951–1954.
  • April 6, 2017: A special release of sixteen volumes documenting World War I on the centennial of the U.S. entry into the war to commemorate that event and to honor those who served in that conflict. The volumes cover events between 1912 and 1918 and were originally published between 1919 and 1933.
  • December 8, 2016: Twenty volumes covering events that took place between 1932 and 1939, originally published between 1947 and 1953.
  • August 26, 2016: Twenty volumes covering events that took place between 1936 and 1939, originally published between 1953 and 1957