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The Center for the Study of the American Constitution

Created in 1981, the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison fosters a program aimed at scholarly research into the historical origins of the Constitution. Such a historical perspective is critical if we are truly to understand and appreciate the American tradition of constitutional government.

The primary focus of the center is The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution project outlined in this article. The center also attempts to bring scholarship on the Constitution to the attention of the broader public through publications and an outreach program that includes scholarly lectures, symposia, a speakers' bureau, reading-discussion programs in public libraries, teachers' seminars, radio and television appearances.

Recently the center has begun a judicial education program in which state and federal judges are provided with pre-selected readings on a historical subject of interest to them. The state judges meet for two days and federal judges meet for a morning to discuss these readings with me, the center's director, and with Richard Leffler, the center's deputy director. In these various ways, the general public will become aware of the scholarly work that is being done on the origins of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We believe that the modern world will be vastly enriched by a greater awareness and understanding of America's magnificent heritage of freedom.

For more information on the center, write to me at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of History, 455 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706

John P. Kaminski