Short answers, pulled from the story.
Benjamin Shapell established the Shapell Manuscript Foundation in 1985 as a non-profit independent educational organization. The group dedicated itself to researching and collecting historical documents related to American history and Holy Land history.
The Union section of The Shapell Roster became public and was published online in 2022. Confederate data is expected to be released by 2025 for full completion of the project.
The private collection holds signed documents, photographs, and rare books from figures such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, and Mark Twain. These artifacts form a rich archive of American and Jewish history preserved for future study.
That show toured from February 2009 until April 2011 and included letters written by Lincoln and signed portraits. SMF loaned these items to the Library of Congress for the traveling exhibition With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition.
Professor Jonathan D. Sarna co-authored the historical research book titled Lincoln and the Jews: A History with the foundation. This publication represents one of several original historical research books produced by the organization.