The United States Capitol hosted a special public unveiling and demonstration by Pembroke Senior Research Fellow Dr. Nicholas Cole of The Quill Project on February 13, 2017.

The Quill Project, developed by Dr. Cole and his research and design team at Pembroke with assistance from the Center of Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University, is a groundbreaking digital platform that dramatically enhances access to and understanding of the debates that led to the drafting and adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

“Nearly every American is familiar with the basics of the U.S. Constitution, but few people understand the extensive negotiations behind its making,” Dr. Cole told the Capitol gathering. “But The Quill Project gives people a way to visualize the complexity involved in creating a negotiated text. It illuminates what went on during the Constitutional Convention, who said and wrote what, and how it all led to the historic document we know today.”

Tom Herman & Nicholas Cole at event at the US Capitol

The Quill Project recreates in its entirety the original context of historic negotiated texts such as constitutions, treaties, and legislation. The presentation of the complete known records of the Constitutional Convention is its first and flagship project, and provides scholars and amateurs alike an in-depth view of thousands of documents drafted and debated by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other Founding Fathers during that historic Convention during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Capitol event, hosted by Quill Project partner Utah Valley University and United States Senator Mike Lee (R – UT), drew dozens of academics, researchers, and others interested in better understanding how the U.S constitution came to be.

“I am immensely proud of our students’ contribution to this historic project,” said Matthew Holland, president of Utah Valley University. “We have been honored to work with such an esteemed institution as Pembroke College in bringing this platform to the public.”

“The study of the Constitution is highly personal for me and my family as my late father was the Solicitor General of the United States under President Reagan and my brother is a sitting justice on the Utah Supreme Court,” said Senator Lee.

Dr. Cole hopes that the Quill Project platform will be used in the future to explore and illuminate the deliberations leading the adoption of various U.S. state constitutions and other important historical documents.

L to R: UVU President Matthew S. Holland, Sen. Mike Lee, Nicholas Cole, UVU Prof. Rodney Smith