Thomas MacLehose, the author of this post, is a graduate of the University of Virginia and has worked with the Naval Documents of the American Revolution project since early 2025. After graduating in summer 2025 he joined the project full-time, contributing to metadata creation, document research, and the development of digital exhibits at the Center for Digital Editing.

Before I entered the Center for Digital Editing’s (CDE) office on the Corner for an interview, I glanced at my email to double-check that the office—nestled above Cane’s—was indeed the correct location. Upon arriving and seeing ship logs tucked into manila folders, Revolutionary-era newspapers preserved on microfilm reels, and letters bound in physical volumes, I quickly realized I was in the right place. As a student, I had relied on high-quality primary sources. Now, as a researcher at the CDE, I would help make those same sources more accessible to students, teachers, professors, and the general public.

After familiarizing myself with the project website, I spent much of the first half of my time at the CDE tagging metadata—people, places, organizations, and ships—across a massive collection of documents. One of the most valuable pieces of advice my supervisor, project editor Christopher Minty, shared was the importance of “knowing where to look.” Tracking down obscure historical figures often proved challenging, especially when biographical information was scattered or incomplete. Over time, I learned how to determine which databases and reference tools were most likely to yield results—an ability that will serve me well in future academic work, professional settings, and life beyond the classroom. Ideally, our work at the Center for Digital Editing will make it equally clear to researchers of Revolutionary-era naval history where to begin: the Naval Documents of the American Revolution (NDAR).

During the second half of my time at the CDE, I focused primarily on creating an exhibit about the founding of the Continental Navy. Drawing on NDAR’s published volumes, I identified and compiled more than 200 potential documents for inclusion. These ranged from notes taken during Continental Congress sessions to early legislation passed by colonial assemblies, as well as correspondence from figures such as George Washington, John Adams, and Silas Deane. Alongside this work, I helped develop a timeline to contextualize the documents. Rather than treating the creation of a national navy as inevitable, the timeline highlights its uncertainty and difficulty, emphasizing early battles, congressional debates, and the efforts of the Marine Committee that ultimately shaped the Continental Navy.

My work with the CDE helped me develop a wide range of skills: transcribing documents sharpened my attention to detail, researching ship records strengthened my organizational discipline, and writing biographical sketches refined my prose. Yet as I searched for the CDE office door on that crisp January day—doors I had passed hundreds of times on my way to class, Cane’s, and Coupe’s—I realized that I had absorbed the project’s most important lesson before I even stepped inside: the value of knowing where to look.