William M. Ferraro received his A.B. from Georgetown University in American Studies, and his A.M. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. His emphases while at Georgetown and Brown was politics, the legislative process, and the development of communities in changing economic, technological, and cultural contexts.

William has worked continuously as a documentary editor since 1989, beginning with The Salmon P. Chase Papers at Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, Calif. (1989-92). He then assisted with thirteen volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (1992-2006) before coming to The Washington Papers at the University of Virginia in June 2006.

As Managing Editor for the Papers of George Washington, his principal editorial work has been on volumes in the Revolutionary War Series. He also took the lead in reviewing and regularizing the short title list found on the Digital Edition resources page and creating spreadsheet authority files for names and places in the Revolutionary War and Presidential series. He is now responsible for indexing letterpress volumes in both active series and assists the project director with financial oversight and grant proposals. A noteworthy success of his was a successful Jefferson Trust grant that led to the creation of the “George Washington, Day-By-Day, 22 February 1732-14 December 1799” website still under development.

Seeing how people faced challenges, achieved triumphs, and endured sadnesses has always fascinated him. He adds that “George Washington’s engagement with his world brings an incredible array of historical actors into view and makes work on his papers both a daily adventure and highly gratifying.”