Preservation
Documenting and preserving artifacts, records, provenance, and historical context so that they remain available to future generations.
Mission
The mission is to discover, preserve, interpret, and share historical stories through research, publishing, education, and public engagement.
That mission began with the discovery of a collection of nineteenth-century family samplers and the historical investigations that followed. What began as artifact research expanded into books, research papers, educational resources, museum collaborations, public-history presentations, historical interpretation, and publishing projects designed to make historical knowledge accessible to broader audiences.
Artifacts are more than objects. They are evidence of lives lived, relationships formed, communities built, and stories remembered. Through careful research and responsible interpretation, the mission seeks to reconnect artifacts, records, and historical places with the people behind them, allowing artifacts and the stories they preserve to become ambassadors that invite new audiences to explore the history they represent.
History survives only when its stories continue to be told. By reconnecting artifacts, documents, and places with the people behind them, this work helps preserve not only historical objects, but the human experiences that give them meaning.
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Our Principles
Research
Pursuing evidence-based historical investigation while remaining transparent about what is known, what is uncertain, and what remains to be discovered.
Interpretation
Transforming research into accessible narratives, visualizations, presentations, and educational experiences that help modern audiences connect with the past.
Education
Creating books, resources, and programs that encourage curiosity, historical inquiry, and lifelong learning.
Community
Building relationships among museums, libraries, educators, researchers, descendants, historical organizations, and readers who share an interest in preserving and understanding history.
Outreach
Ensuring that research, stories, educational resources, and public programs reach the audiences and institutions that can benefit from them.
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The Prescott Girls Initiative
The Prescott Girls Initiative is the primary implementation of the mission. It coordinates a collection of related projects that preserve, interpret, and share the history of the Prescott family through research, publishing, education, and public engagement.
Individual projects support different audiences and objectives while contributing to the larger initiative. Projects may be published through The Prescott Girls, A Well-Regulated Press, museums, educational organizations, or other appropriate partners, with cross-links connecting related work where beneficial.
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Initiative Projects
- The Prescott Girls: A Letter From Philadelphia — the first book of the historical-fiction book series introducing readers to the Prescott family and the world of the Pownalborough Court House.
- A Well-Regulated Press — the publishing and public-facing platform supporting books, research, educational resources, and mission-driven interpretation.
- Research Papers — historical and genealogical research documenting the evidence behind the samplers, family connections, artifacts, and interpretations.
- Teacher Resources — classroom materials that help educators use the story, artifacts, and research to encourage historical inquiry.
- Websites — online homes for the initiative, its publications, research, educational resources, and public outreach.
- Audiobook — an audio edition designed to reach readers and listeners through another format.
- Public-History Presentations — talks, workshops, and museum collaborations that share the research, methodology, and interpretive approach with broader audiences.
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Origins of A Well-Regulated Press
The name A Well-Regulated Press draws on the historical meaning of the phrase well regulated, a term widely used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Today, regulated is often associated with laws, rules, or administrative oversight. Historically, however, a “well-regulated” clock kept accurate time, a “well-regulated” household was orderly and well managed, and a “well-regulated” militia was properly trained, equipped, and able to function as intended. In this earlier sense, well regulated meant well ordered, properly maintained, and operating effectively.
A Well-Regulated Press embraces that earlier meaning. Publishing, like scholarship, depends on careful research, thoughtful editing, attention to evidence, and a willingness to revise when new information comes to light. The goal is not merely to produce books, but to create works that are well crafted, historically grounded, and responsibly presented.
The imprint’s emblem, a steam governor, reinforces that idea. A centrifugal governor automatically adjusts a steam engine’s speed to keep it steady under changing conditions. Rather than representing outside control, it represents feedback, balance, and self-correction. Like the editorial and research process itself, the governor suggests continual refinement through observation, correction, and improvement.
For a publisher devoted to historical fiction, original research, and public interpretation, the image is an apt metaphor. The steam governor reflects both the historical era that inspires much of the press’s work and the commitment to careful, well-regulated inquiry behind every publication.