Support the Archive

This archive has one job: to make sure the lives that shaped our world are never lost. The reading is free, there are no advertisements on the records, and every biography is inscribed on the Arweave blockchain so that it survives us all. Patronage is what pays for that inscription.

The economics are unusual and worth stating plainly. Preserving one biography on the blockchain costs a fraction of a cent, paid a single time, and the network's endowment then funds copies of it on hundreds of machines for at least two centuries. A small donation does not keep the lights on for a month; it keeps records readable for lifetimes.

Donate to the inscription fund

The archive's wallet on Arweave accepts AR, the network's own coin. Everything it receives is spent on preservation: inscribing new records, re-inscribing corrected ones, and keeping the permanent reading room current.

3z76YtCjBxpLYQEc1MMZWywpu3Wx8T45t77uPia8xvQ

Send from any exchange or wallet that supports Arweave. If you would rather give another way, or want a receipt, write to the Keeper and we will arrange it.

Give knowledge instead of money

The archive runs on sources. A correction with a citation, a better reference for a claim, a documented life we have not yet recorded: these are worth as much as any donation. Use the Suggest an edit slip on any record, or send sources through the contact page. Accepted corrections enter the record with the contributor noted in its public revision history.

Institutions, foundations, and grants

Museums, universities, libraries, and funds that support open history or permanent public archives: we are glad to talk. The archive's text is openly readable, machine-readable through a public API, and committed to the permaweb in full. Write to [email protected] for partnership and funding conversations.

The quiet ways

Share a record with someone who would love it. Link to the archive from your own writing. Read on. An archive is kept alive by being read as much as by being funded. To see exactly how the permanence works, visit the permanence page.