The Ted K Archive

The Michigan University Archive

    About the Archive

    Viewing the Documents

      Requesting Scans Online

      Visiting the Reading Room

  The Catalogue as of Oct. 2022

    Series 1: Correspondence

    Series 2: Legal

      Subseries: Copies of Documents

      Subseries: Legal Communication

      Subseries: Legal Documents

      Subseries: Legal Notes and Research

    Series 3: Prison

    Series 4: Publications

    Series 5: Writings of Ted Kaczynski

      Subseries: Refutation Documents

    Series 6: Clippings and Articles

    Series 7: Audiovisual

    Series 8: FBI Files (original order)

      Subseries: FBI Photographs


About the Archive

When Ted was writing his book Truth versus Lies, he wanted a place he could store texts that he was citing as references so that they could be verified for those curious. But, he didn't want them to be so easily accessible that any gossip columnist could mine the information for their entertainment value. Therefore, he negotiated a copyright deal with a University Archive in Michigan, so that people could only request up to two items per month or else would have to visit in person.

To learn more you can read the head archivist Julie Herrada discussing the story of acquiring and maintaining the archive in her journal article: Letters to the Unabomber; A Case Study and Some Reflections


Viewing the Documents

Requesting Scans Online

Step 1: Browse through the full archive contents list for the 1 or 2 folders you’d like to request (You can only request 2 items per month): Ted Kaczynski Papers 1996-2014 (umich.edu)

Make a note of the ‘mixed materials’ number from the 1st column and the folder number from the second column, this is the box and folder number for where it’s stored in the library.

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-7.png

Step 2: Sign up for a free account on the University of Michigan Special Collections website under "All Other Researchers", so that you can request items: Aeon - Registration

Make sure to use a real email you have access to, as that’ll be where they send the dropbox links to scans of items you requested.

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-6.png

Step 3: Once you’re registered, Click here for the archive catalog: Ted Kaczynski papers, 1996-. - Record - Catalog - Library Search (umich.edu)

Scroll to the bottom of that page and click "Request this". (Don’t worry that it says reading room only, see next step).

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-5.png

Step 4: Then click "Switch to Duplication Request" in the top-right corner.

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-4.png

Step 5: A lot of the form will show as having already been filled in automatically. So, you just have to scroll down to where it says box number, and fill in that with the corresponding ‘Mixed Materials’ number from the catalog in step 1.

Under "Other Detail, Inclusive Pages, Etc" you can just reiterate that you’d like ‘Full scans of folders ___ & ___ please.’

Then just hit “Submit Request” and you're finished.

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-3.png

Step 6: In roughly 20 days you should get an email with a scan of your document in a dropbox link. But, you can always sign back into your account to see how the request is progressing (remember that your username is the email you used to sign up with): Aeon - Registration

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-2.png


Visiting the Reading Room

It's just the same registration form to to be able to request items & visit the reading room: Aeon - Registration

Here’s the request form for booking the reading room: Aeon - EAD Requests (umich.edu)

You just have to tick the boxes for the boxes of documents you’d like to see, and they will be brought out one at a time when you visit.

Then say what date you’d like to visit. You have to submit your request at least one week in advance of your visit. And here's the address:

Sixth Floor, Room 660
Hatcher Library South
913 S. University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190

Finally, you definitely have permission to take photos as the archive curator confirmed on the website blog article: The Ted Kaczynski Papers.

t-m-the-michigan-university-ted-k-archive-1.png


The Catalogue as of Oct. 2022

Series 1: Correspondence

In Chronological Order


Series 2: Legal

Subseries: Copies of Documents


Subseries: Legal Communication


Subseries: Legal Documents


Subseries: Legal Notes and Research


Series 3: Prison


Series 4: Publications


Series 5: Writings of Ted Kaczynski


Subseries: Refutation Documents


Series 6: Clippings and Articles


Series 7: Audiovisual


Series 8: FBI Files (original order)


Subseries: FBI Photographs