by Mike Matzinger
Michael Stern Hart (1947–2011), the visionary founder of Project Gutenberg, grew up in Urbana, Illinois, where he developed a deep appreciation for learning, self-reliance, and service at an early age. As a Boy Scout, Hart advanced to Eagle Scout in Urbana Troop 6 and later participated in Explorer Post 12, experiences that profoundly shaped his character. The values he absorbed in Scouting — discipline, perseverance, and the ethic of helping others — became a guiding framework for his life. He often credited the Scout motto, “Be Prepared,” and the emphasis on service with inspiring his later work: creating the first free, digitized collection of texts to benefit anyone with access to a computer.
In 1971, Hart gained access to a university mainframe at the University of Illinois and began manually typing texts into the system, starting with the U.S. Declaration of Independence and later the Bible. Recognizing the transformative potential of digital technology to share knowledge freely, he launched Project Gutenberg, aiming to make literature accessible to everyone, without cost. Hart’s work reflected the Scout principles of preparation, perseverance, and public service: he meticulously typed, formatted, and distributed texts, often with little external recognition, motivated purely by the belief in education and access.
Throughout his life, Hart remained deeply committed to the ideals of service and accessibility. Even as the internet evolved and e-books became mainstream, he stayed true to the core mission of Project Gutenberg: to empower individuals through free access to knowledge. His early experiences in Scouting not only nurtured his technical curiosity but also instilled in him a lifelong dedication to community, mentorship, and the democratization of information. Michael Hart passed away in 2011 in Urbana, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire digital librarians, educators, and anyone passionate about freely sharing knowledge worldwide.