Founded in 1983 by David and Marsha Karpeles, the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums made one of the world’s largest private collections of historic manuscripts and documents freely accessible through a network of museums in historic buildings across the United States. Instead of concentrating the collection in one institution, the family rotated exhibits among reused landmark sites, often former churches, while also supporting school outreach and cultural literacy programs. The collection spanned music, science, religion, literature, political history, exploration, and art. After David Karpeles died in 2022, the organization began consolidating locations, and in 2026 the family announced plans to center the collection in St. Augustine.