Our Story

Our Story

From the beginning, FPP’s mission has been to meaningfully participate America’s institutional life at the highest levels of leadership. Colonel Ronald D. Ray returned from Vietnam, a highly decorated US Marine, graduated from the University of Louisville law school and practiced law until the age fifty when he began First Principles with his wife Eunice and his most able research assistant Dr. Linda Jeffrey. 

The Ronald D. Ray Library of American History is a dynamic project of First Principles, Inc. that blends the best of the past with the promise of the future. The library aims to provide a resource as timeless as the Constitution and as forward-thinking as the Founding Fathers themselves. Through its unique combination of digitizing a large collection of historical books and documents, and applying AI technology, the library seeks to create an interactive experience where history comes alive. The library’s mission to promote an informed and engaged citizenry is more important than ever.

Here you will find the yield of Colonel Ray’s experience, training and life’s devotion to protecting America from all “enemies both foreign and domestic.” There is his curated collection of 8,000+ history, government and religion books which he read, retrieved and referenced throughout his life. His books are being scanned and digitized as emerging artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed and trained to search for answers to be found only the Colonel’s book collection and archive. Yes. Colonel read five daily newspapers and assorted professional and academic journals which served as a “content analysis” tool for the work of First Principles, produced both in print and over broadcast, via radio and television. There are 80,000 documents, a time capsule from a period at the closing of one century and the beginning of a new. They are scanned and available to search. For guidance, please see the project guide at the beginning of the archive to make searching more useful. 

Over its 30 years, First Principles published and distributed works of enduring and historic significance and now is making those works available via AI search for Americans who want to inform themselves, their representatives, and all those in leadership positions at all levels of American society and government to uphold, support, and defend America’s founding and first principles.  

The Colonel passed away in 2020 and didn’t get to see the massive undertaking of scanning his beloved books and archive which begin in 2006, nor could he have likely imagined the development of an AI “librarian” to search the books and provide historically grounded answers to future researchers, but he no doubt would have delighted in knowing that there were those who would follow along equipped by his books and archive to serve alongside him as watchmen on the wall of America.  

First Principles, Inc, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt educational organization, which promotes real American history as a key source for understanding the foundations of American law, civil government, and our public institutions.  For a copy of the tax exempt status from the IRS or other information regarding First Principles as a 501(c)3 not for profit organization, please contact us.