mydonkeyfeet:beggars-opera:Boston Public Library has launched a project to transcribe it’s 40,000 do
mydonkeyfeet:beggars-opera:Boston Public Library has launched a project to transcribe it’s 40,000 document anti-slavery collection from the mid-19th century.Calling all history nerds who love puzzle solving! Using the same technology as the Decoding the Civil War project a couple of years ago, this site from the BPL allows anyone to sign up and help their researchers by reading and transcribing letters and other manuscripts from the collection. There are tutorials included for how to use the software, and the ability to discuss your document with other volunteers.The collection was given to the library in the 1890s by William Lloyd Garrison’s family, and contains manuscripts, books, letters, broadsides, and an entire set of Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator. You might find yourself reading a never before transcribed letter by Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Lydia Maria Child, or Theodore Parker. Decoding the Civil War has actually run out of digitized manuscripts to transcribe, so let’s help the BPL do the same!Wow, my first letter was kind of easy and unexciting, just preachers talking about societies, and me verifying what other people had already transcribed (3 people need to transcribe/verify the same thing before it’s done). But my second letter was fresh to me, nobody else had transcribed it at all, and it’s a LOVE LETTER! I’ve done two pages out of four so far. He’s writing to say he doesn’t want them to break up, but she’s not sure she should be a minister’s wife and not even certain she’s a Christian (sad!!) and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I hope the fact that this letter was saved means that they did end up together, living happily ever after. (Also he wants to start a college for former slaves to learn to be teachers and missionaries.)(Also there’s a piece of brown paper tape covering some of the words and I want to remove that tape, ugh. It would come off easily with a poultice of Laponite.) -- source link