Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

Transcribe-a-thons are events where people work side-by-side on a crowdsourcing transcription project. This year's focus: general correspondence of Frederick Douglass from the Library of Congress.

From Douglass Day.org:

"In 2024, we are going to transcribe the "Frederick Douglass Papers: General Correspondence, 1841 to 1912" in the archives of the Library of Congress. This collection is extraordinarily rich. It includes public letters, intimate family moments, and much more. These letters show us the many versions of Frederick Douglass across so many parts of his long and storied lifetime fighting for Black rights and citizenship."

During the library's event, participants will be shown by our staff how to access digitized files from the Library of Congress and how to create machine-readable transcriptions of the hand-written documents. The resulting datasets will allow the correspondence of Frederick Douglass to be more discoverable and accessible by communities all over the world.

Stop in to the Tech Center to help us transcribe anytime between noon and 3 p.m

Among those hosting transcribe-a-thon events nationwide on Feb. 14 is our partner organization, the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum in Skillman whose event also features a celebration of Frederick Douglass's birth. Participants should bring a laptop and register here.

Presented in partnership with the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Technology Center Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Assistive listening system compatible with personal T-coil-enabled devices (compatible headphones also available for use during programs)
• Accessibility features on Macs (vision, hearing, motor, general)
• If there is an accommodation that you need or would like so that you can fully enjoy library programs, please visit our Accommodations Request Form.

Upcoming events