Douglass Day Transcribe-a-Thon
Colored Conventions, HASTAC and the Nexus Digital Research Co-op invite you to participate in Douglass Day, a 200th birthday party for Frederick Douglass.
Although Douglass was born into bondage and never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14. We will commemorate his birthday by creating black history together.
Douglass Day in 2018
This year we will feature a transcribe-a-thon on the Freedmen's Bureau Papers. Colored Conventions is co-present Douglass Day with the Smithsonian Transcription Center and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has collaborated with the Smithsonian Transcription Center to transcribe nearly 2 million image files from the Freedmen’s Bureau records. The Transcription Center is a platform where digital volunteers can transcribe and review transcriptions of Smithsonian Institution collections. The Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project is the largest crowdsourcing initiative ever sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.
The Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project will allow anyone with internet access to research his or her family’s history online. The museum began this project in an effort to help African Americans discover their ancestors and help historians better understand the years following the Civil War.