Douglass Day Transcribe-A-Thon of the Freedmen’s Bureau Papers

February is Black History Month, and it is also the 200th Birthday of Frederick Douglass. In honour of this occasion the Colored Conventions Project is co-ordinating a transcribe-a-thon. DARIAH Ireland is pleased to sponsor an event in University College Cork. We’ll be joining the other 30 participating institutions around the world via live stream and social media updates. No previous transcription experience is required. This is an opportunity to brush up on your skills or learn a new one while contributing to knowledge on web!

We are particularly excited because of the connection between Frederick Douglass and Cork, Ireland. Prof Lee Jenkins, Head of the School of English in UCC, has written about this in her article, “Beyond the Pale: Frederick Douglass in Cork.” Prof Jenkins also supervised a PhD thesis by Dr Elizabeth Ann Coughlan titled, Frederick Douglass and Ireland, 1845: The “Vertiginous Twist[s]” of an Irish Encounter.

All you need to do is sign up as a digital volunteer on the Smithsonian Archive Transcription Center, and bring your own device on the day. It will take place in the Digital Humanities Active Learning Space on the fourth floor of the Food Science Building. Further information about the DARIAH Ireland event is available here, and you can find overall information on the Colored Conventions Project website here.

Directions to the room:

#UCCDH Active Learning Space – HOW DO I GET THERE? from Pedro Fernàndez on Vimeo.