Transcribe-a-thon at the Jane Addams Papers

Some of the participants at the transcribe-a-thon.

On March 27, the Jane Addams Papers Project hosted it’s first transcribe-a-thon. Ramapo students, guests, and members of the community came to the Learning Commons to try their hand at reading historical documents and transcribing them. Project Director Cathy Moran Hajo introduced the project’s work and the tool, From the Page, that volunteers use to add their text. Students Chris Flug and Amanda Haenelt told the audience how working at the project and interacting with these documents changed the way that they think about history and historical research.

Regina Coyle and Emma Wunder puzzle over some words.

Fueled by bagels, muffins, and coffee, our volunteers got to work. The handwriting was challenging, but Cathy, Chris, Amanda, and other student employees of the project, Emma Wunder and Olivia Ha, helped out, as Victoria Sciancalepore, Ramapo’s Digital Scholarship Librarian and a former Assistant Editor with the Project. It was a fun event that we plan to repeat.

If you would like to try your hand at transcribing, you can find the documents at the Project’s From the Page site.

We would like to thank two generous donors, Libby Ortiz and Regina Coyle for making this event happen

Categories: Digital Humanities, Events, Faculty-Student Research