LESSON THREE • ACTIVITY TWO
Transcribing Documents
about Slavery and Freedom
Keeping the history of past acts of resistance alive is itself an act of resistance; the exclusion or erasure of stories of resistance from history robs people of examples and lessons on how to put their opposition to oppression into action. By helping to digitize and preserve historic documents learners can help make the history of all people more accessible and widely known.
LESSON THREE • ACTIVITY TWO
Transcribing Documents about Slavery and Freedom
Keeping the history of past acts of resistance alive is itself an act of resistance; the exclusion or erasure of stories of resistance from history robs people of examples and lessons on how to put their opposition to oppression into action. By helping to digitize and preserve historic documents learners can help make the history of all people more accessible and widely known.
After completing this activity, participants will be able to:
- Contribute to the transcription or verification of transcriptions of historical documents
- Find crowdsourced transcription opportunities
- Understand how the act of transcription contributes to stopping the erasure of enslaved and freed people from the major narratives of American history
Procedure:
- 1. Read the text below to learn about how to transcribe a historical document.
- 2. Practice a transcription with the provided excerpt from the Journal and Manifest of Benjamin. S. Olney on Board Ship I.S.I.S.
- 3. Reflect on your learning so far encountering common challenges in transcription.
- 4. Transcribe! Contribute to a crowdsourced transcription project of your choosing.
Part 1: Learn About Transcription
Transcription is one way that you can explore history while contributing to the preservation of documents that tell the story of people and places. For historians today, transcription usually means converting handwritten documents to typed documents (though sometimes even typed sources need to be transcribed to be usable). This makes documents more legible (easier to read) and searchable, while allowing archivists and librarians to keep the original copy (which may be fragile or one-of-a-kind) safe for future generations.
Transcription is a time-consuming process, but a critical one for making historical records accessible, especially for those searching for documents online. Some archives have started crowd-sourced transcription projects, like the ones at the Smithsonian Institution, which involve students and others in the process of transcribing important collections. This work can be challenging but is important for professional and student historians seeking to understand the past.
Familiarize yourself with the Guide to Transcription and Review created by the Smithsonian Institution.
Part 2: Practice
Type what you see:
To zoom in or out to get a better view, you can use this link: https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/41182/NMAAHC-A2018_17_2_3_1_4_012
Part 3: Reflect on Your Learning
- Were there any words or phrases that you zoomed in very close to, or very far out from?
Why do you think this helped with reading and transcribing the text? - Why do you think some words were shortened?
- Why do you think some of the words in this transcription were spelled in a way that we think of as being “incorrect”?
Few people in the past carried dictionaries with them to check their spelling, and the spelling of words was rarely universally agreed upon. Many people, including those we think of being well-educated by modern standards, spelled phonetically (that is, they spelled words the way they sounded). This phonetic spelling can sometimes help historians understand differences in languages and accents in the past.
Part 4:
Choose a crowdsourced transcription project to contribute to. Spend an hour helping to digitize and preserve the contents of these documents for future generations. Remember to have the Smithsonian’s Guide to Transcription and Review handy as you get started. Other projects may have a separate tutorial that provides useful information for people working on the collection; make sure to read this before you get to work. Remember that not every archive will use the same setup for their crowd-sourced transcription projects.
Several options related to the history of slavery and emancipation can be found at the following sites:
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Freedmen’s Bureau Records
- Smithsonian Transcription Center
- From the Page
Alternatively, to doing your own transcriptions, you can also verify the transcriptions of others. Visit the Smithsonian Transcription Center and compare your transcription to the one there. Are there any words that you read differently from the person who wrote this transcription? Does reading their transcription help you read any words you were not sure about?
When you finish, attach your transcriptions (or screenshots) here and answer the following reflection questions.
Reflection Questions:
- 1. What did you learn from the records you transcribed?
- 2. Who wrote these records? Do you know when and where they wrote these records? How?
- 3. When you encountered words that you could not immediately read, how did you figure out what they said?
- 4. How do you feel that you contributed to the accessibility of these documents for other users of the Smithsonian archives today and in the future?
- 5. Why can transcription be defined as an act of resistance?
Answer
A memoranda taken on board ship Isis lying in Monti Vedio in South America by my own hands and pen and for my own amusement. Benj’a S. Olney
1811 May 8th Wensday_
Day commences with pleasant weather but considerable heavy winds from South West untill about four o clock in the afternoon at rather lulled and died away and became quite moderate — Captn Donnison onshore untill night. Second mate on shore in the fore noon for water casks brot off four and put them in hold. all hands imployed in nessessary jobs of ships duty. Carpenter at work on”
Digging Deeper
Acts of resistance have taken on many forms throughout the history of the world. Here are a few that learners may want to explore.
Soweto Uprising: The Story Behind Sam Nzima’s Photograph
Just as SANKOFA is a film about resistance, other artistic mediums can also serve as instruments of resistance. In this short film viewers are introduced to the photography of Sam Nzima. “40 years ago, a protest against Afrikaans in the South African town of Soweto was violently put down by police, sparking a growing fight against apartheid with Sam Nzima’s photo of Hector Pieterson.” TIME
Resistance and Liberation: History Of Africa with Zeinab Badawi
Watch highlights of African resistance and liberation from the BBC series hosted by journalist Zeinab Badawi. Hearing from “a veteran Mau Mau fighter in Kenya, a member of the resistance in Algeria’s brutal war of independence, one African president whose ancestor fought the French and the grandson of the Mahdi who defeated Britain’s General Gordon,” Badawi covers the continent.
Our Ancestors Were ‘Bout It: The Maroons & Black Liberation In North America | The Breakdown
The Maroons of North America led the charge for Black resistance and liberation long before other Black freedom movements. Watch this episode of #TheBreakdown to learn about the Maroons of North America, African ancestral liberation movements, and more.” BET NETWORKS
Saving Weeksville: Why Black Historic Landmarks Need Us
“The Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, NY preserves one of the first free Black communities in America. It recently faced the threat of closing down but with the help of activists, the press and Black Twitter, it will stay open … for now.” THE ROOT