Transcription Opens Window into the Past

Research skills were finely sharpened at the UTA Central Library as students joined a global effort to transcribe the letters of a great American leader, Frederick Douglass, preserving them for future generations on Feb. 14 as a part of Douglass Day.  

Students used laptops to access the digital copies of Douglass’ letters, typing his words into a text document to make them more accessible to the public as they use the Library of Congress’ website. 

Raven Parker joined her classmates in transcribing the letters, which gave insight into Douglass’ everyday life. 

“I think that in history, we put these people on a pedestal. Sometimes we have to realize that these were people, too, and they lived and walked the earth,” Raven said. “Transcription is valuable because it preserves history and gives us a bigger insight on what these historical figures were doing outside of what is widely known about them.” 

Raven stated that she feels honored to be a part of the historic effort to preserve these documents for future generations.  

Fellow class member Kenna Ownby shared Raven’s thoughts about how this valuable skill, transcription, makes history available to everyone.  

“Transcription is important because it gives people more access to information,” Kenna said. “It gives people more direct access to historical figures than they usually get in a textbook.” 

Dr. Peggy Kulez, professor of the senior seminar class, stated transcribing events like this helps to connect a modern reader to a historical figure.  

“To understand the past and understand the individuals that we study, we have to be able to understand what they said and wrote,” Dr. Kulez said. “If we fall out of the practice of being able to transcribe and read the way that it was written, then we will lose it.”  

She noted that there are several important items from the original documents people need to look at when they start a transcription project. These items include “handwriting, how people expressed themselves, spelling, and language changes.”  

Looking at these items “helps us understand the past better,” Dr. Kulez said.  

Whitney Russell, Digital Projects Librarian, stated that the transcribe-a-thon event was a success and looks forward to growing it.   

“I think the event went well,” Whitney said. “The students seemed interested in the letters they were transcribing, and the feedback was that they were excited to be part of history by contributing to this work.” 

Whitney said that the next transcription-a-thon will be in Fall 2024 and that UTA Libraries will also look at doing more crowdsourcing projects in the future.  

To learn more about the exciting opportunities that we have here at UTA Libraries, follow our social media channels or check out the Libraries’ website for additional information.