It’s all hidden in plain sight—the history of ordinary people and the nation they shaped—documented in vintage newspapers, personal diaries and correspondence, public records and more.
To help make the thousands of pages accessible to researchers, historians and students, more than 40 Rowan and community volunteers gathered on February 13th to participate in Rowan's Fourth Annual Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon.
The event, hosted by the Center for Digital Humanities Research within Ric Edelman College of Communication, Humanities & Social Sciences, marks the birthday of Frederick Douglass—the influential social reformer, abolitionist, writer and statesman.
Attendees rolled up their sleeves (figuratively, but in some cases literally) and worked to transcribe historical documents related to Douglass and the Colored Conventions. Rowan's efforts are one part of a movement that included nearly 8,000 people in more than 180 locations this year.