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Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass! Celebration Recap
On February 14, the CTSDH co-sponsored a celebration of Frederick Douglass' birthday in honor of Black History Month. We kicked off the event with a live-streamed welcome by the Colored Conventions Project along with some dramatic readings of Douglass' work. After, we heard from Loyola speakers on the importance of Douglass and transcribing his texts.
Seventy students, staff, and faculty attended the event. They transcribed many pages, ate many slices of pizza and cake, and learned a valuable lesson about the importance of collective action. There were eight other institutions holding simultaneous events today and the folks at the Colored Conventions Project out of the University of Delaware, organizer of the national event, provided an inspiring livestream that we watched while we were eating and transcribing.
Many thanks to those who stopped by and celebrated with us. We could not have had such a successful event without you!
Why transcribe? The Colored Conventions Project works to “bring nineteenth-century Black organizing to digital life.” Post-1830, Black individuals gathered to strategize, discuss, and plan how to achieve greater civil rights. These works were often written down, but have since been forgotten about. By transcribing these documents, we are learning more about and giving credit to the individuals involved in this movement. We transcribe to educate ourselves and the world about the obstacles that Blacks are still working to overcome. Learn more about the Colored Conventions Project: http://coloredconventions.org/. Transcribing doesn't stop here! If you would like to join the efforts of the Colored Conventions Project, log on to their website and start transcribing.
Sponsors: the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities, African Studies and the African Diaspora, English Department, History Department, the Joseph A. Gagliano Chair in American Urban History, and the Loyola University Libraries.
