*Our in-person drop in event scheduled for Fri Feb 14th from 12-2pm has been CANCELLED*
Please join us virtually to celebrate Douglass Day by joining the Library of Congress’ transcribe-a-thon on Feb 14th – more information below.
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Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass! Although Douglass never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14th. Douglass Day is a day of collective action for Black history.
This year the Library of Congress (LOC) in the United States will host a virtual transcribe-a-thon of rare books and manuscripts related to African American history for Douglass Day 2025. Volunteers from the United States, Canada, and other participating countries, will transcribe selected materials from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division and Manuscript Division, including the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Records, Booker T. Washington Papers, and more.
Join collective digital public history action this Feb 14th by participating in the LOC’s virtual transcribe-a-thon.
Ways to virtually participate in Douglass Day:
- February 14th starting at 9am ET, log on to the Library of Congress site > https://crowd.loc.gov/
- February 14th, from 12-3pm ET, watch the live broadcast of Douglass Day
- Press Release from the Library of Congress on Douglass Day 2025 > https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2025/02/douglass-day-2025/
- Learn more about Douglass Day and the longer history of Douglass Day.
What is a ‘transcribe-a-thon’ and what does it have to do with ‘Public History’?
- A transcribe-a-thon is an event in which people gather in person or online to work simultaneously on a crowdsourcing project.
- Crowdsourced historical transcription projects allow for the participation of a greater range of people involved in historical understandings and archival work.
- This broadly participatory type of historical work falls under the umbrella of ‘public history’ – history occurring outside traditional academic spaces and history that expands our understanding of who is a public historian.
- By engaging K-12 students, University students, larger publics and civic volunteers, transcribe-a-thons help to bolster our digital collections and involve more people, backgrounds, and audiences in the process of archival work and historical understandings.
Ways to mark Douglass Day in person in Ottawa:
*Our in-person drop in event scheduled for Fri Feb 14th from 12-2pm has been CANCELLED*