Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

Please note: To be part of the transcribe-a-thon, attendees must bring their own laptop or tablet with WI-FI connectivity. Those without a personal device are welcome to join the transcribe-a-thon from their home computers.

AAS will participate in Douglass Day 2026 by hosting a transcribe-a-thon, an event in which people gather together to work side-by-side on a crowdsourcing transcription project to make handwritten records more accessible.    

This year's Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon project focuses on a vast new collection of records on the Colored Conventions movement. Our transcriptions will range across dozens of states and stretch from the start of the movement in 1830 through the turn of the 20th century.  This new collection shows the role of Black communities in organizing and agitating across the century.  Once transcribed, these records will be accessible for all, showing the ways that the Colored Conventions helped to imagine, pass, and protect all of our 14th Amendment Rights, including birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law for all persons.

To learn about the history of Douglass Day and more about Douglass Day 2026, please visit their website at https://douglassday.org/.