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Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress – Recent Updates

• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The latest March 25, 2020
  Dear colleagues,  We know that this is a tough time for many folks, and that it can be hard to figure out a telework routine on top of figuring out a social distancing routine. The By the People team hopes you are all finding ways of keeping calm, safe, and engaged during this time.  Telework […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest March 16, 2020
  Engagement opportunities during Library closure Dear volunteers, We know that it's an uncertain time for many people as the Coronavirus unfolds. Most public gatherings are being cancelled and schools and businesses are switching to online only activity, where they can. The Library of Congress is taking precautions, too. The Library is closed to the public […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest February 25, 2020
  New Campaign--"Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents" Today we launch a new Campaign called "Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents," featuring documents written in Spanish, Latin, and Catalan between 1300 and 1800. Our aim is to transcribe the documents word-for-word so that researchers can more easily discover these materials. This Law Library Collection is our first entirely non-English […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest February 19, 2020
  Lincoln Challenge update We’re in the final stretch! It’s the last few days of our Letters to Lincoln challenge! Can you help us out with the last 90 pages of the 1865-1889 letters? 75 need review and 15 are “In Progress.” Once these pages are all complete we can bring all 1,481 back to the […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress: The Latest February 12, 2020
  We have a lot to celebrate and reflect on this month including Black History Month, and the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, and Susan B. Anthony. We have plenty of By the People materials for you to explore, transcribe, and review in honor of all these themes and people.  Black History Month […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress: The Latest February 4, 2020
  Celebrating Rosa Parks "I felt I was lynched many times in mind and spirit. I grew up in a world of white power . . .” These words rock us with their hard truth. They were written by Rosa Parks sometime after her arrest in 1955 for defying a Montgomery, Alabama, bus driver’s order to […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress: The Latest January 29, 2020
  Happy Birthday, Alan Lomax! Friday, January 31 marks the 105th birthday of folklorist Alan Lomax. All month we’ve challenged you to review "The Man Who Recorded the World" pages to help us get to 3,000 completed pages to celebrate his legacy, and the traditions of those whom he recorded and interviewed. From 1936 to 1966 Lomax […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest January 15, 2020
  Hi everyone,  This month we're celebrating the life and work of Alan Lomax, the most famous American folklorist of the 20th century. Our goal is get the number of completed pages up to 3,000 by what would have been Lomax's 105th birthday on January 31st. We're at 2,206 as of January 15, 2020. Can you help us get over […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest December 31, 2019
  December Clara Barton challenge update Dear volunteers, one an all,  I confess that we left the office on December 23rd worried that poor Clara Barton would be forgotten on her Christmas birthday, and our goal of getting the review pile below 3,000 pages was a silly idea at this time of year. But we arrived back on December […]
• Thanks for Your Support! December 30, 2019
  Thank You! Thank you for all you do to support the nation’s Library. With new books, films, and music arriving every day, the Library of Congress is your place to discover new ideas. Whether you support us with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our […]
• Make Your Gift Before We Close the Books on 2019! December 20, 2019
  Make Your Gift Before We Close the Books on 2019 The Library of Congress is your place to discover new ideas. Visit our new exhibitions, join us for our events and educational programs and participate in our activities that connect you with millions of people around the world. Join the community of people that helps […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress Update December 16, 2019
  Clara Barton December Challenge Clara Barton's birthday is December 25, 1821. For the rest of the month we invite you, our wonderful volunteers, to celebrate this incredible person by reviewing pages from her diaries and other writings. Our goal is to move the number of pages awaiting review under 3,000. Today, that number is 3,644. […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress: Help improve By the People December 4, 2019
  User research is an important part of the ongoing and iterative development of the By the People platform, Concordia. As we continue to build, it’s important to hear from volunteers who have transcribed and reviewed items! Can you set aside 45 minutes for a user research interview?  If so, see the steps below to learn […]
• TODAY: Ignite the Power of Ideas December 3, 2019
  Make Your Gift to the Nation's Library The day has arrived—#GivingTuesday—a day when your gift makes a difference and a statement. The Library of Congress depends on the support of people like you for its exhibitions, programs, events and activities that connect millions of people across the nation and around the world with its unique […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest November 26, 2019
  Happy Thanksgiving one and all. We're grateful to each and every person for each and every line you've transcribed, page you've reviewed or tag you've created. Thanks to all who have organized transcribe-a-thons or review-a-thons, used By the People in their classroom, with their book club, or scout troop. We hope that By the People can be […]
• Ignite the Power of Ideas November 26, 2019
  On Tuesday, December 3, we ask you to make a gift to the Library of Congress in celebration of #GivingTuesday—a global giving movement. Your gift supports exhibitions, events, programs and activities that connect millions of people across the nation and around the world with the unique collections, experts and services here at the nation’s library. […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress: The Latest November 12, 2019
  A Challenge to be Proud Of Last Wednesday, we kicked off our Veterans Day Challenge – asking you to complete the transcription and review of a Civil War POW diary by the end of Monday November 11. Volunteers leapt into action to start AND complete This hell-upon-earth of a prison: Samuel J. Gibson's Andersonville diary […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress Update November 7, 2019
  We're almost done! Well, no surprises here folks, you're amazing as ever! We set a new challenge yesterday morning (11/6), and you've already nearly completed transcribing and reviewing all of the pages in Samuel J. Gibson's Civil War POW diary. See how quickly work progressed and share what you found in Gibson's writings on our History Hub […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress Update November 6, 2019
  “Today is the holy sabbath: but there is no sabbath here; Oh Liberty; Law & Order! Thou canst not be appreciated till thou art once lost.” -Samuel J. Gibson, diary entry for Sunday June 12, 1864 So wrote Union soldier Samuel J. Gibson in the depths of his agony while held as a prisoner of […]
• Crowdsourcing at the Library of Congress The Latest October 24, 2019
  Happy first birthday to By the People! October 24th marks one whole year of the Library of Congress crowdsourcing program By the People! In just 12 months, the project has added a total of 11 campaigns for virtual volunteers anywhere in the world to transcribe, review, and tag, including Clara Barton’s diaries, drafts of Walt Whitman's poetry, and the […]

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

• Thanks for Your Support! December 30, 2019
  Thank You! Thank you for all you do to support the nation’s Library. With new books, films, and music arriving every day, the Library of Congress is your place to discover new ideas. Whether you support us with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our […]
• Make Your Gift Before We Close the Books on 2019! December 20, 2019
  Make Your Gift Before We Close the Books on 2019 The Library of Congress is your place to discover new ideas. Visit our new exhibitions, join us for our events and educational programs and participate in our activities that connect you with millions of people around the world. Join the community of people that helps […]
• TODAY: Ignite the Power of Ideas December 3, 2019
  Make Your Gift to the Nation's Library The day has arrived—#GivingTuesday—a day when your gift makes a difference and a statement. The Library of Congress depends on the support of people like you for its exhibitions, programs, events and activities that connect millions of people across the nation and around the world with its unique […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 119 YEARS AGO: "The Gobble," San Francisco Call," Nov. 24, 1901 November 27, 2019
  Not enjoying the Thanksgiving spirit? Here's an unusual poem by Clarence V. Odell describing the turkey-eat-turkey dynamic of a 'gobble,' another name for a flock of the big birds (also known as a 'rafter'). "NINE greedy gobblers having a fete,One ate his head off, then there were eight...." Pity the turkeys... it rarely ends well […]
• Ignite the Power of Ideas November 26, 2019
  On Tuesday, December 3, we ask you to make a gift to the Library of Congress in celebration of #GivingTuesday—a global giving movement. Your gift supports exhibitions, events, programs and activities that connect millions of people across the nation and around the world with the unique collections, experts and services here at the nation’s library. […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Checking Out Baseball’s World Series in Washington 1924, 1925 and 1933 October 25, 2019
  Game 3 of the 2019 World Series gets underway in Washington, DC, tonite and we're excited! Not since 1933 has Washington hosted the championship games of “America’s great pastime,” baseball! In 1924, Washington’s then-home baseball team, the Washington Senators, won the series and earned bragging rights in 7 games against the New York Giants. Not […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: "FIRE! Destruction of Chicago!" Chicago Tribune, Oct. 11, 1871 October 8, 2019
  Almost 150 years ago on October 8, 1871, the Great Fire of Chicago began in a small dwelling on "the west side"  of the city. Two days later, as the conflagration finally died down, the Chicago Tribune printed a brief two-page issue, its first since the disaster began. Its own home offices devastated by the […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: CORRECTION - NEH Announces 2019 Awards for the National Digital Newspaper Program, Adding Partners in Rhode Island, Virgin Islands and Wyoming! August 16, 2019
  An error was made in a previous message regarding the number of partners to date in the National Digital Newspaper Program. Corrected message below: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced 2019 National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) funding for institutions representing 11 states to expand their selection and digitization of U.S. historic newspapers […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: NEH Announces 2019 Awards for the National Digital Newspaper Program, adding partners in Rhode Island, Virgin Islands and Wyoming! August 16, 2019
  The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced 2019 National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) funding for institutions representing 11 states to expand their selection and digitization of U.S. historic newspapers for contribution to the freely available Chronicling America online collection, hosted by the Library of Congress. New partners in the program include the Providence Public […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 100 YEARS AGO: "Wilson Blocks Daylight Saving Appeal," The Evening World, July 12, 1919 July 12, 2019
  Daylight saving time went into effect in the United States on March 31, 1918 during World War I as part of the war effort and many thought it would end when the war ended. Farmers across the country petitioned to end national daylight saving time in 1919 but President Wilson vetoed the repeal stating it […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 75 Years Ago: “ALLIES SMASHING INLAND,” The Wilmington Morning Star, June 07, 1944 June 6, 2019
  Across the world on June 7, 1944, newspapers rushed to press with the first word on the Western Allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy in France. For days before, front pages in the homefront news were filled with word of Allied battles on all fronts with hints of an imminent invasion of the French […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Celebrate 15 Million Pages with Us! Find Out More and Join our Twitter #ChronAmParty Today (May 21)! May 21, 2019
  Join us in celebrating a new milestone in Chronicling America – 15 million pages freely available to all! You can find out more on LC's Headlines and Heroes blog and join the #ChronAmParty on Twitter all day Tuesday, May 21 (today!). Follow the threads and find out about all the fun kinds of “15 Million” […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! (May 15) May 15, 2019
  Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Have you made America’s favorite cookie recently? How about trying out this 1940 recipe from the Roanoke Rapids Herald (Roanoke Rapids, NC)? Chop your own chocolate and read more about it! Follow us on Twitter @librarycongress #ChronAm!
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Celebrate International Women's Day With Us! March 8, 2019
  Celebrate International Women's Day today with us and explore how change-making women in American history appeared in the contemporary news using the Chronicling America historic newspaper collection. Our most recent post in Headlines and Heroes highlights fifteen amazing American women, including Clara Barton, Ida B. Wells, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and, of course, investigative […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 86 YEARS AGO: “Popular Popcorn,” The Midland Journal, February 17, 1933 January 18, 2019
  In honor of National Popcorn Day on Jan. 19, here’s a quick rundown from 1933 of some fun ways to incorporate more grains into your diet! There’s of course the traditional style of popcorn for snacking, “popped while you wait, with a generous pour of melted butter and a big shake of salt” according to […]