Posted on 04/09/2026 6:31:52 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The Newberry Library in Chicago is scouting transcribers to demystify its handwritten collection.
As Dan Kelly wrote in yesterday’s Chicago, the archive’s hunt for “living Rosetta stones” first kicked off in 2013, when the Newberry launched a campaign to transcribe all its Civil War letters in time for the sesquicentennial. This was such a success that the project has since gained momentum, expanding into all corners of the collection’s vast archive.
Volunteer crowdsourcing efforts began in earnest during the pandemic. Because, as Alison Hinderliter, the Newberry’s curator of modern manuscripts and archives has put it, “people were looking for something meaningful to do.”
But as digitization demand stays up, the trusty transcriber herself has become harder to source. And this seems a harbinger, given that cursive has been cut from the Common Core.
In 2022, historian Drew Gilpin Faust rang the bell for the dying art of handwriting, cautioning NPR that “we will become reliant on a small group of trained translators and experts” to keep the historical record.
All archives predating the printing press, Faust said, “including the documents and papers of our own families,” are in danger of going the way of the dodo bird if there are no people around who can read them. Which is why projects like the Newberry’s—and this similar call last year, from the National Archives—are more important than ever.
So what’s in the Newberry that’s so in need of saving? It’s honestly hard to say where to begin. The Chicago behemoth holds documents that date back to the 17th century.
Others hold the key to early modernism. There’s correspondence to and from Chicago literary luminaries like Nelson Algren, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jack Conroy, and Sherwood Anderson.
Kelly noted discrepancies after a visit to the stacks. “Algren’s correspondences are at least semi-legible,” he said. “The same can’t be said for Sherwood Anderson’s.”
But you be the judge. (Posted below)
There’s also a trove of city-specific history. Like irreplaceable firsthand accounts of the Great Chicago Fire, and diary entries from attendees of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
But my personal favorite? A 17th century book of magic spells.
The Newberry currently has 146 registered transcriber volunteers, but thousands of others have come and gone over the last decade. If you’re willing to brush up on those loopy Qs, you too can join the bold at Newberry Transcribe.
If you can’t read or write cursive, how do you sign your name to legal documents?
This is why I have a collection of dictionaries and school books from the 1700s to now.
The vocabulary of many folks in the 1700s and 1800s was far larger than that of most folks now.
They often used words that have become forgotten.
I was lucky. My mother read to me a lot, and I learned to read before I entered Kindergarten in 1952. She instilled in me the love of reading, and at 78, I’m still at it. I usually have four paper and hardback books that I set aside time in the afternoon to read at least 20 pages each from, and then I have about 3-4 on my Kindle that I read from at bedtime before I turn out the light.
I am also an avid reader, grew up in a home with bookcases in almost every room and like to read multiple books at the same time as well. We are fortunate.
Yes we are. It's sad so many people have no interest in reading. There is so much to be discovered in books, both fiction and non-fiction.
“They often used words that have become forgotten.”
I’ve got a Webster’s unabridged dictionary from the 40s. Weighs about 40 pounds too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.