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Can you read cursive? The National Archives wants your help
Fox 5 ^ | 1/14/25

Posted on 01/14/2025 2:52:10 AM PST by EBH

If you have expertise in reading cursive, then there’s an opportunity that might peak your interest.

The National Archives is looking for someone who can transcribe (or classify) more than 200 years’ worth of U.S. documents.

Which historical documents must be transcribed? A team within the federal agency is looking for volunteers to read and transcribe records from Revolutionary War pension records that include applications and other records related to claims for pensions and bounty land warrants. Other historical materials include immigration documents from the 1890s and Japanese evacuation records.

What they're saying: Suzanne Isaacs, a community manager with the National Archives Catalog in Washington, D.C., tells USA Today in an interview that volunteers will help the agency transcribe or tag records in their catalog. They can simply pick a record that hasn’t been worked on, and it only requires a half hour a day or week to do it.

The National Archives is collaborating with the National Parks Service ahead of the nation's 250th birthday for a project, and they are reaching out to volunteers for assistance transcribing these documents.

How can I apply? What you can do: People interested in participating can sign up online at the National Archives website. There is no application to fill out, and all you have to do is register for a free user account in order to contribute to the National Archives Catalog, by clicking on the Log in / Sign Up button.

(Excerpt) Read more at fox5dc.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 250thbirthday; archives; cursive; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; history
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To: Omnivore-Dan

Understood


21 posted on 01/14/2025 3:45:48 AM PST by Chickensoup
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To: sneakers

bttt


22 posted on 01/14/2025 3:45:56 AM PST by linMcHlp
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To: sneakers

You should! Especially since are familiar with idioms, syntax, and styles from between the American Revolution and the War of 1812, you might get through a document more quickly and accurately.


23 posted on 01/14/2025 3:46:13 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: maddog55

“ They don’t teach it anymore which is completely ridiculous.”

It’s not ridiculous it’s a way af destroying

It destroys history. The America haters want that

Writing in cursive is creative. It feeds creativity

Have you seen any good tv shows recently?

Any good movies?

No


24 posted on 01/14/2025 3:46:37 AM PST by stanne (Because they were mesmerized by Obama, the man for whom this was named, whose name they left out of )
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To: EBH

A few years ago I stayed with a friend who had young children (6 maybe). When I got home I wrote them a thank you note in cursive. My friend and her husband said the kids saw the note and reacted as if I’d written in Sanskrit.


25 posted on 01/14/2025 3:46:40 AM PST by Locomotive Breath
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To: EBH
Rachel Jeantel will not interview for a cursive writing job...


26 posted on 01/14/2025 3:49:51 AM PST by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: Locomotive Breath

My wife’s mother used to write her kid’s Christmas list in shorthand and place them on the refrigerator.

The girls checked out a shorthand book from the school library but never could decipher the words.


27 posted on 01/14/2025 3:51:37 AM PST by Preachin' (I stand with many voters who will never vote for a pro abortion candidate.)
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To: Omnivore-Dan

You got that right


28 posted on 01/14/2025 3:57:23 AM PST by Palio di Siena (Kralik…..you get the wallet )
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To: stanne

also, cursive is a discipline
something we are in short supply of


29 posted on 01/14/2025 4:01:50 AM PST by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: EBH

not the Bee


30 posted on 01/14/2025 4:02:42 AM PST by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: EBH; All

Eff you pay me! You’ve got plenty of money to pay every illegal alien and derelict in Washington, but you want me to work for free? No thanks


31 posted on 01/14/2025 4:07:38 AM PST by notdownwidems (Washington D.C. has become the enemy of free people everywhere!)
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To: EBH

Proper cursive is easy to read. By proper cursive I mean the handwriting of those that took and excelled in penmanship classes.

Aside from that, each person’s handwriting differs considerably from the doctor’s version only a pharmacist can read, to those that write with a left slant, to those that appear to just scribble to those that aren’t perfect but readable.

Cursive is much faster than printing as to draw each printed character simply takes more time. I have a feeling the digital age doomed cursive as most documents are typed in this age and much personal communication is by texting or direct voice phone contact.

And abandoning cursive could be another of the commies ideas on how to destroy our culture. I think it’s just another example of how our younger generations are being purposely dumbed down by our leftist education system. As Rush would say, they are stupid and proud of it.


32 posted on 01/14/2025 4:08:33 AM PST by redfreedom (May God save us from what the Democrats do in the name of good.)
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To: redfreedom

“ And abandoning cursive could be another of the commies ideas on how to destroy our culture. I think it’s just another example of how our younger generations are being purposely dumbed down by our leftist education system. As Rush would say, they are stupid and proud of it.”

Abandoning cursive is another of the commies ideas on how to destroy our culture. It’s just another example of how our younger generations are being purposely dumbed down by our leftist education system.

Parents are in charge of our education system


33 posted on 01/14/2025 4:15:55 AM PST by stanne (Because they were mesmerized by Obama, the man for whom this was named, whose name they left out of )
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To: newfreep

Did you see what happened to the left’s dream of her running NASA? To start they paid for her to go to beauty school but she couldn’t even pass that. The left’s next step was to hope the whole dumb idea would fall down a memory hole. Fortunately for them, it did.

Not only can I read cursive but I can also speak it.


34 posted on 01/14/2025 4:16:00 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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To: EBH

“..that might PEAK your interest ‘
I believe the correct word would be “PIQUE “


35 posted on 01/14/2025 4:23:41 AM PST by lee martell
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To: notdownwidems

Just going to park this dumb question right here:

So there is a call out for cursive readers/writers. Let’s say a large contingent volunteers. And let’s say they are all progressive/liberal history teachers who volunteered.

Would you ‘trust’ them to transcribe our historical documents truthfully, honestly, correctly? Or do you think that more than a few would see this as an opportunity to literally rewrite history.

Would you volunteer then as a mission critical endeavor for the good of the nation?

I mean seriously, if no one or few can read the documents any transcription can or could change the context. As conservatives we often complain about the ‘crazy’ interpretations of historical writings and yet, WE often won’t pursue opportunities to keep the records straight.

What is the value of our history?


36 posted on 01/14/2025 4:26:20 AM PST by EBH (America Blackmailed, The True Story of the World War...Coming Soon (1/21-))
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To: lee martell

Indeed you are correct, it was before my first cup of coffee.


37 posted on 01/14/2025 4:27:39 AM PST by EBH (America Blackmailed, The True Story of the World War...Coming Soon (1/21-))
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To: CtBigPat

Having read literally thousands of 18th and 19th century documents, it can be quite challenging. Many cursive letters then were different than today. F’s were often interchanged with S’s. Vocabulary was different and misspellings or alternate spellings of even common words abound. Ink and pencil on documents is often faded or smudged or the paper has toned or decayed. Lots of issues.

I have often transcribed documents where you had to leave certain parts (indecipherable words) blank until you could read the rest of the document and have an idea of what they were trying to say in the previous blank parts.


38 posted on 01/14/2025 4:43:57 AM PST by XRdsRev (Justice for Bernell Trammell, black Trump supporter, executed in the street in broad daylight 2020.)
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To: EBH

So, being literate to read cursive writing is not a requirement for employees of the National Archives?! Are National Archives employees required even to read, or is being a DEI hire sufficient?!?


39 posted on 01/14/2025 4:52:54 AM PST by Carl Vehse (Make Austin Texas Again!)
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To: ClearCase_guy
I bet AI could do this better than humans.

I dunno. I’ve seen some pretty terrible closed captioning. AI’s been doing that right?
40 posted on 01/14/2025 4:53:37 AM PST by mmichaels1970 ( )
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