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The 1984 Folklife Festival included a program of black American expressive culture from Philadelphia as part of an initiative to showcase the African Diaspora in America. Black America began its move to the city because of a desperate need for change; as rural southern communities remained too restricting an experience due to racism, economic, social, and political repressions, some people had to leave. In northern cities such as Philadelphia, vibrant black communities took root and thrived. As part of its narrative portion, the programming featured artists, musicians, rappers, and others explaining their craft as well as the cultural roots behind it. The culture of American cities, as presented a the 1984 Philadelphia program, echoed the fact that urban America is also black urban America, a powerful, rich, evolving source of cultural life and creativity. Please view the instructions for transcribing audio collections before beginning. For more information about the programs in these recordings, please look at the audio log sheets describing the content and speakers at each presentation.
Browse projects by Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
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The Bladensburg Union Burial Association Records document the activities of a mutual aid society in Bladensburg, Maryland from 1874-1978. There are membership applications, sick certificates, wills, minutes, and membership dues record books. Chaplain Capt. Henry Vinton Plummer (1844-1906) established the burial society in 1870 at St. Paul Baptist Church in Bladensburg, Maryland, a church founded by his sister Sarah Miranda Plummer on October 19, 1866. Help us transcribe this collection to learn more about the financial and other assistance it provided to members in the community.
Subprojects
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Please view the instructions for transcribing audio collections before beginning. Pearl Bowser (b. 1931) is a renowned African American film scholar, filmmaker, author, and film/conference programmer. She is widely recognized as an expert on the works of Oscar Micheaux, who is considered the first major African American filmmaker. Working as a researcher from the 1960s through the early 2000s, Bowser travelled the world interviewing actors, actresses, filmmakers, and scholars, including Lorenzo Tucker, Gordon Parks, Arthur Jafa, Edna Mae Harris, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others. As a programmer (1971-2012), she organized conferences and film festivals that focused on the rich, yet often obscure, history of African Americans in film. The audio in this project is from unique recordings of the interviews, conferences, and film festivals captured by Pearl Bowser. Some of the recordings may have lower quality and require close attention to understand the content, and some speakers may not be identified, or the recordings may not include the beginning of their remarks. If a speaker cannot be identified either by context in the recording or by notes from the project team, please list them as “unidentified speaker” in the transcription. Some of the recordings may contain sensitive or offensive language. For historical accuracy, our policy is to transcribe the language as it is presented in the recordings. See TC’s FAQ page for more information on transcribing sensitive language. All recordings are in the English language. The transcriptions created by TC volunteers will be used to make these unique and important recordings accessible to researchers, scholars, and the general public.
Browse projects by National Museum of African American History and Culture
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Please view the instructions for transcribing audio collections before beginning. Pearl Bowser (b. 1931) is a renowned African American film scholar, filmmaker, author, and film/conference programmer. She is widely recognized as an expert on the works of Oscar Micheaux, who is considered the first major African American filmmaker. Working as a researcher from the 1960s through the early 2000s, Bowser travelled the world interviewing actors, actresses, filmmakers, and scholars, including Lorenzo Tucker, Gordon Parks, Arthur Jafa, Edna Mae Harris, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others. As a programmer (1971-2012), she organized conferences and film festivals that focused on the rich, yet often obscure, history of African Americans in film. The audio in this project is from unique recordings of the interviews, conferences, and film festivals captured by Pearl Bowser. Some of the recordings may have lower quality and require close attention to understand the content, and some speakers may not be identified, or the recordings may not include the beginning of their remarks. If a speaker cannot be identified either by context in the recording or by notes from the project team, please list them as “unidentified speaker” in the transcription. Some of the recordings may contain sensitive or offensive language. For historical accuracy, our policy is to transcribe the language as it is presented in the recordings. See TC’s FAQ page for more information on transcribing sensitive language. All recordings are in the English language. The transcriptions created by TC volunteers will be used to make these unique and important recordings accessible to researchers, scholars, and the general public.
Browse projects by National Museum of African American History and Culture
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BLANCHE LAZZELL (1878–1956) PRINTMAKER
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This collection consists of memorabilia relating to aviator Blanche Stuart Scott. The material includes her certificates, membership cards, and ribbons, as well as a collection of newspaper clippings dating from 1939-1969. Note: Please do not describe any images or photographs that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
Browse projects by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives
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This collection consists of memorabilia relating to aviator Blanche Stuart Scott. The material includes her certificates, membership cards, and ribbons, as well as a collection of newspaper clippings dating from 1939-1969. Note: Please do not describe any images or photographs that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
Browse projects by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives
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This collection consists of memorabilia relating to aviator Blanche Stuart Scott. The material includes her certificates, membership cards, and ribbons, as well as a collection of newspaper clippings dating from 1939-1969. Note: Please do not describe any images or photographs that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
Browse projects by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives
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This collection consists of memorabilia relating to aviator Blanche Stuart Scott. The material includes her certificates, membership cards, and ribbons, as well as a collection of newspaper clippings dating from 1939-1969. Note: Please do not describe any images or photographs that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
Browse projects by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives
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This collection consists of memorabilia relating to aviator Blanche Stuart Scott. The material includes her certificates, membership cards, and ribbons, as well as a collection of newspaper clippings dating from 1939-1969. Note: Please do not describe any images or photographs that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
Browse projects by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives
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The year 1993 would see Smithsonian Regent I. Michael Heyman (1930-2011) named the Institution's tenth Secretary as his predecessor Robert McCormick Adams prepared to return to academia after 10 years of service to the Smithsonian. This Newsletter to the Regents contains an update of activity at the Smithsonian including plans for the September installment of the Secretary-elect on the National Mall, the Latino Initiative, progress implementing the Institution's vision for electronic information technology and foreign interest in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's projects. Join up with fellow digital volunteers to transcribe this newsletter and see what else was underway during this season of transition.
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Smithsonian Libraries' 15th century edition of Boethius' De institutione arithmetica is a beautiful copy in Latin complete with diagrams, tables, illustrated lettering, and rubrication. Boethius was a 6th century Roman philosopher who wrote one of the most important texts of the time Consolation of Philosophy. Check this list of resources for help with transcribing the abbreviations and punctuation - and e-mail us to update the list of frequently used abbreviations.