Browse Projects
Project PHaEDRA - Henrietta Swan Leavitt #25
At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), women computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they catalogued stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who connected the luminosity and periodicity of certain variable stars such that we were able to understand just how big our universe is. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest.
District of Columbia Field Offices, Asst. Quartermaster, Letters Received, Entered in Vol. 2, Sept. 1868–Aug. 1869, Part 4
The Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Field Offices for the District of Columbia, Series 2.1: Offices of Staff Officers: Assistant Quartermaster and Disbursing Officer. Please help us transcribe these records to learn more about the experiences of formerly enslaved men and women in the Washington, D.C. area during the Reconstruction Era.
District of Columbia Field Offices, Asst. Quartermaster, Letters Received, Entered in Vol. 2, Sept. 1868–Aug. 1869, Part 5
The Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Field Offices for the District of Columbia, Series 2.1: Offices of Staff Officers: Assistant Quartermaster and Disbursing Officer. Please help us transcribe these records to learn more about the experiences of formerly enslaved men and women in the Washington, D.C. area during the Reconstruction Era.
Thomas DeWitt Milling Collection - Clippings
Thomas DeWitt Milling contributed mightily to the American heritage of flight. Possessor of the Aero Club of America's License 30, Expert Aviator License 3 and numerous awards and honors, Milling became a key figure in the early years of aviation. His illustrious career in both civil and military spheres garnered widespread acclaim.
Project PHaEDRA - Annie Jump Cannon 35
At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), women computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they catalogued stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the work of Annie Jump Cannon, who in 1901 devised a robust and elegant stellar classification scheme that astronomers still use today. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy? Help us transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest.
North Carolina Field Offices, Subordinate Field Offices: Charlotte, Register of Letters Received, Vol. (72), July 1867–Dec. 1868
The Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Field Offices for the State of North Carolina, Series 4.3: Subordinate Field Offices: Charlotte (Subassistant Commissioner). Please help us transcribe these records to learn more about the experiences of formerly enslaved men and women in North Carolina during the Reconstruction Era.
John Brooks Henderson, Jr. - Collecting notes in Jamaica Dec. 9, 1893 - January 2, 1894
In the years before being appointed a Smithsonian Regent in 1911, John Brooks Henderson, Jr. (1870-1923) served as a diplomatic advisor's secretary, as a civilian observer of European armies in Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and authored "American Diplomatic Questions" (1901). A shell collector from a young age, Henderson later participated in several Caribbean expeditions and donated his collections to the United States National Museum. Please help us transcribe these personal collecting notes from his trip to Jamaica in 1893-1894.
Martin Moynihan - Atlapetes (Brush-finches) - Panama, Ecuador and Peru, 1958, 1960-1962
Understanding biodiversity trends and the factors that influence them requires us first to develop an intimate knowledge about the species themselves. In these field notes, Dr. Martin Moynihan (1928-1996) documents his work studying brush-finches (atlapetes) in Panama, Ecuador and Peru. Over half a century later, ornithologists are still making discoveries, such as the Antioquia Brush-finch that was identified from museum specimens collected in 1971. It was not seen alive for the next 47 years until it was rediscovered in Colombia 2018. Join in with other digital volunteers to transcribe Dr. Moynihan's observations and make them more accessible for today's researchers.
William Ockleford Oldman Archive Research Materials - Collection Ledger, 1914-1916: 33669 to 37700
Help us transcribe "Collection Ledger, 1914-1916: 33669 to 37700" from the William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials! For instructions on how to transcribe this material, please view the project instructions page here . The William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials are comprised of digital surrogates of the business records of Oldman held by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. These records include detailed information about his purchases and sales of objects including names of original sources for objects he acquired and sold. Since this provenance information is critically important to the documentation of NMAI’s collections, NMAI and Te Papa have begun a collaborative research project to make the Oldman materials available to the public for research and scholarship. William Ockleford Oldman (1879 – 1949) was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was active between the late 1890s and 1913. Oldman purchased items from various sources including from auctions, directly from other collectors and dealers and also from many small British museums and historic houses. He held regular auctions to sell items and also reserved items for possible sale to particular private collectors, scholars, and heritage institutions including the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, NMAI’s predecessor institution. Ethnographic specimens with a provenance to Oldman’s business can now be found in various public institutions around the world including the National Museum of the American Indian.
William Ockleford Oldman Archive Research Materials - Collection Ledger, 1902-1916: 1 to 33668 (Part 3)
Help us transcribe "Collection Ledger, 1902-1916: 1 to 33668 (Part 3)" from the William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials! For instructions on how to transcribe this material, please view the project instructions page here . The William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials are comprised of digital surrogates of the business records of Oldman held by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. These records include detailed information about his purchases and sales of objects including names of original sources for objects he acquired and sold. Since this provenance information is critically important to the documentation of NMAI’s collections, NMAI and Te Papa have begun a collaborative research project to make the Oldman materials available to the public for research and scholarship. William Ockleford Oldman (1879 – 1949) was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was active between the late 1890s and 1913. Oldman purchased items from various sources including from auctions, directly from other collectors and dealers and also from many small British museums and historic houses. He held regular auctions to sell items and also reserved items for possible sale to particular private collectors, scholars, and heritage institutions including the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, NMAI’s predecessor institution. Ethnographic specimens with a provenance to Oldman’s business can now be found in various public institutions around the world including the National Museum of the American Indian.
