Browse Projects
Project PHaEDRA - Cecilia H. Payne #05
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 early work of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered that stars, and the whole universe, were made abundantly of hydrogen -- a discovery that earned her the first PhD in Astronomy from Harvard. 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.
Project PHaEDRA - Henrietta Swan Leavitt #11
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.
North Carolina Assistant Commissioner, Letters Received, Entered in Register 3, A-P, Part 3
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 Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Series 4: Letters Received. 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. Have questions about how to transcribe tables in these documents? View special directions here.
Paul Studenski Collection - Scrapbook labeled Reminiscences of a Flier: To My Wife for Whom I Discontinued Flying
This collection contains two scrapbooks and the personal papers of Dr. Paul Studenski, an early aviator who flew from 1910-1913. Born in St. Petersburg, Studenski studied law and medicine before earning the 292nd license from L'Aero Club de France. He immigrated to the United States in 1911 and exercised his prodigious flying skills as instructor, test pilot and exhibition pilot before retiring from flying to distinguish himself in the fields of economics and government service.
Alexander Wetmore - Arkansas and Texas, 1917-1918 : To investigate damage done by birds
What can I do to protect these crops? In 1917, farmers in southern Texas had already been through two dry seasons, impacting their rice harvests. Species like the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) were making a further dent in the farmers' fields. They reached out to the United States Department of Agriculture and its Bureau of Biological Survey. Ornithologist Alexander Wetmore was sent to investigate and determine how the farmers might best address this threat in a environmentally-responsible way. Team up with other volunpeers to transcribe Wetmore's account of his investigations in Texas, and later Arkansas. Discover the scope of the problem and what were considered to be acceptable solutions at the beginning of the 20th century.
Project PHaEDRA - Annie Jump Cannon 18
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.
Poaceae Collection!
Join us in transcribing Poaceae family! The United States National Herbarium has a long and distinguished history of grass research, resulting in one of the world's best collections of grasses.
Please contact Sylvia Orli, Department of Botany, or tweet us at @sylviaorli @TranscribeSI for any questions or comments about the transcriptions.
Friedrich "Fritz" Rumpf Notebooks - Set 1
Friedrich Karl Georg Rumpf (1888-1949) German illustrator and ethnographer, and son of German artist Fritz Rumpf. The younger Fritz Rumpf was living in Japan at the outbreak of war and likely composed parts of at least one of the following notebooks while living as a prisoner of war. PLEASE NOTE: The notebooks will be a special challenge as they contain multiple notes in German and Japanese, and drawings in pencil, ink and wash made during his travels and research in Japan.
North Carolina Assistant Commissioner, Registers of Letters Received, Vol. 3 (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 Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Series 3: Registers of Letters Received. 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. Have questions about how to transcribe tables in these documents? View special directions here.
Alexander Wetmore - Western United States, 1918: Breeding waterfowl, field diaries
Following his time in southern Texas and Arkansas, ornithologist Alexander Wetmore moves on to spend four months, from late spring to the very end of summer, observing waterfowl breeding in the southwestern United States. Nonetheless, the contentious relationship between migrating birds and farmers through out the Southwest continues to crop up in his notes. This field diary includes wonderfully detailed descriptions and sketches of birds' mating rituals that Wetmore observed interspersed with terse notes about the farmers. One "wants government to send in soldiers to kill off ducks." Another farmer wants the privilege of doing it himself. This field diary proves to be a real transcription challenge because Wetmore's penciled notes are in some places both faint and smudged. Are you up to it? Join other stalwart #volunpeers in this effort.
