Browse Projects
Project PHaEDRA - Henrietta Swan Leavitt #22
At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), women studied over 130 years of the night sky, all preserved on glass plate photographs. Women computers catalogued stars, identified variables, interpreted stellar spectra, counted galaxies, and measured distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. 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. PLEASE NOTE: Please follow these special instructions when transcribing these notebooks. To learn more about the impact of the women computers, listen to an interview with Dava Sobel about her recently released book "Glass Universe" describing their legacy.
What is Deaf Folklore?; Deaf Theater: Kaleidoscope JUN 27 1981
The 1981 Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrated the skills and traditions of a cultural minority who, despite their large numbers, frequently pass unnoticed: deaf and hard of hearing Americans. In recognition of the International Year of Disabled Persons, deaf participants performed "signlore," told stories emerging from Deaf culture (often with a capital D), and discussed life and experiences growing up deaf. They taught workshops on American Sign Language, displayed homemade devices to substitute for alarm clocks and doorbells, and demonstrated standardized technology such as a TTY, a machine that allows deaf people to make phone calls. Deaf visitors were invited to share jokes, riddles, stories, or puns on videotape with Smithsonian researchers. These recordings were only recently preserved and previously were inaccessible due to their advanced age and format obsolescence. Transcription of their content will provide access- for the first time - to those hard of hearing, and increase our understanding of the history of accessibility in the United States. Please view the instructions for transcribing audio collections before beginning. If you can identify the speakers, please do so using the format {SPEAKER NAME= "____" } if you cannot identify the speakers, please simply indicate when a different individual is speaking by inserting the "Speaker 1," "Speaker 2," etc. tags. For more information about the programs in these recordings, please look at the audio log sheets describing the content and speakers at each presentation.
Helen Richey Pilot Log and Collection [Suskalo]
This collection consists of Helen Richey's pilot log for 1944-1945, newspaper clippings covering the period from 1933 to 1944 and seven photographs of Ms. Richey. Help us share Richey's story by transcribing her pilot log. Please view the instructions for transcribing tables here.
Women's History at the Archives of American Art
Celebrate the history of women artists and art historians by exploring and transcribing archival collections from the Archives of American Art. Through diaries, notebooks, essays, and correspondence, learn about the life and careers of painters, sculptors, writers, critics, art historians, and other creative women who made their mark on American history.
In November 2019, we're featuring selections from the papers of sculptor and artist Lilian Swann Saarinen (1912-1995).
Subprojects
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"On Educating Children in the Plastic Arts," Cecilia Beaux
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Cecilia Beaux's 1905 Diary
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Cecilia Beaux's Correspondence with Dorothea Gilder, 1905
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Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Art Journal, 1906-1907
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Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Diary, 1894-1895
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Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Diary, Vol. II, 1895-1896
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Lecture about being a sculptor by Anna Coleman Ladd, circa 1930
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Anna Coleman Ladd letters American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks File, 1919-1925
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Anna Coleman Ladd's Notebook, 1917
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Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Juilly Hospital Journals, 1914
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Correspondence between Grace Mott Johnson and Andrew Michael Dasburg, 1910
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Letters from Grace Mott Johnson to Alfred Dasburg, 1914-1919
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"The Johnson Monthly," 1900
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Esther Baldwin Williams's Diary, 1892-1896
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Esther Baldwin Williams's Diary, 1897-1902
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Letters from Esther Baldwin Williams to Esther Williams
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Biographical Accounts on Alma Thomas, circa 1950s-circa 1970s
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Transcript of Oral History Interview with Alma Thomas, 1986
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Autobiographical Writings by Alma Thomas, circa 1960s-circa 1970s
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Betty Parsons Pocket Diaries, 1948-1949
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Interview with Betty Parsons, WNYC Art Festival, 1951
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Artist Biography and Narratives, 1949-1982
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"Happy Birthday RMS", circa 1950
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"My Life in the Arts," circa 1963
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Esther McCoy's Diary, 1922-1924
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Lilian Swann Saarien's Diary, 1939 December-1942 January
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Lilian Swann Saarinen's Diary, 1939 August-October
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Lilian Swann Saarinen's Diary, 1935-1936 October
Where in the World Is - Set 13
Come help us improve our digital records for the United States National Herbarium (US)! Please join us in our effort to transcribe the locality information for our difficult to decipher US Specimens. The records in this project are special cases in which the locality information requires some detective work. We'd like to ask for your help in digging a little deeper to find the Country and Territory/State/Province for each of these specimens sheets labels; see special instructions and examples here . Please contact Sylvia Orli, Department of Botany, for any questions or comments about the transcriptions. Note: Do not erase notes from other volunteers or staff; rather, leave existing comments and add your own.
Russell Greenberg - Field notes, Mexico, 1987
Commemorate World Migratory Bird Day by transcribing the field notes of Russell Greenberg, the ornithologist responsible for launching the annual celebration in 1993. Greenberg was the founding director of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and established Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly Coffee program. He is also responsible for discovering that birds’ bills help regulate their body temperature. Before the center was even created, Greenberg recorded these notes on a trip to Mexico in 1987. He noted the times of his activities, weather, and birds he observed that day, among other details. Join a group of volunpeers in describing golden-fronted woodpeckers, tropical kingbirds, black-headed saltators, and so many more birds.
National Numismatic Collection - Chinese Bank Notes, Set 1
Ready for a new challenge volunpeers? Help us transcribe Chinese Bank Notes from the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection (NNC). 志愿者，准备好迎接新的挑战了吗？请帮助我们转录在史密斯国家钱币藏品系列中的中国银行钞据。 史密森尼国家钱币收藏集（NNC）是美国对货币和交易工具的收集。这个丰富的全球收藏集包含具有代表性的三千多年的人类历史珍贵藏品。成立于19世纪中，NNC最早的收藏来自日本，韩国和中国的文物，其中包括日本明治天皇赠送给美国总统尤利塞斯·格兰特的硬币和奖章，以及2025件东亚硬币、护身符和George Bunker Glover的私人收藏文物（1897年收到）。这些捐送物是NNC东亚藏品集的基础，随后又收购了2017年Howard F. Bowker系列。该收藏集继续增长。 在2017年至2018年期间，NNC将其8,000多份东亚硬币数字化，并提供在线公开访问为全球研究使用服务。 NNC现在正将明代至今的6000份中文笔记和纸质交易藏品数字化。数字化过程的主要挑战之一是将亚洲文字转录，音译和翻译。这对于NNC团队成员来说是十分困难的工作，无法有效地推进项目。为了继续快速分享这些藏品，我们需要您的帮助！在开始转录之前，请访问该项目的 特殊说明。 Established in the mid-19th century, several of the earliest additions to the NNC were artifacts from Japan, Korea, and China, including coins and medals gifted to President Ulysses S. Grant from Japanese Emperor Meiji (received in 1881) and the 2,025 East Asian coins, amulets, and notes from George Bunker Glover’s private collection (received in 1897). These donations were the foundation of the NNC’s East Asian holdings, which continues to grow with new acquisitions, such as the Howard F. Bowker collection in 2017. The NNC is now working to digitize 6,000 Chinese notes and paper transactional objects that range from the Ming Dynasty to the present day. One of the main challenges to the digitization process is transcription, transliteration and translation of several Asian alphabets. Sometimes this can be done quickly, but often the process is too lengthy for NNC team members to complete while moving the project forward efficiently. In order to continue to share these objects rapidly, we need your help! The transcription of these bank notes will help NNC staff figure out how best to make these objects available and more easily searchable online. Please visit the special instructions for this project before beginning transcription.
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.
National Numismatic Collection - Chinese Bank Notes, Set 2
Ready for a new challenge volunpeers? Help us transcribe Chinese Bank Notes from the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection (NNC). 志愿者，准备好迎接新的挑战了吗？请帮助我们转录在史密斯国家钱币藏品系列中的中国银行钞据。 史密森尼国家钱币收藏集（NNC）是美国对货币和交易工具的收集。这个丰富的全球收藏集包含具有代表性的三千多年的人类历史珍贵藏品。成立于19世纪中，NNC最早的收藏来自日本，韩国和中国的文物，其中包括日本明治天皇赠送给美国总统尤利塞斯·格兰特的硬币和奖章，以及2025件东亚硬币、护身符和George Bunker Glover的私人收藏文物（1897年收到）。这些捐送物是NNC东亚藏品集的基础，随后又收购了2017年Howard F. Bowker系列。该收藏集继续增长。 在2017年至2018年期间，NNC将其8,000多份东亚硬币数字化，并提供在线公开访问为全球研究使用服务。 NNC现在正将明代至今的6000份中文笔记和纸质交易藏品数字化。数字化过程的主要挑战之一是将亚洲文字转录，音译和翻译。这对于NNC团队成员来说是十分困难的工作，无法有效地推进项目。为了继续快速分享这些藏品，我们需要您的帮助！在开始转录之前，请访问该项目的 特殊说明。 Established in the mid-19th century, several of the earliest additions to the NNC were artifacts from Japan, Korea, and China, including coins and medals gifted to President Ulysses S. Grant from Japanese Emperor Meiji (received in 1881) and the 2,025 East Asian coins, amulets, and notes from George Bunker Glover’s private collection (received in 1897). These donations were the foundation of the NNC’s East Asian holdings, which continues to grow with new acquisitions, such as the Howard F. Bowker collection in 2017. The NNC is now working to digitize 6,000 Chinese notes and paper transactional objects that range from the Ming Dynasty to the present day. One of the main challenges to the digitization process is transcription, transliteration and translation of several Asian alphabets. Sometimes this can be done quickly, but often the process is too lengthy for NNC team members to complete while moving the project forward efficiently. In order to continue to share these objects rapidly, we need your help! The transcription of these bank notes will help NNC staff figure out how best to make these objects available and more easily searchable online. Please visit the special instructions for this project before beginning transcription.
Yamada Diary
Help us transcribe this WWII Japanese diary. At the end of World War II, an unknown United States Marine brought home several Japanese-language items. These items were subsequently sold and the purchaser's son later donated them to the National Air and Space Museum. In 2003 and 2004, Museum volunteers, Mr. Koji Hayama and Mr. Tom Momiyama, translated parts of the material and they believe that they were created by a Mr. Yamada, who was probably part of an aircraft ground crew with occasional flight duties, and served in Manchuria, Korea, Burma, and the Philippines. Transcriptions of this diary will help National Air and Space Museum curators as they begin research for new exhibits. Please note that this diary is written in Japanese, and requires access to a Japanese keyboard, and basic knowledge of the language, for transcription. NASM staff are also interested in any translations that can be provided of the diary's contents. Please separate any translations by including them below the transcriptions for each page, and by indicating the translation with brackets. For example: [[translation]] text here [[/translation]]. Please reach out with any questions.
