"The Conjure Woman" by Charles W. Chesnutt
About the Project
Charles W. Chesnutt was an author, lawyer, and activist whose work explored social and racial relations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1899, he published his first book, “The Conjure Woman,” a collection of seven short stories that deal with race relations in both the pre- and post-Civil War South. The book is narrated by a formerly enslaved man named Uncle Julius McAdoo and a northerner named John. Uncle Julius tells the stories to John and his wife Annie who are considering purchasing an old plantation in the South. Help us transcribe this first edition publication of “The Conjure Woman” and see how Chesnutt uses the juxtaposition of the two narrators to emphasize differences in language and the complexities of race relations during this time period.
Completed!
Level 1 --- BEGINNER
Content: all typed
Language: English
Format: letters, diaries, flyers, pamphlets, and one-page documents
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required
Level 2
Content: mostly typed, handwritten in print, or otherwise very clearly written/readable
Language: English
Format: memorabilia, advertisements, image captions, telegrams, diaries, letters, notes
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required
Level 3 --- INTERMEDIATE
Content: typed and handwritten materials in cursive or print
Language: English
Format: newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, letters/diaries/notes that may include annotations or margin notes
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: experience reading cursive writing may be useful
Level 4
Content: handwritten materials, primarily in cursive or somewhat difficult to read (predominantly from the 19th and 20th centuries) , audio recordings that are relatively easy to hear/decipher, and scientific materials
Language: English and/or other languages that use Roman script but may require the use of diacritics (French, Spanish, German, Italian, etc.)
Format: audio recordings, letters, diaries, notes and other written materials, projects with templated fields and special instructions
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: some knowledge of non-English Roman-character/script languages and diacritics may be useful, as well as experience reading cursive handwriting. A general knowledge or familiarity with scientific terminology.
Level 5 --- ADVANCED
Content: handwritten materials in cursive (from the 19th century or earlier) or in a non-Roman script language, audio recordings that are difficult to hear or are not in English, specialty materials/projects such as numismatics projects and the Project Phaedra notebooks
Language: foreign languages that use non-Roman characters (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Greek/Cyrillic, Native American and Indigenous languages, etc.) and English
Format: audio recordings, columned data/tables, manuscripts, letters, diaries, notes, currency sheets, coins
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: knowledge of a specific language and access to a keyboard with the characters in that language may be required for certain projects. Experience reading cursive handwriting and familiarity with 19th century (or prior) handwriting and conventions/abbreviations may be useful, as well as knowledge of scientific terminology, astrophysics data, or linguistics.
99
contributing
members
246
total
pages
Total Users
Contributions
