"Poems of Cabin and Field" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

About the Project

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a renowned poet, author, and playwright. “Poems of Cabin and Field,” published in 1899, is a collection of eight previously published poems by Dunbar. The book features decorations by his wife, Alice Cordelia Morse, and photographs from the Hampton Institute Camera Club. Help us transcribe Dunbar’s book of poetry that draws influence from his family’s path from slavery to freedom.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was a renowned poet, author, and playwright. He was born in Ohio to parents who were formerly enslaved in Kentucky. Dunbar began writing poetry from a young age, publishing his first work at sixteen in a local newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. Dunbar’s successful and powerful works led him to national recognition where he became known for writing in the Negro dialect associated with the antebellum South. In addition to over a dozen works of poetry and numerous short stories and novels, Dunbar also wrote the lyrics for the musical “In Dahomey” (1903), which was the first musical produced, written, and acted by African Americans on Broadway. After it’s Broadway debut the show toured the United States and the United Kingdom.

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Project Progress (details)

132 pages completed

Difficulty

1 out of 5

(details)

About Project Difficulty

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.

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