On February 14, 2025, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the CAS Innovation Lab to celebrate the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass by participating in a crowdsourcing transcription project of materials from the African American Collection at the Library of Congress. Fairfield Stags joined with other libraries around the country to honor Douglass Day by improving discovery of and access to resources and materials in Black history.
Douglass Day celebrations began shortly after the death of Frederick Douglass in 1895, as an opportunity to read, recite, and reflect on his works. These celebrations eventually led to the establishment of Black History Month. In 2017, a group at the University of Delaware revived Douglass Day, and the transcribe-a-thon has since become an annual program and a “collective act of radical love for Black history.” This year marks Fairfield’s third year participating in Douglass Day. Engaging our campus in this digital service project, not only celebrates Black history, but allows us to have an active role in making it more accessible for future researchers.
Although this year’s event was marked by some technical difficulties with the Library of Congress website and software, Stags transcribed and reviewed dozens of documents. We joined with others from over 182 different organizations, and collectively transcribed over 9000 pages in the African American Collection. Participants practiced reading cursive script, learned to use crowdsourcing software, engaged with archival collections, and, hopefully, found increased appreciation for African American contributions to history. Here at Fairfield, we also ate lunch together and joined in singing “Happy Birthday” to Douglass before enjoying birthday cake!
Interested in becoming a transcriber? The Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution offer year-round opportunities to become a digital volunteer and make an impact.
