Smithsonian Transcription Center’s Tweets

Nov 1

From 19th-c. vocabularies, to the work of Native rights activists in the 1970s, collections documenting American Indian history and culture can be found in TC. Learn more and transcribe for #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth: s.si.edu/3WhjGRc. 📷 NCAI Records

Black and white photograph of National Congress of the American Indians staff visit to the Southern Plains Indians Museum in Oklahoma, 1952. Two men dressed in ties, long pants, and button-down shirts - John Ranier, Former Executive NCAI Secretary, and Frank George, Executive Secretary NCAI - stand in front of a truck with "National Congress of American Indians and Arrow, Inc." written on the side. A building - the Southern Plains Indian Museum - can be seen in the background. A woman stands to the left side - identified as "Mrs. John Ranier."

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National Museum of American History

10h

"Everyone has something to be thankful for at Thanksgiving; be thankful you're not a turkey." 🦃 Add some extra laughs to the dinner table this #Thanksgiving with Phyllis Diller's holiday gags from

@amhistorymuseum

(made searchable by #volunpeers) ➡�? transcription.si.edu/project/9320.

Black and white photograph of Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope on stage, laughing. The photo is signed at the bottom: "Love Phyllis Diller"

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Lonnie G. Bunch III

@SmithsonianSec

That Brunch in the Forest | Smithsonian Institution

Curator Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche) peels back the "protective layer," as he puts it, of kitsch from Thanksgiving to reveal the story of a likely unremarkable meal long ago—but also to reflect on what this uniquely American holiday means.

@SidedoorPod

si.edu

How much of what you think you know about Thanksgiving may be more fiction than fact?

Join the effort to share this history, by transcribing 2 newly digitized guidebooks from

, launched TODAY: 📗 A 1953, Negro Travelers' Green Book transcription.si.edu/project/48069 📗 A travel guide, published by the Afro-American Newspaper in Baltimore, MD transcription.si.edu/project/48014

The cover of a 1953 "Negro Travelers' Green Book," featuring a green - tinted photograph of a building in the distance. Underneath is written: "Carry Your Green Book with You, You May Need It." and "Presented with the compliments of James A. Jackson and Wendell P. Alson The Esso Men The Esso Building, 15 West 51st St. New York 19, N.Y."

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The cover of the Travel Guide, published by the Afro-American Newspapers, Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Richmond, Newark, National. A sketch of an African American couple and young female child appears in the middle of the page, they are holding suitcases.

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Victor H. Green, a postal worker, published his guide annually from 1936-1966, partnering with the Standard Oil Company to distribute it at Esso gas stations. A transcribed 1941 ed., downloaded by 38K+ people, is our most popular project of all time: transcription.si.edu/project/7955

The cover of a 1941 Negro Motorist Green Book, published by Victor H. Green.

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As you begin your holiday travels, remember that the freedom to safely journey in the US was not always promised for everyone. During the Jim Crow era, African American travelers relied on The Negro Motorist Green Book to identify safe establishments which served Black patrons.

Black and white photograph of an African American couple with a young child, standing in front of a parked car. Circa 1930s-1940s.

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Nov 22

In letters to friends and family in the 1930s and 1940s,

@NMNH

Entomologist Doris Holmes Blake shared holiday preparations and recipes, past and present. 🥧transcription.si.edu/transcribe/361 What are your favorite #Thanksgiving memories? 🦃

Graphic with a table of pies in the background. Over the image is a boxed quote from Doris Holmes Blake, November 1946, which reads: "The way mother used to [prepare] for Thanksgiving, she use to bake plumb puddings for all the neighbors in her brick oven and make thirty pies all kinds brown bread and roast pork, say nothing of turkey, and those were the good old times."

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Smithsonian Archives

Nov 21

Bond, like many women, Black and white, refused to back down from the racism, violence, and inequity so ubiquitous in the 19th-century South. Read more in our latest blog post from #BecauseOfHerStory intern, Jenna Lugo: transcription.si.edu/articles/sarah. #DiscoverTCFreedmen

A sketch of “Misses Cooke's School Room, Freedmen's Bureau, Richmond, Va.," by James E. Taylor. In Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1866.

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Nov 21

In 1870, a NC Freedmen's school run by Sarah Bond was vandalized by white students. Despite the incident and threats from the students' teacher, former Confederate James Horner, Bond reported the attack and issued a warrant for the mob's arrest. 📜 s.si.edu/3SvyGcw

Graphic, including two pages of a handwritten letter from the Freedmen's Bureau Records (left). A quote from the letter is typed on the right side of the graphic and reads: "My school is on the opposite side of town from his, must I be troubled in this way by his students? I think not. I have taken out a warrant for their breaking into the house, also for damages..." Registers and Letters Received by the Commissioner, Letters Received, Entered in Register 17, W, Aug. 1870-Jan. 1871, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/46597/NMAAHC-007675346_01088.

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Nov 21

#FreedmensBureau records document the breadth of American women’s experiences during Reconstruction. From teachers and missionaries to freedwomen and Bureau agents, women advocated for change, demanded justice, and pushed back against gendered expectations. #BecauseOfHerStory

An illustration depicts African American and white women sewing at the Freedmen's Union Industrial School in Richmond, Virginia. Credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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Their efforts led to the passage of the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act in Alaska, which made it illegal to discriminate based on race. The law was the first of its kind in state history. Read Elizabeth's speech to the Alaskan Legislature: s.si.edu/3O8zW3u. #NDNsEverywhere

Sepia toned portrait of Elizabeth Wannamaker Peratrovich (Tlingit), circa 1940s. She is wearing a floral-print dress, hoop earrings, and has her hair pulled up and curled on top.

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Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich, Sr. (Tlingit) were prominent Native rights activists in Alaska in the 20th c. — advocating for equality of all citizens, regardless of race. Transcribe their papers

: transcription.si.edu/project/47955. #NDNsEverywhere #SmithsonianNAHM

A photograph, included in a publication from the Peratrovich Family Papers at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, of Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich standing with officers of the Alaska House of Representatives while Alaska Governor Gruening signs into law the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Bill. Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library.

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Have questions about transcription or review on our site? Looking to connect with other #volunpeers? Want to share an idea or discovery? Join us for our next Online Office Hours — Friday, November 18, at 3 pm ET. Sign up: smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/regist.

Blue and yellow graphic promoting the Smithsonian Transcription Center Online Office Hours with TC Coordinators Caitlin Haynes and Emily Cain. A picture on the right side of the graphic depicts a computer and a notebook and pencil. Underneath is written: Ask Questions, Share Tips, Explore New Discoveries! 3rd Friday of Each Month 3 - 4 pm ET via Zoom

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Antonio McDaniel(he/him/his)

@CoachT_McDaniel

Ben Pratt(who was enslaved) is my 5th Great Grandfather…I’ve been trying to read this document for months…so thankful it’s been transcribed! G W Martin was a former slave owner and is listed on the same 1870 census pg as my 5th GG. This is incredible

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Meet the Freedmen's Bureau Web Portal.

Free, comprehensive, and accessible with just a few clicks, family historians, genealogists, and all of us can seamlessly connect with the stories of the newly freed during Reconstruction. More: s.si.edu/3V2zczb

Siera

@sierasimone

SO exciting✨ I had the honor of transcribing some of these records and highly recommend joining the

to anyone who is looking for a convenient and meaningful way to help get history on the record.

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Meet the Freedmen's Bureau Web Portal.

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Thanks to the hard work of Smithsonian technical teams,

staff, and our digital #volunpeers, over 400K pages of #FreedmensBureau records (and counting!) and the names of all individuals documented are fully searchable FOR FREE, ONLINE. Learn more and #DiscoverTCFreedmen

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Meet the Freedmen's Bureau Web Portal.

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Learning Lab

@SmithsonianLab

NEW DATE: Mon, 12/5 at 4 PM ET! Need techniques to analyze primary sources & explore women's history? Join

, and the #BecauseOfHerStory initiative for a LIVE & interactive “Cultivating Learning�? session: youtube.com/watch?v=vE45zn #SmithsonianEdu

YouTube thumbnail for an upcoming webinar with a cropped newspaper clipping of an article about Grace F. Thorpe and text that reads: Cultivating Learning, Critical Questions to Build Primary Source Literacy

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Lonnie G. Bunch III

@SmithsonianSec

Adding cultural institutions that tell a greater diversity of stories about us as a people enhances the National Mall's appeal to all visitors. My reverence for the Mall’s beauty, symbolism and power has only grown since opening

Opinion | Yes, the museums honoring women and Latinos belong on the National Mall

washingtonpost.com

The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino will best tell those stories here in their rightful place at the center of the capital.

Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

Nov 14

We're joining in #TheNext100 celebrations

@NatAsianArt

by taking a look back at its history. Help transcribe selections (launching all year!) from founder Charles Lang Freer's extensive personal and professional papers held in the museum's archives: transcription.si.edu/freerinstructi

The purchase invoice of James McNeill Whistler's "Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room," dated May 16, 1904; from the Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA.A.01. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.

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It’s a year of celebration! - Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

Nov 14

#DYK the

@NatAsianArt

is celebrating its Centennial this year?! 🥳 Founded in 1923 by Charles Lang Freer, an American industrialist and collector of Asian art, it was the 1st dedicated art museum at the Smithsonian and on the National Mall. Learn more:

asia.si.edu

Embark on a journey across centuries and continents in celebration of our centennial It’s a year of celebration! In 1923, we became the Smithsonian’s first art museum on Washington, DC’s, National...

This #VeteransDay weekend, our

highlights the military service of Native Americans. Join us in person or view the livestream of the formal dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial. #NDNsEverywhere #WhyWeServe americanindian.si.edu/visit/washingt

: transcription.si.edu/project/36905.

Find more stories of service men and women, and join the effort to unlock history, in the Transcription Center: transcription.si.edu. #VeteransDay #WeLearnTogether 📷 Life and Training of WASP, Scrapbook 1, Owned by Bernice F. Haydu

@airandspace

Red scrapbook cover with the W.A.S.P. (Women Air Force Service Pilots WWII) insignia and wings.

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Four women pilots, members of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), walking and an aircraft visible in the background.

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Helen James enlisted in the Air Force in 1952 and quickly achieved the rank of Airman Second Class. By 1955 she was arrested and discharged as part of the "Lavender Scare," a campaign to remove LGBTQ people from govt. James sued in 2018 — and won. More: s.si.edu/3IUPRij

Sepia-toned portrait of U.S. Airman Helen G. James. James is wearing an Air Force cap and shirt, with a US pin on her left collar. Her hair is cut short and curled, and she is looking at the camera.

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Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum

"I still love you 82 gallons plus 82 more gallons and more than I can express. Save all your kisses for me..." Blanche Queen and Robert Fractious exchanged hundreds of letters while he was serving overseas during WWII. They were married 51 years. 💌 s.si.edu/3UxWhtC

Sepia toned photograph of Robert Fractious, in military fatigues and hat, circa 1940s.

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Sepia-toned photograph of Blanche Queen, circa 1940s. Blanche is wearing a dark top with white ruffles on the shoulders and chest. The photograph includes the handwritten caption "Love and Kisses, Blanche."

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Grace Thorpe (Sac and Fox) served as a Women’s Army Corps recruiter in WWII before being sent overseas to New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. For her service in the Battle of New Guinea she was awarded the Bronze Star. #NAHM transcription.si.edu/project/31336 @smithsonianmai

Sepia toned portrait of Grace Thorpe (Sac and Fox) in military uniform. Her hair is pulled back and she is smiling at the camera. A caption on the right of the photograph reads: "Grace Thorpe WAAC Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1943." From the Grace Thorpe Papers, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

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William J. Powell, an African American pilot, served with the 317th Engineers and 365th Infantry in WWI. Later, he built a successful auto business and promoted aviation in the Black community — organizing the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in the 1930s. 📜 s.si.edu/3DWRRWd

American Expeditionary Forces Identity Card of William J. Powell, 1st Lieut. 365th Infantry, 1917, including a photograph of Powell, in uniform, on the right side of the ID card. Transcribed by Smithsonian digital volunteers: https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/27269/NASM-NASM.1999.0049-M0000002-00030.

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: transcription.si.edu/project/8580.

Lt. John Freeman Shorter — a direct descendant of the enslaved Hemings family — grew up free in DC and enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Vol. Infantry in 1863. He became 1 of only 3 commissioned Black officers in the regiment. Shorter's diary

@nmaahc

Sepia-toned photograph of African American Lt. John Freeman Shorter in Union Officer military uniform. His hair is cut short, and he is looking at the camera. On the right side of the graphic is an image of the first page of Shorter's pocket diary, dated 1865. Image Credit line reads: "Lt. John Freeman Shorter, Burt Green Wilder Papers, #14-26-95. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

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This #VeteransDay we honor the service of generations of men and women in the US military. From African American Civil War soldiers to 20th-century air service pilots, veterans' stories can be found throughout the Smithsonian. 📷 William Jones WWII Scrapbook

@airandspace

Crew C-13, 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, USAAF. Black & white photograph of nine airmen standing in front of B-29 "Bockscar, with the caption: 1945: At Wendover Army Air Field, Utah. With Silverplate B-29 "Bockscar." Below are nine individual color photographs of the aircrew, many years later, with captions of their names, from left to right: Chuck Levy, Bombardier; Fred Bock, A/C; Len Godfrey, Navigator; Hugh Ferguson, Pilot; Ralph Curry, Radio; Bob Stock,
Gunner; Ralph Belanger, Scanner; Bill Barny
Radar; Rod Arnold, Engineer. "1995: 50th Anniversary of Our Combat Missions" is written at the bottom. Transcribed by Smithsonian digital volunteers: https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/17531/NASM-NASM.2006.0067-M0000001-03140.

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Learning Lab

@SmithsonianLab

Nov 10

Our upcoming "Cultivating Learning" session with

, and the #BecauseOfHerStory initiative has been postponed, and a new date will be announced on Twitter and learninglab.si.edu shortly. #SmithsonianEdu

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To learn more about Harriet Smith, and how African American communities made education a priority during Reconstruction, check out our latest blog post by #BecauseofHerStory Intern Madeleine Roberts-Ganim: transcription.si.edu/articles/harri. #DiscoverTCFreedmen

An illustration of an 1870 drawing of a "Colored School - Object Teaching," depicting an African American woman teacher, standing at a desk at the front of a class of African American students. A globe sits on the floor beside her. Citation: "Colored School - Object Teaching," Harper's Weekly, February 26, 1870. Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collections.

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At Bryan, Smith taught more than 80 students, mostly girls, in subjects ranging from reading and writing to arithmetic, geography, and history. Help find other stories of 19th-century Black women teachers by transcribing #FreedmensBureau Records: transcription.si.edu/freedmensbureau.

Graphic including two black and white documents from the Freedmen's Bureau Records: a sketch of a schoolhouse (from the front, side view, and above) -- Texas Education, Miscellaneous Records, Articles of Agreement (Contracts), Feb. 1867 - Dec. 1870, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Smithsonian Transcription Center, https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/32577/NMAAHC-007675822_00430; and a Report of Schools for Freedmen in Bryan, Texas, June 1869, signed by Harriet Smith - Texas Education, Monthly Form Reports, Monthly Reports from Teachers and Subassistant Commissioners, June 1869 - Apr. 1870. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Smithsonian Transcription Center, https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/31843/NMAAHC-007675825_00034.

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In 1869, Smith was appointed by the #FreedmensBureau as principal of her own school for African American children in Bryan, Texas. She worked with an assistant teacher, Jane Bell Martin. transcription.si.edu/transcribe/303

Graphic including a black and white, handwritten letter from the Freedmen's Bureau Records. A typed portion of the letter (right) reads: "Galveston, Texas, April 9th, 1869. "I have the honor to inform you that the school at Bryan - in the new house - opened on the 1st of Apl. with about 80 scholars. I have appointed Harriet Smith as principal and Jane Bell Martin as asst. I think by the end of the month it will reach 100 scholars." Texas Education, Letters Received, Registered Letters Received, Register 2, S, 1868-1970, Part 1, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Smithsonian Transcription Center, https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/30395/NMAAHC-007675832_00155.

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For years after the Civil War, Harriet Smith, a formerly enslaved woman, taught freed children in southern Texas. She not only helped students build their academic skills but their moral character, too. Learn more in this 🧵: #DiscoverTCFreedmen #BecauseOfHerStory

Graphic, including a black and white, handwritten letter from the Freedmen's Bureau Records (left). A typed portion of the letter (right) reads: "Wharton, Texas, August 5th, 1868....Mrs. Smith is a desirable teacher in as much as she is very attentive to her scholars and particularly so as to their moral conduct and general behavior." Texas Education, Letters Received, Registered Letters Received, Register 2, H-M, 1868-1970, Part 3, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Smithsonian Transcription Center, https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/30377/NMAAHC-007675834_00621.

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Nov 7

#Volunpeers have transcribed 100+ audio recordings from past

@SmithsonianFolk

Festivals. Now, we're seeking transcriptions of accompanying program notes from the Archives

@SmithsonianFolk

to better understand and interpret the recorded content: s.si.edu/2LUuOma. #TCSound

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SmithsonianFolklife

National Museum of the American Indian

Nov 4

What are your plans for #VeteransDay weekend? Our director has a special invitation just for you! Learn more and make your plans: americanindian.si.edu/nnavm #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NativeVeteransMemorial

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Dr. Rebecca Altman @rebecca_altman@mstdn.social

Nov 4

Another amazing example of the impact of #volunpeer transcription! 🤩

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@rebecca_altman

Nov 3

Doing a bit of etymological work today. Here's the word "plastics" written by Leo Baekeland (the guy behind Bakelite) in mid-June of 1907 (as transcribed by the public Smithsonian transcription teams) via @smithsonian #envhist #plasticpollution FWIW: I thought it read: flarties.

Nov 4

Want new ways to help students analyze primary sources and explore Native women's history? Join us and

on Mon, 11/14 at 4 PM ET for an interactive “Cultivating Learning�? session: youtube.com/watch?v=vE45zn #SmithsonianEdu #SmithsonianNAHM #BecauseOfHerStory

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Nov 3

✨ New #TCSound Project ✨ Help transcribe an audio recording from

National Portrait Gallery USA

's education program "Face-to-Face" discussing a 1935 portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald by artist David Silvette (currently on display in the museum): transcription.si.edu/project/48019.

Oil on canvas portrait of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is looking at the viewer with a slight smile, and wears a brown jacket, a collared shirt, and striped tie. Portrait created by David Silvette in 1935. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

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Nov 2

Help shed light on the history of land and labor in the Reconstruction South by transcribing Bureau Records

. And learn more about Elizabeth Grant in the latest blog post by #BecauseofHerStory Intern Madeleine Roberts-Ganim: transcription.si.edu/articles/eliza #DiscoverTCFreedmen

A black and white photograph of an open field of cabbage leaves, with a cabin in the background. A woman is seen in the doorway of the cabin. Text on the right side of the photograph reads: An African American sharecropper stands in the doorway of her Lowndes County, Georgia home, circa 1910. Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #low105.

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Nov 2

Elizabeth Grant’s story is not uncommon. During Reconstruction, freedpeople — risking violent retaliation from southern whites — often reported offenses committed against them. Sometimes, #FreedmensBureau agents helped African Americans get recompense. Other times, they did not.

A graphic including a sketch (left) of a group of African Americans standing in a room, with three white, Freedmen's Bureau agents seated. Text on the right side reads: An 1866 newspaper print of a Freedmen's Bureau office. The Freedmen's Bureau was often underfunded and sometimes ineffective at addressing the grievances of freedpeople. Freedmen's Bureau Offices, Harper's Weekly, July 1866. Courtesy of NYPL Digital Collection.

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