On February 14, 2021, seven volunteers at the Raritan Valley Branch met through Zoom to work on the Citizen Archivist Project. During the meeting, they transcribed a total of 27 documents of different lengths to help the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in its goal towards digitizing historical documents in order to make them more accessible.
Benjamin Hong transcribed 4 documents: Guntersville Dam: Alldrege – Young, page 84, page 85, Document # 2490Z, 8/30/1977, page 1, page 2
“These pages come from the records of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned corporation founded to provide relief to the Tennessee Valley during the Great Depression. In the records, it details information such as a person’s marital status, race, and number of children, which were probably all taken into account when providing financial relief to citizens.”
“These pages come from the hearing held before the Boston School Committee. This hearing was held because 3,000 students were reassigned to schools, which upset many students, parents, and teachers. This hearing reversed the decision, letting them return to their previous schools.”
Tarun Sivakumar transcribed 4 document: Medal of Honor Event 9/25/97, page 7, page 8, page 9, page 10
“The four pages I transcribed from this were about President Bill Clinton delivering a speech to the Presidential Medal of Honor Society in Little Rock, Arkansas. He talks about the medal’s prestige as well as previous people he has been able to honor with it.”
Amy Xu transcribed 2 document: USS Jeannette, page 13, page 14
“These two pages are from the log of George W. De Long, captain of the USS Jeanette, where on the left side he details the weather conditions and remaining resources on the ship. On the right side, he lists miscellaneous observations made from February 20th to 22nd, including the pumping of bilge water, the weather, the angle of sunrise and sunset, and the appearance of auroras.”
Xinning Lucy Liu transcribed 8 documents: Military Trophy: WIE 6127-29, 3 Flag Tops, page 1, page 2, Ceramics And Glass: WIE 4679/1, Wine-Glass, page 1, page 2, Glass And Ceramics: WIE 4709, Plate, page 1, page 2, Jewelry: WIE 4681/9, Arm-Ring, page 1, page 2
“The four pages I transcribed today are part of a collection of records for art recovered after being looted by the Nazis during WWII. The cards included the origin of the artifacts, their descriptions, and how they were found.”
Edwin Zheng transcribed 4 documents: Compiled Military Service Record of 1st Lieutenant Edward L. Baker Jr., Company B, 10th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored), page 9, Answer of 20th Century-Fox Record Corporation to the Amended Complaint, page 3, Notice and Affidavit, page 5, page 6
“This is a record of Edward L. Baker Jr. ‘s Military Service during the Spanish War. He appeared in the Company Return of January 1899. There were no changes since the last return of commissioned soldiers.”
“This is the third defense in the answer of the 20th Century-Fox Record Corporation to the Amended Complaint. The defendant is the 20th Century-Fox Record Corporation. They demand for judgement to dismiss the charges.”
“This is the 5th, 6th, and 7th paragraphs of the notice and affidavit. The plaintiff is the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He travels and appears in lectures.”
“This is a continuation of the Notice and Affidavit. The plaintiff plans to attend a conference on October 23. The conference is important for maintaining the law.”
Kevin Xu transcribed 1 document: Au: Auburn, Clara THRU Autis, Fanny, page 1
“This article is about a nurse named Auburn Fanny and her Hospital Muster roll during 1864.”
Jessica Hong transcribed 4 documents: August 1933-May 1934, page 14, page 15, page 16, Letter From C. G. Conn Limited to J. D. DeHuff Regarding Musical Instruments, page 1
“Each of these three documents are Oaths or Affirmations of New Master of Vessel for the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation. In the documents, information such as name of the former master, name of the port, and details about the vessel were identified. The new master of the vessel signed the form vowing not to misuse the ship.”
“This document is a letter from C.G. Conn Ltd., an instrument manufacturing company, to J.D. DeHuff, the superintendent of U.S. Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The letter is regarding the instruments sent by the U.S. Indian School to C.G. Conn Ltd. for adjustment.”
Volunteers: Benjamin Hong (1 hour), Tarun Sivakumar (1 hour), Amy Xu (1 hour), Xinning Lucy Liu (1 hour), Edwin Zheng (1 hour), Jessica Hong (1 hour), Kevin Xu (0.5 hr)
