The College community celebrated Douglass Day with a transcribe-a-thon through the LibLab of McCabe Library on February 14. It was the College’s third annual commemoration of Frederick Douglass’ chosen birthday.

The annual event — co-sponsored at Swarthmore by the Libraries, the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility, and the Black Cultural Center — celebrated Black history and Douglass’ legacy. It centered on items from the African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress.

The Swarthmore Libraries billed the event as an opportunity to “get hands-on experience with a digital humanities project in a fun, stress-free environment.”

“One reason why I prioritize hosting Douglass Day at Swarthmore each year is because it emphasizes the human connection at the heart of digital scholarship,” says Amanda Licastro, head of digital scholarship strategies and visiting associate professor of English, who organizes the yearly event.

“These documents cannot be transcribed by machines,” she adds. “We need people who are passionate about preserving Black history to make these archives accessible.”

College community participants — including history, education, and English literature students who got extra course credit for participating — enjoyed an array of treats from local Black-owned bakeries, as well as cakes designed by the MakerSpace with the faces of Douglass and other key figures in Black history that earned Swarthmore top billing in the Douglass Day bake-off.

Swarthmore Libraries also ran an exhibit in the McCabe pop-up space titled Printing the Underground Railroad that featured items from the Friends Historical Library corresponding to the theme for this year’s transcribe-a-thon. The exhibit was curated by Caitlin Goodman, Special Collections archivist, and will be on display until March 3.

The Colored Conventions Project leads an international effort each year in the spirit of increasing digital access to Black history. This year’s Douglass Day was also presented by The Center for Black Digital Research (DigBlk) at The Pennsylvania State University, along with the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts and the Penn State University Libraries.

On Douglass Day, the Colored Conventions Project offered a tutorial for transcribing historical papers through the By The People site, which remains open to the public to contribute to the transcription efforts. Between then and February 26, more than 1,200 volunteers helped to complete more than 7,200 pages of transcriptions from the African American Perspectives in Print collection.

The Douglass Day event (available on YouTube) was livestreamed to 7,000 participants in over 110 locations around the world. It began with a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” led by Clayton Colmon, director of curriculum design, Arts and Sciences Online Learning, at the University of Pennsylvania.

“What I want to do with all of you, wherever you are in this virtual space, or if you're face to face, in person, co-located, is to sing a song that will help us remember and also help us connect in this time, also to bring us joy,” said Colmon.

The event also included a dramatic reading of “Why Hold a Colored Convention?” by Hassan El-Amin, professor and company member of the Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware, and an interview about the history of Black libraries and archives with Janet L. Sims-Wood, former chief librarian of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. It featured hourly presentations by members of the Colored Conventions Project.

The following are a sampling of excerpted remarks and reflections from the event:

Rev. Andre Johnson, from the Center for Black Digital Research at the University of Memphis, provided the opening blessing:

“Thank you Douglass Day for giving me an opportunity to share on this morning one of his last public addresses given a year before his death in 1894, when Frederick Douglass proclaimed, ‘Whatever else I may forget, I shall never forget the difference between those who fought for liberty and those who fought for slavery, between those who fought to save the Republic and those who fought to destroy it.’ All of his life, Douglass pleaded with the people to never forget the real reason for the Civil War. Never forget who started it. Never forget who was on the wrong side of history. Never forget those who blocked and damned the progress. Never ever forget. I do believe those words and these words ring ever so clear in our present day.”

Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress:

“The Library of Congress is proud to collaborate with Douglass Day and volunteers around the world today. By bringing our collective expertise and enthusiasm to this special initiative, we're able to expand access to Black history for everyone. My colleagues here at the Library invite you to transcribe parts of the African American perspectives collection. This unique collection, from a rare book and special collection division, features sermons on political activism, congressional speeches, letters advocating for abolition, and even materials about Frederick Douglass and his legacy. Our overarching vision here at the Library of Congress is that all Americans feel connected to us.”

Gabrielle Forman from The Center for Black Digital Research (DigBlk) at The Pennsylvania State University:

“We know that what you are also celebrating today is that we have the opportunity to resurrect history that has been lost — American history that has been scattered, is disregarded, as we have a chance to sing with every voice and sing to connect us to generations past and to producers of Black culture and literature and writing. We remember that we are centered in America's history, that it's possible to embrace the multiple groups of people who have built this country, to celebrate and love this country and work to make it a stronger democracy and more inclusive democracy.”

Swarthmore welcomes participants and collaborators for next year’s Douglass Day celebration. Contact Amanda Licastro at alicast1@swarthmore.edu.