Zooniverse: Decoding Civil War Telegrams

Not an EXTREMELY ancient history, here... but since we have an active and involved group in this section, I thought I'd let you know about an announcement in my in-box from the Zooniverse crew. I don't know if you follow them, but they do a lot of Citizen Science projects that anyone in the world can participate in - such as decoding the scraps of manuscript (the AncientLives.org site that's undergoing a revamp.) and so forth.

So... to quote from the email...

We seek to engage experts and amateurs ... a unique collaboration to transcribe and decipher a collection of almost 16,000 telegrams and 32 code books from The Thomas T. Eckert Papers, an archive thought lost at the end of the war. You will be transcribing the daily telegram communications among Union officers, Cabinet members, telegraph operators, and others. The transcriptions, and ultimately the decoding, will contribute to national research, creating materials that will give insight into telegraphy, cryptography, civilian-military relations, and many other aspects of the war and American history more generally.

Perhaps the most meaningful outcome is the public access to previously unavailable historical records and the building of inquiry-based educational modules to bring history alive to classroom students. Help build a deeper understanding of the United States Civil War—Join our DCW Volunteer Corps now at www.decodingthecivilwar.org

This is a "low commitment" sort of thing- you can do it once or for 20 minutes or on a regular basis. Any amount of help is welcome. I think what I like best about these projects is the delight of discovery -- you never know what you will find!

Now this is something I can get behind. Thanks for sharing it!

s&f

a reply to: Byrd

Bit of a history buff here so I am always fascinated by the simple things like that.