Transcribe – The UncommonWealth

Digital Projects Education & Programming

Making History: Celebrating Student Transcribers for National Volunteer Week

Volunteering can deepen community connections and transform lives. In our Making History crowdsourcing program, Library of Virginia staff work with volunteers to transcribe historical documents…

Sonya ColemanApril 23, 2025

Digital Projects The Stacks

Chatting With AI About History

Throughout the ten plus years of our crowdsourcing project, Making History: Transcribe, we have had many conversations with our volunteers about emerging technologies and whether…

Jessi BennettMarch 19, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Denied Benefits, Forgotten Heroes: The Hidden Cost of WWII Blue Discharges

In previous blog posts and during events discussing the Virginia WWII Separation Notices collection, I've provided some background on the history of this collection and…

Lauren CaravatiFebruary 19, 2025

Archives Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

Building Towards Victory: The WWII Population Boom of Norfolk

The population in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the greater Hampton Roads area greatly increased during World War II. Individuals and families moved to the area for…

Lauren CaravatiNovember 6, 2024

Archives Digital Projects

The Coroners’ Inquisitions Digital Collection is Now Live & Available for Transcription

Given the popularity of true crime documentaries, movies, and podcasts, it’s not surprising that researchers have likewise found the Library of Virginia’s Coroners’ Inquisitions a…

Mary Ann Mason, They/ThemSeptember 4, 2024

Education & Programming Highlights

Envisioning Ancestors with AI

On Saturday, February 10, 2024, the Library of Virginia hosted Envisioning Ancestors with AI, an image-generating workshop using historic records and free artificial intelligence tools…

Library of VirginiaJune 17, 2024

Archives Digital Projects

World War II Military Athletics

Whether serving abroad or on the home front, sports were a large part of everyday life in the military during World War II.Many different sports…

Lauren CaravatiMay 8, 2024

Archives Digital Projects

Acts of Valor in World War II

On March 25th, we commemorate National Medal of Honor Day, providing an opportunity to explore the stories of the fifteen Virginians who were honored with…

Lauren CaravatiMarch 25, 2024

Archives Digital Projects

Red Cross Women and Donuts in World War II

The American Red Cross had over seven million volunteers during World War II and provided many services and supplies that impacted the war and troops1.…

Lauren CaravatiJanuary 3, 2024

Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Easy to observe, difficult to explain and next to impossible to do”: The Locker Writing Method

On December 25, 1955, the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran an article titled “Decline of Penmanship.” An Associated Press piece by Arthur Edson, the article bemoaned “this…

Jessi BennettDecember 18, 2023

Archives Digital Projects

World War II Separation Notices: Marines Collection and Future

The World War II Separation Notices: U.S. Marine Corps collection is now up on From the Page for indexing! This collection debuted this past September…

Lauren CaravatiNovember 8, 2023

Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

Reopening the Vestry Records of St. John’s Church

So begins the first entry in the oldest surviving volume from the Henrico Parish vestry records. That entry describes the meeting of six of the…

Guest ContributorSeptember 27, 2023

Archives Digital Projects

Documenting Lynching in Virginia: A Transcription Project at James Madison University

Mob violence against perceived threats to a local community has been a staple of US history, with its long tradition of vigilantism and “popular justice,”…

Guest ContributorSeptember 13, 2023

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Kids Are Alright: Volunteer Transcription Projects Flourish at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School

Since 2017, the Library of Virginia has partnered with Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School (MLWGS) to offer the Making History crowdsourced transcription project to students…

Sonya ColemanMay 3, 2023

Archives Conservation

Coming Soon to Virginia Untold: Free Black Registers from Arlington County

We’re excited to announce that we’ve just uploaded new Virginia Untold material to our transcription platform From the Page! This Saturday, October 23, from noon…

Lydia NeurothOctober 20, 2021