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Week one:

Time Started 12:00

The very first thing I did was read all of the directions and clicked on all of the links provided in workshop. Then, I created my account on Library of Congress. Then, read a little bit of each campaign. I decided to go with Clara Barton: "Angel of the Battlefield" because the first thing I read was that she was a nurse who helped people (specifically on the battlefield) which is what I want to do: help people! The next thing I did was explore all of the pages. Starting out with the completed ones (which is over 55,000). After reading the overview provided for her campaign, I learned so much already about Clara. I learned that she was an amazing nurse, taught in schools, was outgoing, like me, and found and led the American Red Cross foundation for 23 years.

I related to her when I read that she kept a diary. Although I don’t have a physical book, I like to write it with a lock or magic ink pen that only I can read, like some people nowadays have. I do like to write in my notes app on my phone. I was surprised to hear that I could be the first person in over a century to fully transcribe something of hers! I hope that I get to learn more about her experiences on the battlefield and maybe even her favorite story of when she helped a soldier in need or her most intense moment. I was also surprised at how many files she has! Most of them are diary and journal entries so I’m really looking forward to reading those and seeing her style of writing and how she wrote. They went from 1849 all the way to 1911, that’s 62 years! Aside from being a nurse, she also taught in Massachusetts at one of the first public schools in New Jersey. My two goals are to learn more about this woman, who I am already so intrigued by, and learn what her life was like from the 1800s to the 1900s, and how she helped so many people. Another goal of mine, a more personal one, is to get better at using Padlet because I don’t really use it too much right now, but I’m excited to learn how to use it. Hopefully, I can take this skill with me in my other classes and use Padlet for other projects.

Time ended: 1:13

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Week two:

Time started 10:03

First, I read the directions provided, then logged into the Library of Congress. I then decided which type of work I wanted to do. I thought transcribing would be interesting because I could read it myself and actually switch her handwriting to my own. Knowing this, I scanned through each of her writings and chose one that I could read somewhat well (handwriting and photo quality were easy to read). I chose to transcribe Image 8 of Clara Barton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1849-1947; Speeches and lectures; War lectures, 1860s (page 8 of 221 online). At first I thought there's no way I'll be able to read this with the handwriting on top of the language/ form of speaking, and the photo itself being somewhat hard to read. I decided to take it one step at a time and word by word. This part took the longest as it was hard to understand what she was writing, along with following her story/ narrative.

This week I learned that I can do things that seem tricky at first. After breaking this assignment down, it seemed a lot less scary and was easier to complete. I learned about the Library of Congress and all the resources it has, such as all the helpful information given under the "about item" section. This week, after transcribing, I learned through my new skill of transcribing how much of important a person Cara was and the difference she made in the world. She was a determined woman who faced many hardships, but also many pleasures, throughout her years of being a nurse during the war. She said that she was strong and felt the need to help all of the men who had fallen. She struggled with the stereotype of "being a woman" and felt not as capable of making a difference in the world. She then said she was ashamed to have ever thought like that. A new idea I had of is to compare other transcriptions from other people/students to my work and see if we got the same words/ ideas.

Time ended:

12:07

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Week 3:

Time started 12:18

This week, I continued my transcription for Clara Barton’s writings from the Library of Congress. I chose a page from her Speeches and Writings File. At first glance, the handwriting was pretty difficult to read, but after slowing down and focusing line by line, I was able to transcribe her words into a more modern language. This definitely required a lot of patience since her handwriting had some faded ink and was just a little hard to read. I compared words that were repeated in the passage so I could remember certain letters I was a little unsure about. Eventually, after a few hours, I had a full transcription of her diary page that had her thoughts and reflections on the struggles she faced as a woman who wanted to help on the battlefield. This week, I learned that transcription is not just copying words but it’s a way of preserving someone’s voice and making sure their story continues to be heard. Clara Barton described her self conflict between her desire to help soldiers and society’s expectations of women in the 1800s. Her honesty about struggling with “propriety” and feeling shame for doubting her abilities reminded me of the progress women have made since back then, but also of the courage it took for her to break through social norms in her time. Transcribing this taught me how it is more of a bridge between history and today (which I thought was so cool). This weeks assignment definitely gave me a new respect for archives and showed me that every single word carefully preserved can totally change how we understand the past.

Time ended: 3:54