In today’s post, Abby Shelton interviews a By the People volunteer, Justin Kern, who serves as the Division Communications Director for the American Red Cross. By the People is a crowdsourced transcription program launched in 2018 at the Library of Congress. Volunteer-created transcriptions are used to make digitized collections more accessible and discoverable on loc.gov.
Abby: How did you hear about By the People? And what motivated you to volunteer?
Justin: It was mentioned last year by a colleague and, after a quick look at the Library of Congress’ crowdsourcing page, I registered to find out more. The American Red Cross is volunteer led – more than 90% of our humanitarian mission happens because of people in our communities who lend their time and compassion – so it felt natural to do some volunteering of my own in a way that was still connected to our service.
A: Do you have any special skills or interests related to transcribing?
J: I’d say personal and professional interests are the leading factor here. I’ve been a nearly daily journal writer for 25 years. I committed to that introspective (sometimes boring, sometimes embarrassing) writing after insight from Felix Armfield, a great history professor I had at Buffalo State College, who said, simply, if you don’t write your thoughts down, no one else will – or worse, someone else will. So that personal aspect connects me to some of the content like that which I’ve found in Clara’s papers. I’m also a Wikipedia editor here and there, which feels similar in ways to the efforts toward accuracy and even the back-end features within the By the People.
A: What have been some of the most compelling or interesting documents you’ve come across? Why?
J: It’s definitely the “warts-and-all” features from the life of Clara Barton. She remains an American icon, with schools named for her and weekly appearances as responses on “Jeopardy!” And of course, at the Red Cross, she’s held in such reverence that we regularly quote and praise her humanitarian legacy in the present day. But in these pages, she’s all that and a person with fears, fury, uncertainty and hopes like every one of us.
The main examples I’ve come across in transcriptions are from letters she wrote to a confidant regarding a reputational dispute with a spiritualist medium of the day. For one, I learned the word “epistle,” which was used repeatedly by Clara in this letter. Secondly, with Clara’s very public stature of the day, it makes you wonder how these disagreements would play out in the present day, like a social media beef or tabloid headlines. But back to the letter in the transcription, Clara lays down such sincere and dramatic quotes as this: “Lies – her treachery – her slandering of the name of Clara Barton in ways unbelievable and which I would not repeat on paper.” Here’s Clara Barton, vulnerable and switching to the third-person, in private angst over a social dispute, to say nothing of her lovely handwriting. This depth of character is so enriching, no matter how much we believe we know of such a public person.
A: Tell us about how the Red Cross has been using the Clara Barton transcriptions.
J: Internally with our communications team, I’ve shared bits and bobs with colleagues as random “mission moments” on our collaboration platforms. More widely, my colleague Susan Watson, the archivist at the American Red Cross, and her volunteers have researched the transcribed letters and diaries for quotes and information related to a dress worn by Clara Barton and displayed at times in our Washington, D.C. headquarters.
A: What do you hope transcribers learn about the Red Cross through the Clara Barton papers?
J: For me, it’s the reminder and perspective that can come from the relevance of history. The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 and its history has been intertwined with major tragedies and triumphs in U.S. history over those 140-plus years. In these letters, notes, documents, news clippings and more, Barton’s steadfast belief in the greater humanitarian good at the Red Cross runs right alongside doubts and dreams we all share, in a vibrancy of spirit that is distinctly her own.
A: Any advice for new transcribers?
J: History is a living thing and you can give it oxygen with your intrigue and in your spare time. In short order and uptake, transcribers with By the People are given such a distinct view into iconic people and moments.