Active Campaigns

“My great mass of papers”: Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt

In 2020, Library of Congress staff transcribed specific campaigns within the By the People program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic building closures. Now it's your turn! Can you help transcribe the remaining project from this “great mass of papers”?
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Sheet Music of the Musical Theater

This campaign features more than 16,000 pieces of sheet music published between 1880 and 1922. The piano-vocal selections come from musicals, revues and operettas primarily of the American and British stage. Transcribers will encounter songs by some of the best-known composers and lyricists in American popular music history as well as notable trailblazing artists deserving of wider recognition. The sheet music provides a unique and valuable lens for observing culture and history between 1880 and 1922 through both lyrical content and intriguing cover art.
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American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) Letters in the Progressive Era

The rise of the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) coincided with widespread industrialization, urbanization, and immigration, all of which intersected with a burgeoning civil rights movement and a cresting women’s suffrage campaign. As a result, the correspondence in the American Federation of Labor Records provides a window into the political issues and trends driving the Progressive Era (1890-1920) nationally and internationally. Learn about the labor issues animating small towns such as Denton, Texas and Parsons, Kansas as well as booming metropolises across the US, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.
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Walt Whitman

2019 marked the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman's birth and the poet remains at the center of cultural conversations today. The Whitman campaign includes projects devoted to his poetry, letters, speeches, and other writings. Discover how he wrote and lived for yourself, and learn more about his creative process.

Volunteer transcriptions now enable discovery and access for some portions of the Feinberg Whitman Collection and the Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection. Search them.
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Woman of the World: Political Thinker Hannah Arendt

Political theorist and cultural critic Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) fled from her native Germany and occupied France and came to the United States as a Jewish refugee from the Nazi regime. She made a life as a New Yorker and became one of the world’s most prominent public intellectuals. Letters and notes in her papers document the personal side of Arendt as a wife and family member, a friend, mentor, and colleague. Correspondence, syllabi, speeches, research materials, and writings convey the public Arendt, a brilliant writer, teacher, activist, and thinker who interacted with a who’s who of fellow literati and intellectuals of her time. The woman who offered deep analysis of human nature, political systems, power and rights to her students and readers left us lasting works including Eichmann in Jerusalem, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and The Life of the Mind.
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Clara Barton: "Angel of the Battlefield"

Nurse, educator, philanthropist, lecturer, and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton (1821-1912) was one of the most prolific, active, and beloved women of her time. Discover how she achieved so much despite widespread prejudice against women.

Volunteer transcriptions now enable discovery and access for portions of this collection. Search them.
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Civil War Justice: The Correspondence of Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General

Experience many of the most important issues and events of the Civil War era through the correspondence of Joseph Holt (1807-1894) while he served as a newspaper editor, lawyer, and political figure in Kentucky, and United States postmaster general, secretary of war, and judge advocate general of the United States Army (1862-1875). The sectional crisis, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, and Reconstruction are all played out in Holt’s papers, as his proximity to power prompted letters from well-known figures, the public, and his own divided family.
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Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents

Legal documents shed light on what societies and individuals value, and the struggles, hopes, and triumphs of people across the societal spectrum. You can transcribe documents written in Spanish, Latin, and Catalan between 1300 and 1800, and open the legal history of Spain and Spanish colonies to greater discovery. Help us bring this rare collection to life!

Los documentos jurídicos iluminan lo que la sociedades e individuos valoran y las batallas, esperanzas y triunfos de personas a través de todo el espectro social. Puedes transcribir documentos escritos en español, latín y catalán desde los años 1300 a los 1800 y dar entrada a la historia jurídica de España y de sus colonias para mayor descubrimiento. Ayúdanos a traer a la luz esta colección de materiales únicos.

Volunteer transcriptions now enable discovery and access for some portions of this collection. Search them.
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Rough Rider to Bull Moose: Letters to Theodore Roosevelt

President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was a prolific writer of books, articles, and especially letters, and received as much mail as he sent. His correspondents ranged from heads of states to average Americans, and covered a wide range of topics. Discover what Roosevelt and his correspondents had to say about the issues of their day, and help make the subjects addressed in what Roosevelt called his “great mass of papers” more accessible.
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