Need help?
![Scanned image of the current content page](https://crowd-media.loc.gov/arendt/correspondence-publishers/mss1105600522/2.jpg)
Campaign Tips
![Black and white 1951 U.S. Naturalization card for Hannah Arendt. Includes a photograph of Arendt, a middle-aged woman with short dark hair. The rest of the card is printed and typed text including her address in New York City.](https://crowd-content.s3.amazonaws.com/card_images/CampCard_Arendt.png?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAZAMZA3WHRLNLP5FA&Signature=jiFdpuajC8dqDRvt5pbYMTz07%2FU%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDQaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCJn6bMKuCEjIuP8tWWs2sXM4Yw97M8mhOR7Ppek3UOxAIhAM3wqIeNWm3T%2FUrBTfXKtS9PiQ%2FSqCImRNSzcO6nZyi%2BKuwDCC0QAxoMNjE5MzMzMDgyNTExIgxLs8CKqsKPFTtDmUUqyQNP9fU%2BwaP23W7jlJ2XBS4qstuTMYhV5EFsi5p3ifa2STIw7qG79JwBnRSjMTQtEw2hIT4tp95GuMFEYF9VA7y05a0BwevXSZpZ9t4WLlM5b0zeVsylOFY0Rs0szWTlG9M02OypjfGk2lVmqKcVx3bZD2qWzXyZNujLsLU%2BWwMG68lQKeZRdrGREOQRfgyeEHcGgcSD4onq8ZgWW8WJp0k%2FdOhX2ejxTB7jwlO010H0rExTBhwqqOhZo%2Bt50FzIdNLUfV4IIjp7i35ap3two02H7wyYE9YORLh1eGlvv4gKs6jOM%2BH9OoV5jDUWIUgl01zuRMRgKhGK%2FS3KedmpLlrcYx1u67rz0L%2BboUXSoc9F6ux9VH7ZubTY%2BLydmCuLLCL0SnPOB%2BpQ%2BjXr14WYBOtnuc0qBNNDG1YCcNZpVtnEhpzqjslXyVnxWPNxd5aotqhiPshncAijALKP5Yhmz3ZYjVk2fo1fDlkxOVow7TEopOSNm5hOUHXy%2B2KRA%2B9Oi7D2kWbdnHouYxvifJccPvztemOvElnPZgh84iQNIYSP7bsr4iIohNFzOW22WjMZzFW9pcc2yjYyaBoqthJC8fHQo70D2Pwo8xBjMKi2nrwGOqQBT53qOiBkswR%2FsirD9rdVp828VJx%2FMNdJjme10Xhv32lON5tfphsmlpmPliq5BnwzoWrKTWg8%2F81s9anSUNWQFXXREql1%2F4fWA6Ixb14Idk9b79NrU4%2FnYEDX6hBF7ETv9U%2FwxXDGdNaH8YcVgaq8auXcP2%2FaOiGtCJqXz3g2Vmor5n1koQ9j05pch5256P787EfM8C%2FPtoNGcHnUS819GbLeRCA%3D&Expires=1736944450)
Transcribing Arendt
Political theorist and cultural critic Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) fled from Germany and occupied France and came to the U.S. as a Jewish refugee from the Nazi regime.
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.
Letters and notes in her papers document Arendt's personal life as a wife, family member, friend, mentor, and colleague.
![Screenshot of the Library of Congress transcription interface showing a handwritten document in Spanish in the image viewer on the left and the typed transcription of the page on the right.](https://crowd-content.s3.amazonaws.com/card_images/Languages.png?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAZAMZA3WHRLNLP5FA&Signature=4lfUkcJ7TrrLv9AiHJD6ulHtGiU%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDQaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCJn6bMKuCEjIuP8tWWs2sXM4Yw97M8mhOR7Ppek3UOxAIhAM3wqIeNWm3T%2FUrBTfXKtS9PiQ%2FSqCImRNSzcO6nZyi%2BKuwDCC0QAxoMNjE5MzMzMDgyNTExIgxLs8CKqsKPFTtDmUUqyQNP9fU%2BwaP23W7jlJ2XBS4qstuTMYhV5EFsi5p3ifa2STIw7qG79JwBnRSjMTQtEw2hIT4tp95GuMFEYF9VA7y05a0BwevXSZpZ9t4WLlM5b0zeVsylOFY0Rs0szWTlG9M02OypjfGk2lVmqKcVx3bZD2qWzXyZNujLsLU%2BWwMG68lQKeZRdrGREOQRfgyeEHcGgcSD4onq8ZgWW8WJp0k%2FdOhX2ejxTB7jwlO010H0rExTBhwqqOhZo%2Bt50FzIdNLUfV4IIjp7i35ap3two02H7wyYE9YORLh1eGlvv4gKs6jOM%2BH9OoV5jDUWIUgl01zuRMRgKhGK%2FS3KedmpLlrcYx1u67rz0L%2BboUXSoc9F6ux9VH7ZubTY%2BLydmCuLLCL0SnPOB%2BpQ%2BjXr14WYBOtnuc0qBNNDG1YCcNZpVtnEhpzqjslXyVnxWPNxd5aotqhiPshncAijALKP5Yhmz3ZYjVk2fo1fDlkxOVow7TEopOSNm5hOUHXy%2B2KRA%2B9Oi7D2kWbdnHouYxvifJccPvztemOvElnPZgh84iQNIYSP7bsr4iIohNFzOW22WjMZzFW9pcc2yjYyaBoqthJC8fHQo70D2Pwo8xBjMKi2nrwGOqQBT53qOiBkswR%2FsirD9rdVp828VJx%2FMNdJjme10Xhv32lON5tfphsmlpmPliq5BnwzoWrKTWg8%2F81s9anSUNWQFXXREql1%2F4fWA6Ixb14Idk9b79NrU4%2FnYEDX6hBF7ETv9U%2FwxXDGdNaH8YcVgaq8auXcP2%2FaOiGtCJqXz3g2Vmor5n1koQ9j05pch5256P787EfM8C%2FPtoNGcHnUS819GbLeRCA%3D&Expires=1736944450)
Transcribing – not translating
This collection includes significant amount of non-English languages. All text should also be transcribed wholly and accurately in the original language.
Use the correct characters when transcribing. You can use alt codes to enter non-English characters.
Do not enter translation! If you want to translate a document, you can share it in History Hub.
![Close up of a portion of a typed script from one of Leonard Bernstein's televised Young People's Concerts. The following text is typed on blue paper: BERNSTEIN (CONT'D) Is that heartbroken-sounding music the real Mahler? Or the other sleigh-bell happy sound? No - they're both Mahler, voices of the two different people inside him."](https://crowd-content.s3.amazonaws.com/card_images/OCR_2023778392-9.png?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAZAMZA3WHRLNLP5FA&Signature=ELCqUqvPOYeRLwMH9dtCqjedsf0%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDQaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCJn6bMKuCEjIuP8tWWs2sXM4Yw97M8mhOR7Ppek3UOxAIhAM3wqIeNWm3T%2FUrBTfXKtS9PiQ%2FSqCImRNSzcO6nZyi%2BKuwDCC0QAxoMNjE5MzMzMDgyNTExIgxLs8CKqsKPFTtDmUUqyQNP9fU%2BwaP23W7jlJ2XBS4qstuTMYhV5EFsi5p3ifa2STIw7qG79JwBnRSjMTQtEw2hIT4tp95GuMFEYF9VA7y05a0BwevXSZpZ9t4WLlM5b0zeVsylOFY0Rs0szWTlG9M02OypjfGk2lVmqKcVx3bZD2qWzXyZNujLsLU%2BWwMG68lQKeZRdrGREOQRfgyeEHcGgcSD4onq8ZgWW8WJp0k%2FdOhX2ejxTB7jwlO010H0rExTBhwqqOhZo%2Bt50FzIdNLUfV4IIjp7i35ap3two02H7wyYE9YORLh1eGlvv4gKs6jOM%2BH9OoV5jDUWIUgl01zuRMRgKhGK%2FS3KedmpLlrcYx1u67rz0L%2BboUXSoc9F6ux9VH7ZubTY%2BLydmCuLLCL0SnPOB%2BpQ%2BjXr14WYBOtnuc0qBNNDG1YCcNZpVtnEhpzqjslXyVnxWPNxd5aotqhiPshncAijALKP5Yhmz3ZYjVk2fo1fDlkxOVow7TEopOSNm5hOUHXy%2B2KRA%2B9Oi7D2kWbdnHouYxvifJccPvztemOvElnPZgh84iQNIYSP7bsr4iIohNFzOW22WjMZzFW9pcc2yjYyaBoqthJC8fHQo70D2Pwo8xBjMKi2nrwGOqQBT53qOiBkswR%2FsirD9rdVp828VJx%2FMNdJjme10Xhv32lON5tfphsmlpmPliq5BnwzoWrKTWg8%2F81s9anSUNWQFXXREql1%2F4fWA6Ixb14Idk9b79NrU4%2FnYEDX6hBF7ETv9U%2FwxXDGdNaH8YcVgaq8auXcP2%2FaOiGtCJqXz3g2Vmor5n1koQ9j05pch5256P787EfM8C%2FPtoNGcHnUS819GbLeRCA%3D&Expires=1736944450)
Transcribe with OCR
This collection includes a lot of typed pages - you may want to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to get started. OCR is a tool that can extract print text from some documents.
Try out the "Transcribe with OCR" button beneath the image viewer.
Using this button will delete any existing transcription - please only apply it on typed pages.
![Walt Whitman's handwritten draft of his poem "O Captain! My Captain", including crossouts and different words than the final published version.](https://crowd-content.s3.amazonaws.com/card_images/TranscriptionBasics_Whitman_mss18630_027_52_003.png?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAZAMZA3WHRLNLP5FA&Signature=x8P2vSaUgqp6X%2BuxlPvtz4DqVw8%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDQaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCJn6bMKuCEjIuP8tWWs2sXM4Yw97M8mhOR7Ppek3UOxAIhAM3wqIeNWm3T%2FUrBTfXKtS9PiQ%2FSqCImRNSzcO6nZyi%2BKuwDCC0QAxoMNjE5MzMzMDgyNTExIgxLs8CKqsKPFTtDmUUqyQNP9fU%2BwaP23W7jlJ2XBS4qstuTMYhV5EFsi5p3ifa2STIw7qG79JwBnRSjMTQtEw2hIT4tp95GuMFEYF9VA7y05a0BwevXSZpZ9t4WLlM5b0zeVsylOFY0Rs0szWTlG9M02OypjfGk2lVmqKcVx3bZD2qWzXyZNujLsLU%2BWwMG68lQKeZRdrGREOQRfgyeEHcGgcSD4onq8ZgWW8WJp0k%2FdOhX2ejxTB7jwlO010H0rExTBhwqqOhZo%2Bt50FzIdNLUfV4IIjp7i35ap3two02H7wyYE9YORLh1eGlvv4gKs6jOM%2BH9OoV5jDUWIUgl01zuRMRgKhGK%2FS3KedmpLlrcYx1u67rz0L%2BboUXSoc9F6ux9VH7ZubTY%2BLydmCuLLCL0SnPOB%2BpQ%2BjXr14WYBOtnuc0qBNNDG1YCcNZpVtnEhpzqjslXyVnxWPNxd5aotqhiPshncAijALKP5Yhmz3ZYjVk2fo1fDlkxOVow7TEopOSNm5hOUHXy%2B2KRA%2B9Oi7D2kWbdnHouYxvifJccPvztemOvElnPZgh84iQNIYSP7bsr4iIohNFzOW22WjMZzFW9pcc2yjYyaBoqthJC8fHQo70D2Pwo8xBjMKi2nrwGOqQBT53qOiBkswR%2FsirD9rdVp828VJx%2FMNdJjme10Xhv32lON5tfphsmlpmPliq5BnwzoWrKTWg8%2F81s9anSUNWQFXXREql1%2F4fWA6Ixb14Idk9b79NrU4%2FnYEDX6hBF7ETv9U%2FwxXDGdNaH8YcVgaq8auXcP2%2FaOiGtCJqXz3g2Vmor5n1koQ9j05pch5256P787EfM8C%2FPtoNGcHnUS819GbLeRCA%3D&Expires=1736944450)
Transcription basics
Transcribe what you see! Preserve original spelling, punctuation, word order, and page numbers or catalog marks.
Preserve line breaks except when a word breaks over a line or page. Then transcribe it on the line or page where it starts.
Use brackets [ ] around deleted, illegible or partially legible text. Transcribe any words or letters you can't identify as [?].
Access all instructions at any time by clicking the How To tab on the right of this page.
![Screenshot of the By the People transcription interface showing the open "How-To" guide which includes the headers:
About This Campaign
Get Started
Transcription: Basic Rules
Transcription: Things to Avoid
Transcription: Printed Text & Images
Transcription: Unusual Text
How to Review
How to Tag](https://crowd-content.s3.amazonaws.com/card_images/How-To.png?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIAZAMZA3WHRLNLP5FA&Signature=DWtKAXWGoYYJSuUId74nzsdcs%2B8%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDQaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCJn6bMKuCEjIuP8tWWs2sXM4Yw97M8mhOR7Ppek3UOxAIhAM3wqIeNWm3T%2FUrBTfXKtS9PiQ%2FSqCImRNSzcO6nZyi%2BKuwDCC0QAxoMNjE5MzMzMDgyNTExIgxLs8CKqsKPFTtDmUUqyQNP9fU%2BwaP23W7jlJ2XBS4qstuTMYhV5EFsi5p3ifa2STIw7qG79JwBnRSjMTQtEw2hIT4tp95GuMFEYF9VA7y05a0BwevXSZpZ9t4WLlM5b0zeVsylOFY0Rs0szWTlG9M02OypjfGk2lVmqKcVx3bZD2qWzXyZNujLsLU%2BWwMG68lQKeZRdrGREOQRfgyeEHcGgcSD4onq8ZgWW8WJp0k%2FdOhX2ejxTB7jwlO010H0rExTBhwqqOhZo%2Bt50FzIdNLUfV4IIjp7i35ap3two02H7wyYE9YORLh1eGlvv4gKs6jOM%2BH9OoV5jDUWIUgl01zuRMRgKhGK%2FS3KedmpLlrcYx1u67rz0L%2BboUXSoc9F6ux9VH7ZubTY%2BLydmCuLLCL0SnPOB%2BpQ%2BjXr14WYBOtnuc0qBNNDG1YCcNZpVtnEhpzqjslXyVnxWPNxd5aotqhiPshncAijALKP5Yhmz3ZYjVk2fo1fDlkxOVow7TEopOSNm5hOUHXy%2B2KRA%2B9Oi7D2kWbdnHouYxvifJccPvztemOvElnPZgh84iQNIYSP7bsr4iIohNFzOW22WjMZzFW9pcc2yjYyaBoqthJC8fHQo70D2Pwo8xBjMKi2nrwGOqQBT53qOiBkswR%2FsirD9rdVp828VJx%2FMNdJjme10Xhv32lON5tfphsmlpmPliq5BnwzoWrKTWg8%2F81s9anSUNWQFXXREql1%2F4fWA6Ixb14Idk9b79NrU4%2FnYEDX6hBF7ETv9U%2FwxXDGdNaH8YcVgaq8auXcP2%2FaOiGtCJqXz3g2Vmor5n1koQ9j05pch5256P787EfM8C%2FPtoNGcHnUS819GbLeRCA%3D&Expires=1736944450)
Need more help? Check out the How-To Guide
You can access full instructions at any time while transcribing or reviewing. Just click the blue How-To Guide button above the transcription box.
The guide also includes campaign descriptions and other helpful context under "About This Campaign".
View or print instructions in a separate webpage by visiting How-To at the top of your screen on any page.