![]() Their engagement with communities allows the opportunity to bring the public into academia and vice-versa, and to make historical research a participatory, inclusive activity. ![]() ![]() Students’ hands-on experience with archived documents lets them physically connect with history. Get Involvedįor volunteer opportunities on the project see: įor learning about family history visit: įor more information or questions contact project coordinator Claire Heckel at undergraduate and graduate students get the chance to interact directly with primary source documents and to engage communities, giving them invaluable experience working on history projects that operate well beyond the classroom. But an important service and outreach aspect of the project emphasizes the involvement of students and engagement with communities. UNCG Libraries received a three-year, $294,603 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to digitize nearly 10,000 North Carolina slave deeds and bills of sale, to create a comprehensive database for the digitized records, and to transcribe the full text of these documents.Ī key goal of the project is to identify and transcribe as many deeds as possible. The project in its current form began in the fall of 2018. The project is currently focused on North Carolina, with 26 counties having been assessed to date. The project includes a collection of slave ads through 1840, and they are currently working to expand the collection through 1865. The ongoing project includes a growing, searchable database built upon robust metadata, an expanding collection of high-resolution images, and full-text searchable transcripts. “This process is an important part of healing for individuals and for communities to bridge racial divides, class divides, to start making history more inclusive, and more honest and representative.” – Dr. “People Not Property: Slave Deeds of North Carolina” is a unique collaboration between UNC Greensboro Libraries, registers of deeds in counties across North Carolina, the North Carolina Division of Archives and Records, faculty and staff from other colleges and universities, and members of the public. But a project has been underway to bring those unidentified people to the fore, and to give them an acknowledged place within North Carolina and American history. Until now, those people have remained faceless and placeless, sometimes existing only as a number or dollar amount on a court document or receipt. The Digital Library on American Slavery at UNC Greensboro was recognized early this year by the National Park Service as the first-ever “virtual” stop on the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.ĭeep within the public archives at the Guilford County Register of Deeds, mixed in with property deeds for land and farm animals, are bills of sale and ownership for African American slaves. Brian Robinson, postdoctoral fellow in data curation for African American and African Studies, during an award ceremony at UNCG. Claire Heckel, digital technology consultant Richard Cox, Guilford Courthouse National Memorial Park superintendent James Hill, Chancellor Franklin D. L to r: “People Not Property” project coordinator Dr.
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