Suffragette cipher (Week 31)

"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; the ballot is consent. Why
should woman be governed without her consent?"

The words of Susan B. Anthony inspired a generation of women to join the struggle over the vote. More than 130 years later, they still resonate and still have the power to prompt action. So imagine my delight when I discovered an opportunity through the Library of Congress website that allows everyday folks like me to transcribe the writings of that legendary suffragette. It was a fun week of diving into her speeches, her letters and even her shopping lists.

This is not the first time the Library of Congress has reached out to the general public to help transcribe, edit, and tag its holdings. Previous projects have done the same for Abraham Lincoln's writings, Clara Barton's diaries and even memoirs of Civil War veterans. This one struck a chord with me, though, having been schooled by my grandmother at an early age about the importance of women's equality.

And so I set to work. It's finicky, often tricky stuff, and you have to go through a fair bit of content before you begin the recognizing characteristics in someone's handwriting that make it easier to read and transcribe. Like solving a code or a puzzle, there's enormous satisfaction when you've been staring at a word for some time and it suddenly materializes in your mind. Not surprisingly, psychiatrists have found that puzzle solving helps fight the age-related decline in a person's cognitive abilities. So, while I'm doing something good by preserving history for the LOC, I'm also fuelling up my little grey cells and maybe staving off senility for a little longer.

Naturally, I also picked up a smattering of historical insights along the way. In one speech, Anthony laments the plight of slaves and, while not comparing the issue directly to the suffragette cause, makes it clear that ignoring basic human rights must not be tolerated. Then there was the empathy I felt when I thought about the wild schedule of speeches she kept, traversing the countryside in horse-drawn carriages to deliver one impassioned address after another. She must have been a true force to be reckoned with.

There were others, too, of course. Joining Susan B. Anthony in the National Woman Suffrage Association were people like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, whose own writings are also online and available for review at the Library of Congress.

After a week of transcribing a little here and editing a little there, I had racked up several thousand words for the Susan B. Anthony Collection, and contributed to a very successful crowdsourced effort. I even received an email from the Library of Congress thanking me for my contributions and updating me with the progress they had made after putting out the call for help. During the Summer Suffrage Review Challenge, the target had been set at 1,000 pages. After just a few days the target had been hit so the new goal became 2,000 pages. In the end, the volunteer transcribers and reviewers cruised through 2,258 pages of suffragette writings. There was also an invite to visit the library in person and take part in some live transcription at the crowdsourcing café. I can think of no better reason to visit Washington. And now I see Canada's own Library and Archives are looking for similar help.

I can't wait to see what Louis Riel's handwriting looks like!

NEXT WEEK: Going with no TV!