Douglass Day 2020

    On February 14, 2020, Dr. Travis Matteson and the Center for Intercultural Unity held a transcribe-a-thon in honor of Frederick Douglass’s birthday. Douglass was a prominent writer, social reformer, and abolitionist throughout the 1800’s. He wrote several autobiographies, one of which became a bestseller. Douglass championed equality of all people, regardless of race or gender. In 1847, Douglass created the anti-slavery newspaper The North Star which in 1851 merged with the Liberty Party Paper to create Frederick Douglass’ Paper. He married twice and had five children. As Douglass was born into slavery and the exact date of his birth is unknown, he chose to celebrate his birthday on the 14th of February. To celebrate the day, Alfred State students gathered to transcribe scans of the journals and papers of Anna Julia Cooper, an African-American scholar and activist. Transcribe-a-thons are events where people share a space to work together in transcribing certain texts, often with a theme. Through douglassday.org, a public itinerary is provided annually for Douglass Day, allowing anyone to share in the day’s celebrations. This year’s theme was the works of Cooper, an African-American feminist. This event was academic as well as social, as students were able to learn more about Cooper and her life through the act of transcribing her handwritten texts. These transcriptions will aid future scholars in illustrating the life of Cooper through her writings. Dr. Matteson stated that “it was exciting to be part of a national event… the transcribe-a-thon was a great opportunity for students to get involved with something bigger, as they worked to make Anna Julia Cooper's archives more accessible to future students, teachers, and scholars." Although this was the first assembly of its kind at Alfred State, students hope it becomes an annual event.