Transcribing Records of Slavery
The Department of Records and Information Services invites volunteers to transcribe recently digitized documents of enslaved people. Spanning from 1660 to 1838, the records contain birth records, manumission certificates, and court minutes detailing the lives of enslaved people in the localities that would become New York City. The majority of these records were created with the passing of the 1799 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery and provide a rare, though still somewhat faint, spotlight on a community that was integral to the growth of the city. Read more about our Records of Slavery.
To learn more about the history of the Old Town records collection, visit Collection Guides. To browse the digitized volumes, visit our Digital Collections. The Municipal Archives has also detailed Vital records documenting enslaved people and children born to enslaved women, 1760-1828, and various blogs written by DORIS staff.
How to begin
If you are new to the From the Page website, please create an account by clicking Become a Transcriber. You should then insert your information to which you will receive confirmation of your account as well as updates on the project.
The presentation below takes you step-by-step through the transcription process:
Once you sign up, you can direct any questions, concerns, queries, etc. to the Forum listed on the tabs of the collection. Thank you for your service!