DDAY 2025 & the African American Perspectives Collection

Get to know more about what we are transcribing with some special sneak peeks!

Nov 25, 2024

Dear Douglass Day organizers, K-12 educators, and participants,

In our last newsletter, we explored our long history with the Library of Congress and their online transcription platform, By the People! Now, we want to make sure you know more about WHAT you will be transcribing—the African American Perspectives Collection. We also have a special announcement about our stickers and flyers to help you prepare for Douglass Day 2025.

This year’s theme is YOU MAKE HISTORY. We are emphasizing that all of us are a part of history, and our choices matter in what history is remembered and preserved. Join us and do your part in this collective action for Black history!

It’s not too late to register! Get your Douglass Day planning started by clicking the button below.

What’s in the Collection?

Still, William. The underground railroad. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom. [Philadelphia, Pa., Cincinnati, Ohio etc. People's publishing company, 1879] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/31024984/>.

The African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress offers a wide-ranging look at African American history and culture through prominent figures like Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Booker T. Washington. This collection, spanning across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, primarily features works from the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection.

We have over 9,000 digitized pages in store ranging across many genres such as biographies, fugitive narratives, pamphlets, and more!

Explore the Collection

Sneak Peek: Collection Highlights

(left) Du Bois, W. E. B. The Brownies' book. New York, N.Y.: DuBois and Dill, to 1921, 1920. Periodical. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/22001351/>. (right) Fisher, Abby, and Katherine Golden Bitting Collection On Gastronomy. What Mrs. Fisher knows about old southern cooking, soups, pickles, preserves, etc. San Francisco: Women's Co-operative Printing Office, 1881. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/08023680/>.

There is so much to explore in the African American Perspectives Collection, but we are really excited to transcribe:

W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Brownies’ Book
- Published from 1920 to around 1922, The Brownies’ Book was one of the first monthlies for African American children.
Abby Fisher’s cookbook, What Mrs. Fisher Knows about Old Southern Cooking
- Fisher, possibly a formerly enslaved woman from Alabama, would move to California and publish one of the first cookbooks by an African American woman in 1881.

Both of these texts showcase the diversity of African American culture and uplift. We hope you will join us and find more gems!

Don't miss this and more! Register!

DDAY 2025 Flyers and Stickers

We have published our Douglass Day 2025 flyers and stickers on our DouglassDay.Org website!

Alongside teaching materials, our flyers and stickers can help you kick off your Douglass Day 2025 planning. You will be able to download and customize our flyer templates and order stickers.

Most importantly, you don’t want to miss out on our limited edition collectible “You Make History” trading cards! These trading cards will feature past Douglass Day All-Stars such as Mary Church Terrell, prominent archivists and educators such as Daniel A. P. Murray and Anna Evans Murray, and librarians such as Vivian G. Harsh. We encourage you to make your own “Douglass Day All-Star” trading cards with our blank templates and share who you think makes history!

Check out our DDAY Organizing Kit!

Join the #DouglassDay Community

Make sure to join us online before, during, and after Douglass Day on:

Use #DouglassDay to make sure we can connect with you and see your wonderful events for Douglass Day 2025!