USD Libraries Celebrate One-Year Anniversary of Partnership with the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project
The University of South Dakota Libraries are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their partnership with the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi (CWRGM).
CWRGM aims to make a collection of over 20,000 documents, spanning from 1859 to 1882, freely available online at cwrgm.org.
Comprised of handwritten letters by people of all backgrounds, including freed people and women, that were sent to the governors of Mississippi during the Civil War and Reconstruction, CWRGM is a robust repository of digitized archival documents with metadata, transcriptions, subject tags, annotations, educational resources, datasets and more.
Under the co-direction of Lindsey R. Peterson, Ph.D., digital humanities assistant professor of practice at USD, and Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., of Mississippi State University, CWRGM has employed and trained two interns and nine undergraduate and graduate students over the past year, providing students with hands-on education and experience in digital archiving.
"Working with CWRGM has been immensely rewarding. It has significantly improved my teamwork and problem-solving skills, while providing a valuable opportunity to gain hands-on experience as a historian," said senior English and history major Blake Pottebaum.
The student research team plays an integral role in the project’s transcription, tagging and annotation efforts. Additionally, the program recently sponsored USD graduate student Mariah Cosens’ attendance at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute in Victoria, British Columbia.
“This real-world training immerses students in the field of documentary editing and equips them with skills for rewarding careers in the humanities,” remarks Peterson.
Through CWRGM’s involvement in several pilot programs, these student researchers are also at the forefront of artificial intelligence and data sciences in cultural heritage research.
"I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with CWRGM,” said senior history major Emily Williams. “This role has taught me skills in transcription and editing historical documents, all while receiving guidance from dedicated people who are committed to my learning by providing me with space to make mistakes, grow, and learn."
Joining a pilot program with CWRGM’s partner, FromThePage, they provide feedback on AI-generated transcriptions, enhancing the accuracy and utility of these tools.
Alongside their work with FromThePage, Peterson and the University Libraries were recently awarded a two-year Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the NEH, which will fund a USD graduate student to evaluate and refine AI-generated subject tags, further advancing the intersection of digital technology and historical scholarship.
Over the past year, CWRGM has enriched education and workforce preparation not only at USD but also at the K-12 level across the region and nation.
In the last year alone, the project worked with over 250 middle and high school students from South Dakota and Iowa and over 120 students in the New York Historical Society’s Student Historian Internship program.
With ongoing funding from the NHPRC, the University Libraries look forward to continuing this meaningful collaboration, bringing the nation’s Civil War and Reconstruction history to life, fostering greater public engagement with the humanities, supporting scholarly research and offering professional development and training for university students.
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