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Citizen Archivist Missions

Ready to start tagging and transcribing? We've curated these topical missions to help you jump in and contribute! Click on a topic that interests you, and it will bring you right to those historical records in our Catalog. Tagging and transcribing makes these records more accessible to everyone. New missions are added and updated regularly, so check back often to see what’s new.

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World War II War Diaries, 1942 - 1946

Transcribe daily operational journals (commonly referred to as war diaries) created by various naval commands, shore installations, ships and other activities throughout the Navy, as well as some Marine Corps commands. Most war diaries provide a day-to-day record of operational activities and sometimes administrative activities.

Letters Concerning Lighthouses

This mission includes correspondence documenting the construction, maintenance, and staffing of lighthouses in Massachusetts, including the district of Maine. Help us transcribe circulars, letters, newspaper clippings, construction proposals, abstracts of repairs, estimates, acts, inventories, statements of account, reports, contracts, invoices, and receipts.

Portland Branch Evacuee Property Files

Transcribe correspondence, reports, and case files pertaining to the property of individuals, families, and businesses impacted by involuntary evacuation and relocation because of their foreign national status or Japanese ancestry.

Alger Hiss

Transcribe papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in the criminal proceedings of United States of America v. Alger Hiss.

Contracts of Employees, 1866 - 1870

Transcribe contracts to employ persons at hospitals or dispensaries operated by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Radium Girls

Transcribe records created and accumulated by the United States Radium Corporation (USRC) and its predecessor the Radium Luminous Material Corporation (RLMC) including records relating to litigation by former employees and the families of former employees seeking compensation for injuries, illnesses, and deaths attributed to exposure to radium and other radioactive substances during employment.

America's Scenic Byways

Tag details in features you find in these photographs of 150 roads located throughout the United States designated as National Scenic Byways or All-American Roads.

The Hesse Crown Jewels Case

Help us transcribe transcripts and other records of the courts-martial of Kathleen Nash Durant, David F. Watson, and Jack W. Durant relating to the theft of the Hesse Crown Jewels.

Don't Leave Us Hanging

Help us complete these records that have not been fully transcribed.

Outside the Box Missions

Up for a challenge or something different? We often have records that require special work in order to make them more accessible.

Tag a Veteran

The focus of this mission is on identifying and tagging names found within the records, rather than a transcription. Please find the names of veterans and place them in the tag field of each individual page. This kind of tagging makes it easier for veterans and their family members to find their names in the Catalog.

Petitions for Naturalizations

Help make copies of naturalization records for individuals who filed in federal, state and local courts in New York from 1790 through 1906 searchable through tagging. Look for the names of the petitions within the record and type the names you see in the tag field.

Transcriber Task Force

Seeking expert transcribers! We’ve gathered records that have tricky elements for our expert transcribers. You may find only a few pages that are difficult or the whole record. If you’d like to join our Transcriber Task Force and get emails for special projects, send us an email citizenarchivist@nara.gov

Tag it! Facebook Chatbot

We're exploring new ways to interact with Citizen Archivists. Visit the National Archives Facebook page, and give our chatbot a try! To start chatting with the bot, tap on the Send Message button, and type “hi” in the text box. When you choose tag a document, the bot will serve you a single page from the Catalog, and you can identify the document as typed, handwritten, or both. This helps us sort the documents by difficulty, which can then help citizen archivists transcribe the records in the Catalog.

Featured Records

Jump in and help us transcribe these individual records. Documenting events throughout United States history, transcribers of all skill levels are sure to find something new and interesting in these featured records!

Beginner

Complaint for Damages for Deprivation of Constitutional Rights and Injunctions, 9/24/1969 Transcribe this record.
Haiti Statement 9/21/94 Transcribe this record.
Memorandum from Henry Kissinger Regarding Communications with Hanoi, North Vietnam Prior to January 20, 1969, 1/31/1969 Transcribe this record.
NSDD 71 United States Policytoward Latin America in Wake of Falkland Crisis, 11/30/1982 Transcribe this record.
Letter from Boston School Committee Member Kathleen Sullivan to Judge W. Arthur Garrity Regarding a Transfer Policy, 8/18/1975 Transcribe this record.
Statement by Commissioner of Education Earl McGrath, International Education and U.S. Foreign Policy, Submitted to the Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 4/13/1953 Transcribe this record.
Commencement Address at Boston University, by Commissioner of Education Earl McGrath, Education and Foreign Policy: A Call for Mid-Century Frontiersmen, 6/5/1950 Transcribe this record.
Form OF Government, Order No.5, A Regulation conerning the Form of Government for the United States Naval Station, Tutuila., 5/1/1900 Transcribe this record.
National Security Action Memorandum No. 231 Middle Eastern Nuclear Capabilities, 3/26/1963 Transcribe this record.
Testimony of Wong Tung Jim (Jimmie Howe), 12/29/1928 Transcribe this record.

Intermediate

Bob Hope Bosnia Video 12/20/95 Transcribe this record.
Newspaper article pertaining to C. G. Gomillion, et al. vs. Howard Rutherford, et al.: Engelhardt Bill to Shrink City Transcribe this record.
United States v. Albert Bates, et.al.: Warrant of Removal, 8/31/1933 Transcribe this record.
United States of America, as Guardian of the Indians of the Pueblo of Santa Clara, in the State of New Mexico v. Santiago Abeyta, et al.: Final Decree, 6/25/1931 Transcribe this record.
Opinions of Lorenzo Sawyer, Circuit Judge, and Matthew P. Deady, District Judge, in the matter of Case 2900, Edwards Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Mining Company., 1/7/1884 Transcribe this record.
Complete Set of Lists of Names of Belgian-Helpers-of-Allied-Airmen Awarded Eisenhower Certificate Transcribe this record.
Wartime Civil Control Administration File Transcribe this record.
Printed Copy of Documents Entered into Evidence in the Case of People of the State of Illinois v. Illinois Central Railroad Company and City of Chicago, 6/2/1887 Transcribe this record.
Report on Pribilof Island Expedition, 1949 Transcribe this record.
United States, Appellants, v. The Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad. Records of the Supreme Court of the United States Transcribe this record.

Advanced

Thomas Hardy v. William Christy Transcribe this record.
Registration of Affidavit of Alien Enemy for Kate Dornik. Transcribe this record.
Indians Qualified under Section 1 of the Act of May 18, 1928 Transcribe this record.
1351: William Christy, Assignee of Daniel Walden v. The City Bank of New Orleans Transcribe this record.
India: Action Messages, Tagore, 1959-1962 Transcribe this record.
Effect of Crossbow on Operation Overlord Transcribe this record.
Estimates of Supplies and Funds Transcribe this record.
Record of Religious Activities Transcribe this record.
Approved Pension File for Sarah Stage, Widow of Henry Stage, 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment, Company K (WC-634943) Transcribe this record.
United States, Appellants, v. The Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad. Records of the US District Court for Connecticut Transcribe this record.

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