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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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Escape and Evasion Reports

Transcribe reports that typically include typed or handwritten narrative that documents the escape and evasion experience of the escapee or evader. Reports can also include a brief questionnaire concerning the use of escape and evasion (E&E) training and equipment; an interrogation form with unit designation, target information, number of missions flown, date considered missing in action, date returned to U.S. or allied control, country of escape or evasion, and more.

Carded Service Records of Hospital Attendants, Matrons and Nurses, 1861 - 1865

Help us transcribe records relating to the service of hospital attendants, matrons and nurses. They list the name, hospital muster roll and date of original record, when attached, capacity in which employed, by whom and to what date last paid, whether present or absent, and remarks. Copy our template of the form to speed up your transcription work: history.gov/message/31205

African American History

The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the African American experience. Explore our records documenting African American History and help transcribe these records to make them more searchable and discoverable in the Catalog. More information about African American research can be found on our website, archives.gov/research/african-americans

World War I: Capture the Captions

Help us transcribe all the text including the captions found on these World War I photographs.

Reports of Clerks, Wagonmasters, and Printers Employed at Various Posts, 1865

Transcribe reports submitted by quartermaster officers to the Quartermaster General (QMG), Washington, DC, in compliance with QMG General Order 51 of August 31, 1865

Award Cards, 1942 - 1963

Help us transcribe this large series of index cards for awards that include the Purple Heart, Air Medal Decoration, Commendation Medal, Distinguished Service Cross, and Distinguished Flying Cross. Information included consists of: name, service number, rank, general order number, order date and issuing organization, award type, date awarded and more.

Special Assistant Emmett J. Scott, 10/1917 - 1/1919

Transcribe the records of Emmett J. Scott, who was appointed Special Assistant to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on October 1, 1917. Scott, for many years the private secretary to Booker T. Washington and later secretary to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute and the National Negro Business League. His records consist of correspondence with African-American leaders, reports and memoranda to the Secretary of War, copies of speeches, newspaper clippings, and programs for dinners and ceremonies.

Joyce Kilmer

Help us transcribe the burial case file of Joyce Kilmer, a poet who was killed during service in World War I. It includes correspondence, telegrams, forms, and statements.

Don't Leave Us Hanging

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

Questions? Email us at citizenarchivist@nara.gov

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.

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Chinese Heritage

Help us transcribe and tag records related to the Chinese Exclusion Era. We need your help transcribing these immigration records and tagging very specific details that will help provide greater access to these records. Please read the instructions on the mission page carefully and begin contributing.

Join the mission

Native American Photographs Tagging Mission

MISSION COMPLETED! Thanks to the contributions of Citizen Archivists, more than 18,000 photographs from the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) have been tagged with topical subject tags. These contributions helped to create the Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs Finding Aid where the records can be viewed by Tribal Nation, Topic, or State.

Explore the Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs Finding Aid

Record Group Explorer Missions

The National Archives recently launched a new pathway to view and explore our records: the Record Group Explorer. You can use this tool to see an overview of the scans of records currently available in our Catalog, organized by Record Group and format.

To celebrate the launch of the Record Group Explorer, we’ve created special missions for each Record Group. Give the Explorer a try while contributing as a citizen archivist! Jump in and help tag and transcribe:

We’ll feature additional Record Groups for future missions. Each of your contributions to these records will help unlock history and make them easier to find in our Catalog for other users.

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

Get started transcribing!

Zooniverse

Give voice to American soldiers and help transcribe records from the National Archives on the Zooniverse platform:

The American Soldier: Transcribe this remarkable collection of more than 65,000 handwritten reflections by U.S. soldiers who fought during the Second World War.
African American Civil War Soldiers: Transcribe military records of over 200,000 African Americans soldiers who fought for their freedom in the American Civil War.

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

Reindeer Program Correspondence, 1914 - 1945, Cold storages construction [1942] Transcribe this record.
AR 635-200, Personnel Separations, Enlisted Personnel, 7/1966 Transcribe this record.
Files of Associate Deputy Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, 4/1/1994 - 4/30/1997, 1995 ABA Annual Meeting Transcribe this record.
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Mexico, 1823-1906, Volume 147; September, 1900 Transcribe this record.
Letter from Attorney George Sladovich to Commissioner-General of Immigration F. P. Sargent Regarding Re-endorsement Papers for Lee Chong, His Wife, and Three Children to Visit China, with Reply, 8/29/1906 Transcribe this record.
San Francisco Branch Evacuee Property Files, 3/18/1942 - 6/30/1946, Reel 6, [R6.29] Head Office Motor Vehicle Forms (Part 2 of 3) Transcribe this record.
Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General's Office (A&IGO) - General Orders, 1862 Transcribe this record.
Supplemental Report of the National Save Old Ironsides Committee, 6/14/1930 Transcribe this record.
The Toward a Gayer Bicentennial Committee v. The Rhode Island Bicentennial Foundation Transcribe this record.

Intermediate

Aaron Fricke v. Richard B. Lynch Transcribe this record.
Civil Works Map File, 1818 - 1947, Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, Map of the Battles of Bull Run Near Manassas Transcribe this record.
Letter from S. T. Shugent, Acting Commissioner of the Patent Office, to Robert Williams, Secretary of the Interior Supporting the Enclosed Bill S. 386, 8/14/1856 Transcribe this record.
Appellate Jurisdiction Case Files, 1792 - 2017, Case File for Worcester v. Georgia Transcribe this record.
Official Military Personnel File of James M. Stewart Transcribe this record.
Records of Interdepartmental and Intradepartmental Committees (State Department), 1917 - 1981, 334.0 Military Information Control Subcommittee, Part III THRU 334.0 Foreign Policy Information Subcommittee, Part I Transcribe this record.
Records of U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, 1923 - 1972, Records of the Currency Section Received from Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), 1944 - 1945, 400/1 Organization: European Civil Affairs Unit, 1944-1945 Transcribe this record.
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Great Britain, 1791-1906, Volume 83- April 23-September 4, 1863 Transcribe this record.
Approved Pension File for Bertha Greaves, Widow of Clinton Greaves, Companies A, B, C, and H, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment; and Companies of Instruction B and C, General Service (WC-11779) Transcribe this record.
Records of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1891 - 1992, Lyndon B. Johnson, V. F. Striegler, and C. H. Stevenson v. Coke R. Stevenson Transcribe this record.
San Francisco Branch Evacuee Property Files, Sacramento Field Representative File (Part 7 of 10) Transcribe this record.
Esther Williams et. al. v. City of Kansas City, Missouri et. al. Transcribe this record.
San Francisco Branch Evacuee Property Files, 3/18/1942 - 6/30/1946, Evacuee Property Department Account Check Register Transcribe this record.
Court-Martial Case Files Relating to the Hesse Crown Jewels Case, 1946 - 1948; Volume I - 3 - Jack W. Durant - Record of Trial Transcribe this record.

Advanced

Civil War - Greenhow Material, Mostly Undated and Originally in Fragment Form, Pasted Fragments of a Letter Mentioning Gen. George McClellan and Movement of Troops, 8/1/1861 Transcribe this record.
Orderly Book for the Company of Captain Amos Stoddard Transcribe this record.
Bankruptcy Act of 1898 Dockets, 1898 - 1979, Reading Company, 1971 Transcribe this record.
Logbooks of Ships and Shore Installations, 1948-1972, USCGC Eastwind (WAG-279/WAGB-279), January 1956 - December 1956 Transcribe this record.
Folder, "Presidential Decisions-Gulf of Tonkin Attacks of August 1964-Volume I, Tab 9, 1 of 2," NSC Histories, NSF, Box 38 Transcribe this record.
U.S. v. Douglas Chandler in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Boston, May 29, 1947 Transcribe this record.
Records of the Public Buildings Service, 1801 - 2000, Letters Sent, 1/1858-1/1930, Vol. 2: Pages 950-1047: Letters 181-209 Transcribe this record.
Approved Pension File for Mary A. Meredith, Widow of Private Mathias Meredith, Company C, Osage County Regiment of Missouri Home Guards (WC-676177) Transcribe this record. (Scanned by Citizen Archivists in the Innovation Hub!)
Records of Hospital Supplies, 11/13/1815 - 3/3/1817 Transcribe this record.
Plum Island Light, Newburyport, 1790-1819 Transcribe this record.

Questions? Email us at citizenarchivist@nara.gov

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