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.
New to the National Archives' Citizen Archivist program? Learn how to register and get started and view the video How to Transcribe in the National Archives Catalog and other how-to videos on the Resources page if you need instructions.
Looking for a previous mission? Visit Mission History
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Revolutionary War Pension Files Transcription and Tagging Missions
Join the transcription mission! Join the tagging mission!
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.
New to the National Archives' Citizen Archivist program? Learn how to register and get started.
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Chinese Heritage
Help us transcribe and tag records! We need your help transcribing these immigration records and tagging very specific details. Please read the instructions on the mission page carefully and begin contributing.
Featured Court Case
United States v. Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu, no. 27635
United States v. Korematsu was a criminal action brought against Fred Korematsu for resisting mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. His conviction in 1942 was upheld by both the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Korematsu v. United States, 9th Circuit, no. 10248 and the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), no. 22 October Term 1944. The final decision ruled that compulsory exclusion of citizens during times of war was justified.
In 1983, Korematsu successfully challenged his conviction in a petition for a writ of error (coram nobis). The original charges were vacated, highlighting the injustice of both his case and the broader confinement of Japanese American during the war. Korematsu's case played a significant role in the establishment of the federal Redress Program for the formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans in 1988.
Transcriber Task Force
Seeking expert transcribers! We’ve gathered records that have tricky elements for our expert transcribers. Here's what we'd like you to do:
- Complete difficult transcriptions
- Help decipher words that are marked [illegible]
- Convert notations of [?] [unreadable] or similar to [illegible]. We ask that you do this so that we’re consistent in how we indicate difficult words.
1950 Census Transcription Projects
The 1950 Census is here! We're looking for help transcribing the initial name index for the 1950 Census. While you can transcribe any name or any page within the 1950 Census, we've identified several specific areas where we'd like your help transcribing.