FromThePage is free software that allows volunteers to transcribe handwritten documents on-line. It's easy to index and annotate subjects within a text using a simple, wiki-like mark-up. Users can discuss difficult writing or obscure words within a page to refine their transcription. The resulting text is hosted on the web, making documents easy to read and search.
If you'd to run a transcription project but don't want to maintain your own server, we'd be interested in hosting your effort on fromthepage.com. Please email benwbrum@gmail.com to participate.
The software is released under the GNU AGPL v3.0, a Free/Open Source license. If you are running a web server and want to install FromThePage yourself, see the installation instructions on GitHub.
The Julia Brumfield Diaries are an incomplete collection of diaries written between 1915 and 1938 chronicling life on a tobacco farm in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Currently the diaries for the years 1918 through 1923 have been scanned, and 1918 and 1919 have been fully transcribed and indexed, while 1920 and 1921 are still being indexed.
The Zenas Matthews Diary and Service Papers record the diarist's service in the 1846 US-Mexican War. In addition to the diary Matthews carried from Texas to Monterey, the papers contain a letter written by Col. Jack C. Hays attesting to his honorable discharge. The collection is housed in Special Collections at Southwestern University.
The East Civil War Papers attest to the Civil War experience of George W. East, a private who enlisted in the 53rd Virginia Infantry, participated in Pickett's Charge, and died in the prisoner-of-war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. The papers include an empty envelope and a letter written by East in 1862, as well as a letter written by East's cousin describing his death at Point Lookout.