Pacific Standard Magazine: Has Hurricane Florence Destroyed Records Of America’s Slave Trade?. “North Carolina’s archivists are worried that fragile collections of documents, covering centuries of history, could have been destroyed by Hurricane Florence. Forecasters have predicted that the storm could cost up to $60 billion in economic damage, as people lost their homes, cars, and possessions to rainfall and flood water when the hurricane hit the eastern coast of the United States. But it’s harder to place a dollar value on the loss of North Carolina’s historic archives, which trace, among other things, the history of the slave trade and, later, Southern systems of racial segregation.”
primary sources
Royal Central: Hamilton and Royal Archives join forces to teach history lesson
Royal Central: Hamilton and Royal Archives join forces to teach history lesson. “The actor who plays George III in the hit music Hamilton has been invited into the Windsor Castle library to study documents on the King as academics aim to inspire others to educate themselves about the historical figure. The Queen recently launched a project to open the Royal Archives from the reign of George III. They are releasing letters, diaries, and speeches digitally to give the public a broader understanding of the King. Scholars working on the papers of George III have had to work through 350,000 papers. They’ve selected 20 of those which are now grouped according to the musical; by theme and song lyrics.”
Haartez: Holocaust Historian Slams Germany for Shedding Millions of Death Records
Haaretz: Holocaust Historian Slams Germany for Shedding Millions of Death Records. “According to the Hamburg Morgen Post newspaper, the state cultural ministry is defending the decision by the archive’s director, Udo Schäfer, to destroy an estimated 1 million death certificates dating from 1876 to 1953.”
Fold3: New Naval Records Added to Fold3!
Fold3: New Naval Records Added to Fold3!. “This month, Fold3 is pleased to highlight two new collections of naval records we’ve added to our archives. The first collection is Letters Received by the Secretary of Navy (‘Captains’ Letters’) dated 1805-1885. The second collection is Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Commanding Officers of Squadrons between 1841-1886. These letters are in original manuscript form.”
Seychelles Nation: Civil Status digitises documents and records
Seychelles Nation: Civil Status digitises documents and records. “The digitisation of documents project at the Civil Status Department is nearing completion. The project which was started in 2016 is currently in the second phase whereby the final documents are being scanned to be entered and organised on a database. Digitisation is the process of converting documents and records into a digital format. The documents and records date back as far as 1800 and include birth, marriage and death certificates which have been registered on the inner islands.”
The Lincolnite: Bomber Command valentine letters bring back lost voices of WWII
The Lincolnite: Bomber Command valentine letters bring back lost voices of WWII. “A thousand lost voices of those who lived through aerial bombing campaigns of WWII have been brought to life through a new digital archive in Lincoln.”
The Guardian: Huge historical archive of mail from captured ships to go online
The Guardian: Huge historical archive of mail from captured ships to go online . “An archive of thousands of undelivered personal letters from all over the world, seized from ships captured during Britain’s naval wars over three centuries, are to be digitised in a project offering an intimate glimpse into people’s lives. The letters, found in mailbags, with many bearing wax seals and some still unopened, have so far yielded personal accounts, some heart-rending, and journals, sheet music, drawings, poems and a packet of 200-year-old seeds from South Africa.”
