Looking for a new hobby during the frigid months of this winter to escape being all consumed in that tablet or smartphone? Why not take up a past-time as vital to our history as the preservation of its relics and architecture?
In preparation of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that was the beginning of the United States of America in 1776 that was signed right here in Philadelphia — the National Archives located in Washington DC is looking for those who are interested in volunteering to transcribe many of its documents that date back to the American Revolution and are written in cursive. Details on how to volunteer are located on the national archives website.
Perhaps no surviving record is as important to understanding our history as surviving old documents and correspondences. They not only provide a window into our history, the perspectives of those living during these periods, but also support for what we consider historical facts.
One of my earliest memories — was traveling to Independence Hall with my Dad to see the “Great Essentials” copy of the Declaration of Independence. Even as a boy, the yellowed pages of that hallowed parchment are still stuck in my mind forever.
It’s been 340 years since wealthy Quaker merchant Robert Turner wrote a letter to Philadelphia founder William Penn back in England in 1685. Turner — a close friend of Penn’s — had written letters to William previously. But this letter — which still survives in the Library of Congress— describes the architectural and agricultural progress of Philadelphia to Penn — both in the Town and also the surrounding countryside. Penn had returned to England on business by 1685, and was kept current with correspondences like this one.
From the History of Christ Church and Philadelphia’s Congregational Records, the original Pennsylvania Charter of 1701, the original Constitution, and of course the Declaration of Independence some of Philadelphia’s oldest surviving documents are among our nation’s most important. Transcribing them so that they survive for generations to come is even more so.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt is member of the York Road Historical Society and lives and works in Abington Township.
