Mayor Eric Adams.
Credit score: Ed Reed/Mayoral Pictures Workplace.
The town will probably be taking over a undertaking to make the historic data of hundreds of previously enslaved New Yorkers who lived within the 5 boroughs when the observe of slavery was authorized right here accessible to the general public, and the group is searching for volunteers to assist, Mayor Adams introduced Thursday.
Led by the New York Metropolis Division of Information and Data Providers (DORIS), the undertaking will transcribe digitized historic data courting from 1660 to 1827, which can assist historians and on a regular basis New Yorkers find the data of enslaved New Yorkers and presumably hint familial roots.
The announcement comes as town celebrates Black Historical past Month in addition to town’s four-hundredth anniversary this yr. To perform the undertaking, the Adams administration is searching for volunteers to assist transcribe the digital data and assist create searchable information.
“We cannot build a better, brighter future without first acknowledging and accepting our past,” mentioned Mayor Adams. “This ambitious project allows everyday New Yorkers to understand the history of enslaved people who shaped our city into what it is today. For too long, enslaved people were forgotten and lost to the past. Today, with projects like this, we shed a light on their story, learn their names, and ensure that time does not leave them behind again.”
“This first phase of the transcription project will make available records documenting enslaved people in New York City, and subsequent phases we’ll be adding more records,” DORIS Commissioner Pauline Toole. “This is part of the Municipal Archives and Library initiative to engage communities with the historical records of the city.”
The Municipal Archives — a division inside DORIS — which preserves and makes obtainable metropolis authorities data courting from 1636 to the current, has at present recognized and digitized 9 volumes of data from cities in Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester counties, courting from 1660 to 1838. The paperwork embrace delivery certificates naming enslaved kids and paperwork that granted enslaved people their freedom.
The archived volumes vary from 200 to 500 pages of each authentic paperwork and hand-written transcriptions of data. Volunteers who help within the undertaking will use the transcription service From the Web page to enter every quantity right into a type that DORIS will then use to publish right into a searchable information.
The transcribed information will probably be simply searchable and can assist researchers, in addition to most people, find and consider data of hundreds of previously enslaved New Yorkers who lived in New York Metropolis that will in any other case be tough to hint.
“The history of enslaved New Yorkers is an essential part of our city’s story—one that must be preserved and made accessible,” mentioned New York Metropolis Councilmember Dr. Nantasha Williams. “I commend Mayor Adams and the Department of Records and Information Services for this initiative to transcribe and digitize these records, ensuring the voices of those once enslaved are not lost to time. This effort deepens our understanding of the past and helps New Yorkers connect with their history. I encourage everyone to support this project by volunteering or engaging with these records as we work toward a fuller, more honest representation of our shared history.”
To study extra in regards to the undertaking, go to the digital archive, or volunteer, New Yorkers can go to archives.nyc.
