Penn State Penn State: College of the Liberal Arts

Center forBlack Digital Research, #DigBlk

Black Women's Organizing Archive

The Black Women’s Organizing Archive brings together the scattered archives and buried histories of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Black women organizers, intellectuals, and activists.

Douglass Day

Douglass Day is an annual event that celebrates the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass every February with a transcribe-a-thon to share and preserve Black records.

Colored Conventions Project

The Colored Conventions Project (CCP) brings seven decades of nineteenth-century Black organizing to digital life, gathering the movement’s scattered records in one place, and making them freely accessible for the very first time.

Welcome to the Center for Black Digital Research!

The Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk is a public-facing research center committed to bringing the histories of early Black organizing to digital life through innovative scholarship and collaborative partnerships. The Center is home to the award-winning Colored Conventions Project, Douglass Day, and the Black Women’s Organizing Archive. Learn more at our Research page or by exploring the exhibits, historical records, and videos available through our project sites!

EVENTS & ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Digitize Black Women's Records Day

MARCH 26, 2024 • Noon-3: 15 p.m. ET

Freeman Auditorium and Live Stream
Join us as we celebrate innovative ways to engage Black women’s activist archives with Meta DuEwa Jones, DaMaris B. Hill, Sharia Benn, Janel Moore-Almond, and Jennifer Morris. Coordinated by the Black Women's Organize Archive (BWOA).

Write-on-Sites, Daily 7–9 a.m. ET

A dedicated virtual writing space for BIPOC graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to come together in community and advance their writing. Email digblk@psu.edu for link.

Curriculum and for K-to-College Classrooms

Now centrally located, view our curriculum and related resources to engage students with 19th-century Black organizing history.

Meet the #DigBlk Team

We are faculty, graduate and undergraduates, postdoc, librarians, archivists, and community partners working together across ranks, disciplines, and institutions to bring the histories of early Black organizing to digital life through innovative scholarship and collaborative partnerships.