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Center forBlack Digital Research, #DigBlk

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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

Write-on-Sites
Daily 7:30–9:30 a.m. EST

A dedicated virtual writing space designed for under-represented and first-generation students. This is a place where graduate students, postdocs, and faculty come together in community to advance our writing. Come as you are, with your hair bonnet on, and get it PHinisheD! Everyone is welcome. Sign up at bit.ly/write-on-site-24-25

Douglass Day 2025
February 14 • Noon–3pm EST

Every Valentine’s Day, we invite you to a birthday party for Frederick Douglass. Join us in person or online to transcribe material from the African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress.

Frances E. W. Harper at 200: Commemorating Her Life and Legacy

The year 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of Frances Ellen Watkins’s birth. #DigBlk is hosting a slate of exciting scholarly and arts programming and community events to commemorate Watkins’s life and legacy.

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.