Washington University Libraries has received a $376,426 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for “The St. Louis Freedom Suits Legal Encoding Project” — one of the largest grants ever received by the University Libraries.
The University Libraries will partner with the Missouri History Museum and several internal partners — including the Humanities Digital Workshop, the Law School Library and the American Culture Studies Program in Arts & Sciences — on the project, which focuses on pre-Civil War suits brought by enslaved persons against slaveholders in the St. Louis Circuit Court.
In addition to transcribing the records, the project will develop a standard for encoding the legal function of the documents, which will provide a model for similar archives.
The project will fund a course through American culture studies to be taught by Kenneth Winn, Ph.D., former state archivist.
“The course will provide an opportunity for students to engage with primary source material in a new way — through contributing to a digital project in addition to traditional methods,” said Andrew Rouner, Ph.D., digital library director.
“Beyond creating a rich resource for users,” Rouner said, “one of the most exciting aspects of the project is the broad collaboration not only outside but within the University, and the opportunity for the library to engage as partners more directly with faculty and students in the academic enterprise.”
The two-year project begins Dec. 1. For more information, e-mail Rouner at arouner@wustl.edu or visit digital.wustl.edu.