An excerpt of a Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant for a soldier named Charles Hart, North CarolinaPractice Your Cursive as a Citizen Archivist and Preserve Thousands of Historic DocumentsJanuary 21, 2025HistoryKate MothesIn 2010, the newly established Common Core State Standards program, which outlines skills and knowledge students should acquire between kindergarten and high school, did not include cursive in its English requirements. As a result, many young people can no longer read or write in cursive. But if you canor are willing to learna wealth of historical documents await you in the U.S. National Archives.The federal organizations Citizen Archivist program is recruiting volunteers to help transcribe thousands of documents in its collection. Records in need of review are categorized into missions, like paperwork relating to women in the First World War or submarine patrol reports during the Second World War.An excerpt of a Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application for James Lucas, Virginia. Image courtesy of the National ArchivesAnother major mission involves transcribing the records of more than 80,000 of the nations first veterans. Each file is associated with a surviving Revolutionary War soldier, his widow, or children, who applied for a pension based on the veterans service during War for Independence (1775-1783), says a statement from the National Parks Service, which has partnered with the National Archives for this initiative in time for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.The National Archives also needs people to tag photographs and other materials to help identify people, events, or places. By improving searchability, the archives become more accessible to historians, genealogists, students, and the public.Its easy to get started: just register and select a document to begin transcribing. Theres no application, and you can contribute as much or as little as youd like. National Parks Service interpretation planner Joanne Blacoe says, We wanted something that was going to last beyond an anniversary, not just in our own archives but in a place that everybody could access.Find more on the National Archives website.Next article