Undiscovered Walt Whitman
Help preserve the works and personal letters of one of the 19th Century’s greatest writers and poltical activists, Walt Whitman. Transcribe his letters for the first time and discover his genius and personal life yourself.
“2019 marks the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman's birth. Whitman (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892) worked as a school teacher, printer, newspaper editor, journalist, carpenter, freelance writer, civil servant, and Union Army nurse in Washington D.C. during the Civil War, but he is best known as one of America’s most famous poets–and as a poet of democracy.”
The Library of Congress holds the world’s largest Walt Whitman manuscript collection. This Campaign presents a large subset of his writings, including the poetry in the Charles E. Feinberg collection, and the smaller Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection, which includes personal letters, address books, and other documents.
How do I get started? Just go to the Library of Congress website and start transcribing right now.
How much time will this take? This is a low time commitment. Spend as much time as you want, one hour or many. You will be helping these national treasures to be searchable and discoverable by all!
How do I expand this narrative arc?
If poetry is in your narrative arc, consider building on this interest by putting on a Poetry Slam in your town. If you write your own poetry, see our posts about getting poetry published in Hanging Loose Press, Teen Sequin , Elan Literary Magazine and more.
If historical research is in your narrative arc, consider one of the following:
Doing an independent study or writing project at school on important poets and their ability to make a political and cultural impact through poetry. You could even use these Walt Whitman papers in that project. Note: these papers are Primary Sources for historical research purposes which makes any such research project even more impressive!
Enter the National World War II Museum’s Quiz Bowl.
Have you done serious historical research at school? Submit your related paper for publication at The Concord Review.
Get involved with more Civil War research through the Library of Congress website.
HOT TIP: This is a great little project to kick off or complement a general interest in poetry and/or the political impact of poetry. Make sure to build on this project with some larger and more time-intensive commitments in these interest areas. The Poetry Slam would be a particularly unique and impressive project to consider as it shows community engagement, creativity and leadership all at the same time.