PhD researcher Hannah gives an update on the project and the work of the volunteers.

The focus groups, which are transcribing documents relating to Staffordshire and slavery, have been running since October 2023 and been going very well. There has been a great environment of learning, sharing, and questioning.

Each volunteer has been working on individual collections, and becoming somewhat of an expert on the person whose papers they are transcribing. As well as producing great transcriptions, the volunteers are also able to help me with my own research, through sharing knowledge on the collection they are spending a lot of time on and connecting the dots through discovering their person’s family connections, Staffordshire connections and colonial connections. Throughout the sessions, there is always a lot of knowledge exchanged and I learn a vast amount about the local history of Staffordshire from the volunteers. Collaboration is also an important element, and all the volunteers use their palaeography skills to help one another decipher difficult words.

The sessions have also prompted an outside interest into the topic of slavery and colonialism, with lots of discussion surrounding documentaries to watch and books to read. Conversations with the volunteers about the collection they are looking at has also given me ideas for other avenues of research and archives to looks at.

I look forward to continuing the sessions and seeing what else is discovered.