“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.” – Chinese Proverb
We, the Blind, Need Your Help to Save Our History!
We Need Your Time to Transcribe Files into Word Documents!
We Need Your Financial Support!
Time holds our history hostage! The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, NFBCO holds a unique and irreplaceable history of the blind of Colorado dating back to the early 20th century, but we, the blind, cannot read it! Help us preserve our one-of-a-kind, precious history before it turns into moldy, paper dust.
Historians and scholars have come to us to research the sole-source records in our archives. The information they have gleaned has contributed to doctoral theses and published books such as Thomas A. Karinz’s Delivering Aid: Implementing Progressive Era Welfare in The American West. However, there is much history yet to be uncovered. Valuable data is trapped in the multiple formats and the desperate conditions of the records. Boxes and boxes of old Braille, typewritten notes on onion skin paper, faded mimeographs, letters in cursive handwriting, and faded newspaper articles are deteriorating year after year. What can we do to save this unique history of the blind in Colorado?
WE HAVE A SOLUTION!!
A Professional digitization firm has created electronic files, preserving an image of the original format. They transcribed through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) the print records. However, the majority of the records are in multiple formats that are not OCR friendly. Handwriting, Braille, mimeographs and faded print made scanning difficult or impossible. That which scans poorly must be manually corrected and that which doesn’t scan at all must be transcribed into an electronic format, such as MS Word. The electronic files will be available for all...searchable and easily read by multiple screen readers.
When the project is completed, it will bring to life, in multiple formats, the history of the blind of Colorado and the blind men and women pioneers who contributed to state history through business, politics, education and more. The completed project will be shared with multiple public and blindness specific libraries. Anyone will be able to access, search and learn from our blind ancestors.
We need your help! Don’t let our history be lost, forgotten or destroyed! This preservation project is a huge undertaking that will take both money and volunteer time. Call or email today to find out how you can help preserve a vital part of Colorado history.
DONATE
Mail checks to: NFBCO, History 2233 W SHEPPERD AVE LITTLETON, CO 80120-2038or
Contact: Peggy Chong-Coordinator 303-745-0473 chongpeggy10@gmail.com