About the records
In 1923, following the First World War, 390,296 Welsh women signed a petition appealing to the women of America to call on the United States Government to join the new League of Nations as a step towards everlasting world peace. The Peace Petition, as it became known, was stored safely until its return last year to Wales as a gift from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to mark its centenary.
The National Library of Wales has recently completed the work of cataloguing and digitising the petition and has now embarked on an ambitious project to transcribe this ‘world-inspiring’ artefact so that it can be searched electronically for the first time.
Thanks to the work undertaken by volunteers, 58,000 records are currently available searchable on a brand new website (also available in Welsh), with this figure set to increase as the transcription work continues.
This new website has been designed with a variety of search functions to help users find the signatures of female relations or those who used to live in their house or area. Users can search for specific names and locations or can browse the zoomable map to view the signatures of specific areas. Or for those searching for relations with common names, searches can be filtered by county, community ward, box number or petition number.
As well as seeing typed versions of the names, users can experience the thrill of seeing the written signatures of their own grandmother, great grandmother or aunt, and can even download an image of that page so that they have a copy of it to keep. And for those who want to share their story, the image can be shared on social media.
The website is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to learn more about their family history, their house or their locality, but creating this fully searchable tool isn’t possible without the help of volunteers to transcribe the petition.
Over half of the names and addresses have been transcribed already but there’s still some way to go, so we’re encouraging people to get involved on Transcription Tuesday on 5 November.
All transcripts are reviewed by a team at the Library before they are published and then the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition website is updated with the transcriptions that have been reviewed.
And if you’re in Aberystwyth on 5 November, we’re hosting a Welsh Women’s Peace Petition Transcription Marathon! In this free, drop-in event that people can join anytime during the day, participants will receive guidance to help them and enjoy a series of pop-up talks. So join us in person at the Library or online and become part of this Petition’s amazing story.
How to transcribe
Step 1
Before Transcription Tuesday, you will need to register for a free account on the National Library of Wales transcription website. To do so, go to the website homepage, click ‘Register’ in the top right-hand corner, and follow the instructions.
Step 2
On Transcription Tuesday, go to the website and click ‘Login’ in the top right-hand corner to log into your account. Then click ‘Start transcribing’.
Step 3
On the next page, click ‘Start contributing’.
Step 4
Select ‘Draw box’ from the options on the right.
Step 5
Click and drag to draw a box around the first name and address on the page. You can use the plus and minus symbols in the right-hand corner to zoom in and zoom out.
Step 6
Transcribe the name and address in the boxes on the right. You can click the ‘Text difficult to transcribe’ box if you are not confident that your transcription is accurate. Then click ‘Submit’.
Step 7
Continue transcribing the rest of the text.
Step 8
Click the arrow at the top right to move on to the next page.