Author: Damian Shiels PhD
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Press Release: Groundbreaking Research Using AI to Explore American Civil War History
We have a new Civil War Bluejackets Press Release that highlights some of the groundbreaking work that everyone who has supported and contributed to the project has helped to realise. You can read the Press Release in full below, and also on the Northumbria University website here and Newsroom here. Northumbria Contributes to Groundbreaking Research
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Civil War Bluejackets Conference Programme
We are excited to be heading to Annapolis for the Civil War Bluejackets Conference, The Common Navy Sailor in the Long Nineteenth Century, taking place from January 30-February 1 next. The conference will share the work of Civil War Bluejackets and showcase some of the leading American and international research currently being undertaken by scholars
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Civil War Bluejackets Features in Muster
We were very pleased that a piece we recently prepared on the project has been published in Muster, the digital blog of The Journal of the Civil War Era. Entitled “Civil War Bluejackets: Citizen Science, Machine Learning, and the US Navy Common Sailor” we explore both some of our aims with the project and some
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Uncovering the Lives Behind a USS Wabash Guncrew
Last week the Civil War Bluejackets team at Northumbria were joined by aspiring historian Madeleine Egner, who came on board for a few days to find out more about the project and to undertake some historical research. Over the course of her short time with us, Madeleine carried out some really valuable work an insightful
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Bluejacket Community Discoveries: On the Trail of “Thirty Ordinary Seamen from the Yard,” Fort Pickens, Florida, 1861. Part 2
A recent post (see here) brought you the first part of an examination conducted by our Zooniverse Moderators R. Roberts (@GROBSTER) and Robert Croke (@SandyCycler) into documents relating to the U.S. sailors who were present at the momentous events at Fort Pickens, Florida during the early days of the rising crisis in the United States
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Civil War Bluejackets Visit The Mississippi
Sharing both the findings and the methodologies of the Civil War Bluejackets Project on an ongoing basis is a major goal of our work. To that end, we have just completed a series of talks, together with some research during a whirlwind few days along the Mississippi River. ‘Ol Man River plays an important role
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Bluejacket Community Discoveries: On the Trail of “Thirty Ordinary Seamen from the Yard,” Fort Pickens, Florida, 1861. Part 1
The Civil War Bluejackets Project has benefited greatly from the dedication and commitment of our two Zooniverse moderators, R. Roberts (@GROBSTER) and Robert Croke (@SandyCycler). Their efforts in guiding new users through the transcription process and their enthusiastic engagement with comments and queries on “Talk” are impressive enough, but both are also dedicated researchers of
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Civil War Bluejackets Moving to Phase 2!
We have major (and exciting!) news to share with our Bluejackets Zooniverse Community. The data our Zooniverse volunteers has collected so far has paid enormous dividends, and is now allowing us to move into Phase 2 of the project. The transcriptions have now successfully trained our computer model to digitally read the wartime muster sheets—a
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Bluejacket Community Discoveries: An Update on the Search for Frank Branch, African American Child in the U.S. Navy
Our last post in the Community Discoveries series told the story of Frank Branch, an African American boy enslaved in Richmond, Virginia who escaped to enlist in the wartime U.S. Navy (you can read it here). The discovery came thanks to our ongoing partnership with the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, who have a team
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Bluejacket Community Discoveries: On the Trail of an African American Child in the Union Navy
Recently Civil War Bluejackets and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society have been collaborating as part of our efforts to identify African American sailors on the muster sheets. A number of Society members have joined our Zooniverse community, where they are making invaluable contributions towards uncovering the stories of these men. One of them, @Grobster,
The Civil War Bluejackets Project 