Transcribing Peter E. Vose

Note:  Scroll to the end for the Zoom link to this meeting

On Tuesday, September 30, at 6:30 p.m. the Dennys River Historical Society will present the story of the community as seen through the eyes of a local nineteenth century teacher, storekeeper, selectman, magistrate, deacon and family man.

For forty-six years, Dennysville resident Peter E. Vose wrote nearly every day in his diary.  He was a careful observer of life in Washington County, Maine and commented on local, state, national and international events and personalities.  Starting in 1853, Vose filled three volumes totaling more than 1,500 pages.  At an average of 500 words per page, the Dennysville selectman and Congregational Church deacon penned some three-quarters of a million words.

The Dennys River Historical Society (DRHS) has made a digital copy of the page-images of the diary.  The images are in digital format, but they are not digitized, meaning they cannot be searched by names or keywords using a computer.  What is needed to make the diaries truly searchable is a transcription of what Vose wrote by hand transcribed into a computer document.  The task of transcribing 1,500 pages of difficult-to-read handwriting is daunting.  As an experiment, DRHS member James Oberly has applied a machine-learning/artificial intelligence computer program to transcribe the images of Vose’s sometimes blurry handwriting into a text document.  Oberly will share what he learned about using artificial intelligence as a tool for the DRHS and other local historical societies in Maine, as well as what he learned by searching Vose’s diaries for insights into Dennysville and Washington County history.

ZOOM LINK:

https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88944550352