A Dollar That Helped Build a Monument: The Bowe Family and the Washington Monument
Family history often reveals its richest stories only after sustained engagement with records and collections. For researchers, historians, and curators alike, discoveries like this serve as powerful reminders that even seemingly ordinary documents can illuminate unexpected connections to the nation’s past.
Using AI to Glean Details from Your Family Documents
Are you using artificial intelligence (AI) to help with your historical research? Here’s how AI can help uncover valuable background information from a seemingly mundane item.
Artificial Intelligence Can Clarify Difficult Text and Provide “History Reveals”
When transcribing difficult to read documents, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can provide another “set of eyes” to review troublesome passages. After uploading a scanned image of the document, the AI agent, such as ChatGPT, can be instructed to analyze the handwriting and partial transcription. Then, it can be asked for its best recommendation for the unclear text. Afterward, AI can provide context if the meaning of the passage is still not apparent.