Guidance
Reading old handwriting is a skill. Like any other skill, it gets easier the more you practice! We encourage even those who are unfamiliar with reading cursive handwriting to explore the information and resources below.
Indexing Free Registers from Virginia Untold
Virginia Untold project manager Lydia Neuroth demonstrates accessing the database and techniques for indexing historic record documents—resources that resemble today's spreadsheets.
Deciphering Cursive Handwriting
This handwriting guide from the William Madison Randall Library at the University of North Carolina Wilmington has a good introductory video, a helpful chart of name abbreviations, and quizzes to help build your skills.
Reading Old Handwriting
Whether you're using the Library of Virginia's collections for research or transcribing archival documents on Making History: Transcribe, tune in for these tips on deciphering the past. Please join experienced editor John Deal and circulation and archival assistant (and expert transcriber!) Anna Moulis to learn about special characters, common abbreviations, and other challenges to reading old handwriting.
Look for more resources coming soon!