Welcome to this week’s news in Early American History!

In public history news, the National Archives and Records Administration is having a big week.  First, they unveiled their new “citizen archivist” transcription project.  Then, they announced plans for a July sleepover at the National Archives Museum.  Did you vote for the Declaration of Independence in the Junto March Madness?  Now you can sleep next to it!

Elsewhere in public history, the UN unveiled a monument honoring the victims of the transatlantic slave trade at its headquarters in New York City.  The Portsmouth African Burying Ground announced that the reburial ceremony is now scheduled for Saturday, May 23rd.

In publishing news, Karin Wulf, the Director of the Omohundro Institute published a nuanced blog post discussing Open Access.  Over on Uncommon Sense, Wulf also explained the investment of time required by Omohundro’s staff to publish a single article at the William and Mary Quarterly.  And, Inside Higher Ed explained what goes into the writing of a good academic book review.

In cultural heritage news, McArthur Genius recipient Tiya Miles, a historian at the University of Michigan, discussed her debut novel, Cherokee Rose, which ties together African-American and Native American identity.  Over on the United States Intellectual History’s blog, historian and AAIHS co-founder Christopher Cameron argued that Frederick Douglass’s Narrative contains evidence that Douglass “subtly rejects Christianity altogether.”  In the current issue of the AHA’s Prospectives Magazine, Greg Robinson, professor of history at l’Université du Québec À Montréal, takes a look at Francophone historians of the United States and proposes that “greater engagement by Americans with French-language writing would help enrich the study of US history.” And finally, the British Museum announced plans to allow users to download scans of some of its collections and print them out on a 3D printer.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Junto March Madness final four vote!