Civil War Bluejackets: US Naval Records & Ancestry.com

This project involves the creation of a new freely available internet database of transcribed and linked service records relating to the c.118,000 men who served in the US Navy, 1861-1865 during the American Civil War as Sailor Bluejackets, so called for their distinctive short coats. As well as recovering the stories of these servicemen, the project is also pioneering efforts to improve digital genealogical practices, for professionals and amateurs alike, through developing technologies for machine-learning computerized transcription of 19^th-Century handwriting.

Creating the database, with the support of the crowd-sourcing platform Zooniverse, involves over 3,000 volunteers and groups such as the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.  The US National Park Service, through the Vicksburg National Military Park, sees the project as way to further outreach to underserved minorities and revamp the US Navy offering to visitors. Ancestry.com has agreed to host the database as a free resource for their users to drive business to their site.

Full project title

Civil War Bluejackets: Changing Genealogical Practice