Liz Coelho, Director of Special Projects at the Maryland State Archives, recently sent this to her transcribers:
Many thanks to you for your help with our FromThePage marriage certificate projects in 2021. Your work has made it possible for the Archives to quickly assist many people with their requests for marriage certificates. On my first day back in the new year I got a call from a woman who needed her marriage certificate so she could authorize treatment for her husband who was hospitalized with covid. I used an index created by FromThePage volunteer transcribers to find the certificate, and was able to email a copy to her in less than thirty minutes. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to help her in a dire time, and I want to thank you for making that possible.
As I told Liz, I would never have guessed archival transcription would be relevant to pandemic healthcare. It made my day to hear this. Liz commented:
It really buoyed me- records are absolutely a frontline necessity for so many aspects of our lives- authorization for medical care, government and employee benefits, passports, even final burial. And if you can't find the record you're sunk.
See Maryland's marriage certificate project on FromThePage.
Stay safe & well.