Anne Lister

As an #AnneListerCodeBreaker, I started sharing some of the transcriptions of Anne's journal I've done on my own, and as part of the WYAS project (re-formatted for readability) here in November of 2019.

Occasionally, these include additional research with links to the texts she was reading, images, or newspaper cuttings to add context for the modern reader. 

Starting in July 2019, this project enlisted 185 volunteers to complete digital transcriptions of Lister's journals, to later be made freely accessible in the WYAS online catalogue.

This project received recognition from the Archives and Records Association (ARA) for outstanding work involving volunteers in an archive and records service, and has attracted local and international acclaim.

Packed with Potential is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission to promote greater understanding of Anne Lister and her contemporaries through open, collaborative, and accessible research. This site serves as a hub for individuals to engage with, contribute to, and publish their work while also facilitating connections with like-minded enthusiasts.

In addition to serving on the board, and as a maintainer and editor for the site, I've contributed to research on finding Anne Lister's final resting place, and compiled the Anne Lister Sex Guide to examine the practices, language, and symbols Anne used in her journal on this topic.

One of the flagship events run by PwP, the Anne Lister Research Summit brings together people interested in researching Anne Lister to share knowledge and develop collaborations. The first Summit of its kind was held September 25-27, 2020 and brought together over 300 people from across the globe.

As part of the Summit Squad I'm involved in planning the programming for online conference ranging from workshops, facilitated discussions, presentations and panels, to group activities like bingo and trivia. Additionally, I take a lead role in creating marketing materials and merchandise, and running technical support for sessions during events.

When the inaugural Anne Lister Birthday Week, originally scheduled for April 1–5, 2020, in Halifax, UK, was canceled due to COVID-19, I helped plan a virtual event to take its place, adapting nearly each of the scheduled events to a livestream format. Throughout the following year, I continued coordinating similar livestream interviews, featuring the cast and crew of Gentleman Jack as well as historians and researchers whose work focuses on Anne Lister, her contemporaries, and connected locations. These efforts helped sustain interest until the in-person event was finally held in April 2022.

Dedicated to bringing to light details of Ann Walker’s life, one of the collaborative projects ISAW has created is Ann Walker in the Diaries which aims to find and log all the references to Anne Lister's wife Ann Walker (and her extended family, residences, etc) from Lister's journals. While working on my own journal transcriptions, I contributed relevant entries to the project, and after Ann Walker's own journal was discovered, transcribed coordinating dates to entries from Lister's journal for a comparison project between the two.