iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Douglass Day @douglassday.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Have you heard? Douglass Day in 2027 is going to launch "Transcribe the Early Black Press" Join us this Weds for a little preview of this vast new global history -> douglassday.substack.com/p/a-press-of... Help us spread the word for #DouglassDay!

douglassday.substack.com

“A Press of Our Own”: A Short History of the Early Black Press

Community Gathering this Wednesday!

02713

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Colored Conventions Project @ccp-org.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

“Being taught by that inestimable and invaluable instrument, namely, the Declaration of Independence, that all men are born free and equal, and consequently are endowed with unalienable rights, among which are the enjoyments of life, liberty, and the pursuits of happiness.” +

133

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This doesn't sound familiar at all 🙄 From the Raleigh News and Observer, 13 July 1923, archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/hunt....

A headline from the July 13, 1923, edition of the Raleigh News & Observer that reads "Making Bugaboo Out of Equality."

010

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Courtesy of the Journal of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the North Carolina State Teachers' Educational Association from November 1885, page 9, archive.org/details/jour....

An excerpt from the Journal of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the North Carolina State Teachers' Educational Association from November 1885 that reads "Mr. S. G. Atkins made some very warm remarks urging more regard for teachers by public officials, in point of salary and respect."

001

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I don't know who or what Park's is, but they are absolutely out of patience. From the Hillsboro Recorder (Hillsborough, NC), 15 Sept. 1887, p. 3, newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068....

A sideways newspaper notice that reads "Park's will fill this when he gets time to do so."

A full page image of the third page of the September 15, 1887, issue of the Hillsboro Recorder.

030

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

When creating an advertisement, it is important to choose the correct font. This company...did not 🤣 From the Rockingham Rocket (Rockingham, NC), January 12, 1888, p. 4. newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068...

A black-and-white advertisement from the January 12, 1888, edition of the Rockingham Rocket (Rockingham, NC) newspaper. It reads "For Coughs, Croup and Consumption use Taylor's Cherokee Remedy of Sweet Gum and Mullein," except that the font makes "Gum" look like "Cum."

020

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

I have implemented a means of making my keyboard shortcuts sync across my computers and it feels INCREDIBLE. This may also be the high a non-tech person gets from doing a tech thing successfully.

000

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Douglass Day @douglassday.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Douglass Day 2026 continues! We are not done yet! Plenty of time to help transcribe and enrich the records of Black political organizing! www.zooniverse.org/projects/dou...

Douglass Day 2026 banner and the phrase "the work continues!" and then two donut charts that show "Transcribe" is 72% complete and "Find the Names" is 55% complete.

074

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Jewon Woo @jewonwoo.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

"We are often told not to look back over the past. . . But remember that all the present rests on the past." from Frederick Douglass's speech at the celebration of his 71st birthday in D.C. [Cleveland Gazette, 3/34/1888] #DouglassDay

1116

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

#DouglassDay transcribing...this resolution still feels apt in 2026!

Resolved, That the colored voters of this State do not consider themselves under eternal obligations to a party which favors us as a class only in proportion as it is driven by its own necessity.

032

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Zooniverse @zooniverse.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

✨ On 2/13, join us as we host Douglass Day 2026! This annual celebration honors the legacy of Frederick Douglass and brings together volunteers to transcribe Black history. Find guides to help you bring Douglass Day into your college and K12 classrooms and register via the newsletter linked below.

0105

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

My only strong opinion about this football game is that the Seahawks kicker should be the #MVP. He has scored the most points today, that means he is the most valuable, correct?

010

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Really testing this claim tonight...

000

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Douglass Day @douglassday.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Get ready for the... 🎂 Great Douglass Day Bake Off! 🎂 How to enter: 1. Bake a birthday cake! 2. Decorate it! 3. Post a photo on here or IG to #DouglassDay Competition is going to be fierce! Learn more & see past winners: douglassday.org/bake-off/

Two-tiered birthday cake with the letters spelling out "Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand." Candles on top spell out "happy birthday." the top tier is bright pink and the bottom tier is rainbow sprinkles. It's really doing a lot.

0115

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Alright 20’s you can stop roaring

230127

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

If the text says she "had shot at the buffalo," I'm going to need people to stop saying she murdered her husband.

An excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." The sentence that includes the words "had shot at the buffalo" is highlighted in yellow.

000

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

I need the sale of Halloween candy to stop moving backwards. It is Halloween Eve, there should NOT be a dearth of candy options at my grocery store. The "sale" prices should also be cheaper, but that's a different rant.

000

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

It's here, it's in the world!!!! 😁

020

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Teaching writing-intensive classes can be a lot sometimes, but man, is it worth it when you see a student take an assignment, run with it, and produce something absolutely amazing ❤️

010

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

So as someone new to #gardening, my goal for my first year tomato plant was to grow *something* (ideally a tomato, but probably just get the plant bigger). And I am happy to say I ACHIEVED THAT GOAL!!!!

A small green tomato attached to the green branch of a tomato plant.

010

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I wish for the casual flexibility of my cat.

A torbie cat with one ear sits on a bed with her left hind leg raised casually behind her head. The photographer is envious.

020

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

"I am ready to admit, if you insist on it, that you [Americans] have numerous defects; and, since you do nothing by halves, I am sure that you are capable of carrying them further than any other nation -- first in the world always!" (Klein viii). Yikes and...not wrong. archive.org/details/InTh...

000

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

It feels like 97 degrees here and Nella remains adamant about spending the day on the balcony.

A torbie cat with white paws and belly naps in a curled shrimp shape on a reclining chair.

020

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

A delightful #cat poem from The Boston Daily Globe of August 1, 1895.

I Am the Family Cat
(Our Dumb Animals.)

I can fold up my claws
In my soft velvet paws,
And purr in the sun
Till the short day is done --
For I am the family cat.
I can doze by the hour
In the vine covered bower.
Winking and blinking
Through sunshine and shower,
For I am the family cat.

From the gooseberry bush,
Or where bright currants blush,
I may suddenly spring
For a bird on the wing.
Or dart up a tree,
If a brown nest I see,
And select a choice morsel
For dinner or tea.
And no one to blame me,
Berate or shame me --
For I am the family cat.

In the cold winter night
When the ground is all white,
And the icicles shine
In a long silver line,
I stay not to shiver
In the moonbeam's pale quiver,
But curl up in the house
As snug as a mouse.
And play Jack Horner
In the coziest corner,
Breaking nobody's laws,
With my chin on my paws.
Asleep with one eye and awake with the other,
For pats from the children, kind words from
the mother --
For I am the family cat.

020

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

One of my favorite things about historical research is some of the WILD article titles, like this one, "Gossip About Women," which features hard-hitting news items like "Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt and her daughters have gone into bicycle training." The Omaha Evening Bee [Omaha, NE], 14 Aug. 1895, p. 4

Gossip About Women

Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt and her daughters have gone into bicycle training.

The Omaha Evening Bee, 14 Aug. 1895, p. 4

040

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Now that the weather is warmer and Nella's love affair with the furnace has been forcibly ended, she has informed me that I need to reinstate her supervisory chair so she can continue overseeing my work from a comfortable position.

A torbie cat with one ear sits awkwardly on a fuzzy gray-and-white blanket, crammed between her human's chest and a dark cherry-colored desk. Her human's left arm supports her chest and prevents her from falling off.

A torbie cat with one ear looks up disapprovingly at her human. She lays on a gray-carpeted floor next to a black computer charging cord. Her human's work remains out of her sight.

A torbie cat with one ear reclines in a USPS box lined with a blue towel positioned on a dark cherry-colored chair. She can now adequately supervise her human's work.

000

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

I think my cat is happy I've returned from my travels.

A torbie cat with one ear licks her human's jeans while settling her graceful bulk on the human's lap.

100

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Verna Kale @vernakale.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Racism. I don't have to read this article to tell you that the answer to everything is America is racism. Sometimes it's racism + some other thing. But when you build a country from the ground up by displacing indigenous people and enslaving others the answer is never not racism.

0122

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Professor in a lecture said he couldn't find anything besides the cover of a magazine featuring a story titled "Daring Davy, The Young Bear Killer." Anyway, here's the story in full (the lecture is ongoing): dimenovels.lib.niu.edu/islandora/ob... I definitely don't have a problem.

000

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Happy publishing centennial to the book that made me decide to go to grad school...even if it was never in the running for my dissertation 🥂

Instructor: and what does the green light represent?

Me: the decadence and futility of the American dream

Instructor: this is a driver's exam

020

Reposted by Katie Warczak

ML Brennan @brennanml.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Okay, this is my newest very very favorite meme.

169291177367

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Seconded by a fellow English professor

031

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

I have a stomachache...worth it (also no, I did not eat all four, more like 1.5)

A white box filled with donuts. At the top of the box, it reads "Oakmont Bakery: We Create Delicious Memories." Diagonally across the box is the word "Paczki."

030

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #28: N. K. Jemisin's "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" (2018) For the last of this series of posts, we turn to a short story by N. K. Jemisin, a Black speculative fiction writer whose work explores the past as well as the possibilities for the future. 1/10

110

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #27: Gwendolyn Brooks's "The Bean Eaters" (1956) Brooks was one of the most important Black poets of the twentieth century, and while she often wrote about race and the fight for equal rights, many of her poems also speak to the beauty of the everyday. 1/5

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #26: Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney's Sam and the Tigers (1996) Lester and Pinkney were prolific children's writers and illustrators, respectively, who frequently collaborated to reclaim stories for Black children. Sam and the Tigers is one such work. 1/8

100

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

375332465144

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #25: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time (1963) Baldwin was a prominent essayist and novelist, and perhaps his most famous piece is The Fire Next Time, which features two essays discussing race relations in America and the role religion plays in it. 1/8

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #24: Chester Himes's "Cotton Gonna Kill Me Yet" (1944) Himes was a popular mystery writer in the mid-20th century, primarily known for his Harlem detective series. However, he also wrote about his time in prison and the racial politics of labor. 1/8

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #23: Toni Morrison's "Recitatif" (1983) Morrison was a prolific writer and is deservedly best known for her novels, but her only short story, "Recitatif," is just as thought-provoking. 1/7

100

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Verna Kale @vernakale.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Less than a week before this year’s application window closes! Get your applications in and/or share with your networks!

031

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #22: Charles Chesnutt's "Po' Sandy" (May 1888) Chesnutt was a prolific Black writer at the fin-de-siecle. His subject matter often dealt with the color line in the U.S. and interracial relationships, and one of his most famous stories is "Po' Sandy." 1/12

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #21: Pauline Hopkins's "Talma Gordon" (1900) "Talma Gordon" is recognized as the first African American mystery story and deals with racial intermarriage (which was illegal in the U. S. until the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia). 1/10

210

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #20: William and Ellen Craft's Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom (1860) The Crafts' escape was unusual since they traveled in the open. This was because Ellen was light-skinned enough to pass as white and pose as her husband's enslaver. 1/11

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #19: Fran Ross's Oreo (1974) Ross's only novel, Oreo satirizes the Theseus myth. Instead of a Greek prince, our protagonist is a Black Jewish girl named Christine Schwartz (she adopts the name Oreo) searching for her father, Samuel Schwartz. 1/5

100

Katie Warczak @katiewarczak.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

#BlackHistoryMonth Day #18: Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought From Africa to America" (1768) Phillis Wheatley was one of America's first published Black poets, but her art was not fully appreciated during her lifetime and, for stretches of time, after her death as well. 1/8

100

Reposted by Katie Warczak

Caroleeena @caroleeena.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Octavia Butler was a black female science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

11182911529