(WXYZ) — Do you remember the last time you wrote in cursive? Do you still know how to read it? If so, the National Archives is looking for your help.
They are looking for thousands of volunteers who can read it in order to transcribe historical documents. The problem is, using and reading cursive is turning into a lost art. We spoke to Metro Detroiters to see how often they write in cursive, and put them to the test.
"The last time I wrote in cursive was the other day when i signed a check," said Detroiter Shabalis Johnson.
"Signing my name," said Rennee Peterson. "When I'm writing really fast or shorthand."
"Only when I need to sign a check," said Victoria Myles.
From the United States Constitution to the Bill of Rights, many historical documents are written in cursive. But as we continue into the digital age and use computers and our phones for taking notes or even writing a letter electronically, reading and writing cursive is becoming an art of the past and people are having a hard time even reading it.
"Writing makes your area brain fire," said Calligrapher Julie Fournier. "Whereas typing on a key board it's silent and shrinking."
Fournier is an artist and professional calligrapher. From pin-striping cars to personalized wedding invitations, you can say she's a Connoisseur of cursive.
"That's how people used to write," Julie said. "It's faster. It's easier when you know how to do it. Printing is slower even the key board you can write a lot faster."
That's why the National Archives need help from nearly 5,000 volunteers who can read historical documents written in cursive so they can transcribe nearly 300 million digitized objects within their system. The documents range from Civil War field notes to immigration documents of the 1890's, but you have to know how to read cursive.
"That's why the national archives (are) having trouble I encountered when I was trying to decipher documents someone had mistranscribed it and turned an h into an s and l because somebody couldn't read it properly," Julie said.
"My teachers would probably be very upset because that's all I was taught to do in elementary school," Shabalis said.
"I still have a few friends that's their natural way of writing out things but as far as myself using it you might be right about the third grade," Victoria said.
But I wanted to know if people still use cursive at all. I asked the people I interviewed to write 'Good Morning Detroit' in cursive, and pretty much everyone passed with an A.
"I miss it sometimes so I think I am going to write in cursive a little bit more," Shabalis said.
