 But we're not done yet, because there was still one huge problem. Have you ever tried to read 19th century cursive in faded ink? It's hard, like really hard. So the documents needed to be transcribed, something Hollis and the Smithsonian were prepared for. They began organizing transcribathons with the hope that everyday people would sit down at their computers and decipher each word. Hollis and her team had it all set up.