Beyond the Headlines: A I and Historical Newspapers
Online event: 1 /26/26 2-3PM EST
Historical newspapers hold stories that shap ed our communities\, but the sheer volume of their pages has long limited w hat we could discover within them. What changes when we can digitize and th en analyze millions of pages at once? This event\, co-hosted by BPL Digital and the Leventhal Map & Education Center\, explores how computational text analysis is transforming historical newspaper research.
Join Molly Hardy from the Library Innovation Lab and Greg Leppert\, Executive Director of Harvar d's Institutional Data Initiative\, as they examine the formation of histor ical newspaper collections and how artificial intelligence contributes to e fforts to digitize and make accessible these collections. From newspaper co llecting that began in the wake of the American Revolution to training data sets to reveal large-scale patterns\, they'll examine what becomes possible when computational methods meet cultural heritage — and what responsibilit ies come with these new capabilities.
Dr. Molly Hardy current ly serves as the Project Lead for the Publi c Data Project at Harvard Law S chool’s Library Innovation Lab. She began her work in special collections a t the Harry Ransom Center\, while completing her dissertation on eighteenth -century copyright law. Her writing\, which has been both public facing and scholarly\, has appeared in professional blogs\, exhibition catalogs\, new spaper articles\, and academic journals\, and has centered on the transfer of early American archives into online environments\, as well as the digita l aggregation of historical newspapers and large sets of public data. Her m ost recent article\, “The Unfree Press in the Revolutionary Age\, or How to Read an Eighteenth-Century Newspaper\,” is forthcoming in the Cambridge Hi story of the American Revolution.
Greg Leppert is the Executi ve Director of the Ins titutional Data Initiative at H arvard Law School Library\, a research initiative that works with libraries \, universities\, and government agencies to publish their collections as h igh-quality datasets. He is also the Chief Technologist of the Berkman Klei n Center. Previously\, Greg built startups in NYC and Austin TX\, toured in art-rock bands\, and worked in a historic letterpress studio. He is a stro ng believer that most people want to do good in the world and are simply lo oking for the right way to go about it.
More about this event : This is the second in a four-part virtual speaker series hosted by Levent hal Map & Education Center and BPL Digital exploring how artificial intelli gence intersects with public knowledge\, democratic participation\, and cul tural heritage. From understanding AI's implications for civic life to exam ining how computational methods transform research with historical collecti ons\, these conversations bring together scholars\, technologists\, and pra ctitioners working at the intersection of AI\, the humanities\, and public institutions.
These hour-long talks are designed for a general audien ce curious about AI's role in how we access\, understand\, and use knowledg e held in libraries and archives\, addressing questions such as: How does A I reshape democratic participation and governance? What becomes possible wh en we can analyze millions of historical documents at once? How do we ensur e AI tools enhance rather than distort our understanding of the past? What new questions can we ask of collections that were previously too large to e xamine comprehensively?
Each session will explore these questions thr ough a different lens — from AI's impact on citizenship and politics\, to c omputational analysis of newspapers and maps\, to computer vision applicati ons for visual materials — providing a forum to explore the opportunities a nd responsibilities that come with this technology.
Accessibility Not ice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accom modation and/or language services\, contact the department listed in the "C ontact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.
Programming at the Boston Public Library is funded thr ough private support. To learn more about supporting the Library\, please < span data-ogsc="rgb(0\, 134\, 240)">visit the Boston Public Library Fund's webs ite.
CATEGORIES:Lecture,Speaker/Panel,Videoconference LOCATION:Zoom GEO:40.712728;-74.006015 ORGANIZER;CN="Harmony Eidolon":MAILTO:heidolon@law.harvard.edu URL;VALUE=URI:https://hls.harvard.edu/events/beyond-the-headlines-ai-and-hi storical-newspapers/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MHardy_GLeppert.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20251102T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR