What really is the Power of Transcription?

My understanding of this diary would not have been possible without Naomi Cream, an ancestor of Lyon who devoted herself to transcribing his diary for the rest of the world to appreciate and study. I had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing Naomi, via email. She graciously answered all of my questions, which gave me a greater understanding of the diary itself. Before interviewing Naomi, I looked at the diary as just that-- a diary. A place where a man wrote down his thoughts and recorded his activities throughout the day. While I enjoyed reading Lyon's words and learning about his travels during that time, I didn't quite grasp the greater meaning that the diary has. After reading what Naomi had to say about her experience transcribing the diary, the steps she took to get it into her possession, and the wonderful pieces of information she learned from it, I have begun to see the diary as more than just a diary but rather an important piece of historical media, as a manuscript diary, a transcribed Word file, and a digital edition (forthcoming on this site).

Naomi described to me how she tracked down the diary through Annabel Foster-Davis, another ancestor of Lyon's. She then got in touch with Annabel's mother, with whom she exchanged many letters.  As a result, Naomi was able to learn a lot about Lyon family history before reading the diary itself.

The diary had been preserved in archives in Jamaica for a long time.  Because of Naomi and her work transcribing the diary, she has kept this piece of historical media alive. She has made the diary accessible to all readers and has also made it possible for people to read the diary at all. Many of the words in the manuscript diary were barely visible or hard to decipher. Naomi didn’t just copy down words, but translated the original copy of the diary into something that could be understood by people today. Without interviewing Naomi, I would have never come to see the diary in light of the challenge and history of transcriptions. Not only is it something to be read, but it is something to be studied and appreciated in all its forms.