Mapping History

Historic Cold Spring Village (HCSV) is a functioning 19th century village, that demonstrates a national and local historical narrative. The HCSV has interpreters and artisans who help to demonstrate the daily tasks that were typical for American citizens during this period in history. Along with demonstrations, interpreters provide historical context and tours of buildings to provide both national and local historical context to the museum. To achieve the look and authenticity of an original 19th century village, over fifteen historic homes and buildings from Cape May County were relocated and positioned to represent a village of this time period. The relocation of these buildings has served three purposes for the museum. First, this relocation has helped to preserve historic sites from potential harm. Second, these buildings provide originality and authenticity of the time period that is being interpreted for patrons. Finally, the local history of Cape May County is able to be preserved and intertwined with a more national history.[1] Although there are many people from Southern New Jersey who remember the creation of the HCSV and the movement of the historic buildings from their original locations to their new home, many others may find it hard to visualize the distances and effort it would have taken to complete this goal. The map that I have created, called Historic Homes of Cold Spring, helps to provide context to where these buildings originally were located in relation to Historic Cold Spring Village. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zK-lp0w6TBDg.kwJc_lzsHrMI

In this map the data was split into two layers. The first layer is the location of Historic Cold Spring Village, which is marked as a red pin on the map. The second layer of data is the original locations for a sampling of the historic homes and buildings now at HCSV. This layer a data is represented with yellow house icons, and each location has its original building name, date, and a very quick description of its original use and current use. The two pictures below demonstrate how this data is presented from a very zoomed out view (where NJ as a whole is visible), and a zoomed in view (which shows Cape May County). From the zoomed out view it is very hard to understand and interpret the data that is presented, which can obscure the overall intent of a map project. However, the more zoomed in image better represents the distances between the Village and ten buildings that were relocated. From this vantage point, audiences can see how many towns and their histories have been involved in the creation of the HCSV museum. It also allows views to think critically about the strategies and issues involved when a historic building may be completely relocated to a new sight.

Although there are many advantages to using mapping to visualize data, there are some pitfalls for certain projects. One problem is being able to provide an accurate and current street to adequately represent where a historic building or location would be today. For instance, many of the buildings at Cold Spring could not be included in the mapping data because the locations either do not currently exist, or are in a location that does not have an exact street address. Without an exact or even rough street address it is hard for Google to the location that you are looking for, and therefore can make your data incomplete or the pins inaccurate. Another issue is that style settings are greatly limited. Map layouts, and data tools have a nice range of style options, but if these do not fit the potential mapping project or can not advance the visual effect that the creator is looking for it can be limiting. However, for a free technological tool this is not an end all issue.

Zoomed out View of Historic Homes of Cold Spring

Zoomed In View of Historic Homes of Cold Spring

[1] http://www.hcsv.org/

History and Visualizations

The Cold War era in America is commonly remembered as a time of fear due to both a potential war with Soviet Russia, and of potential Communist threats from within America's boarders. To illustrate this sense of fear, I chose to create a word cloud from Senator Joseph McCarthy's speech where he detailed the communists who had infiltrated the State Department. It was through this and other speeches, that he was able produce fear within the government and throughout the nation, known as the Red Scare.[1] The word cloud originally contained over one hundred of the most commonly used words in McCarthy's speech. I chose to reduce the number of words to seventy five, which altered to image in a more sinister way. The words as communist, people, state, and time became bolder. The size of these words also create a sense of urgency, which reflects the urgency to protect the nation from a communist threat. The colors chosen for this word cloud also help to portray the Cold War era. The various shades of red reflect the "red scare" that many feared, while the blues can be representative of both America and/or a feeling of coldness. The gray background gives the whole image a somber feeling, which is reflective of the feelings of fear of communist spies. It also represents the fear of being falsely accused of communism, which was common during the Red Scare period of the Cold War.

Word Cloud of Joseph McCarthy's speech

"Communists in the State Department" 1950

The second word cloud was created with Governor of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson's speech which he had given to Smith College (an all female school) in 1955. In this speech Stevenson encouraged the graduating class to become wives and mothers, who would ensure that America's youth and men would not stray towards communism and maintain Western values (instead of either furthering their education or utilizing their skills outside of the home).[2] Unlike the speech that McCarthy had given in 1950, Stevenson's speech was meant to invoke duty and purpose, instead of fear and dread. To represent this sentiment the colors used are almost cheerful, and the font is slightly collegiate. The blues and yellows in this word cloud represent Smith College's colors, as apposed to the blues in the previous image which reflected a colder style.The yellow background emphasizes the words, but in a less dramatic way than the McCarthy cloud. This softer contrast between the background and the image emphasizes less fearful emotions that the previous speech sparked during the Cold War. The one constant between the two clouds is the use of the color red. Here, like in the previous visual, the red is meant to represent the fear of communism.

The words that stood out the most in this image were society, Western, now, and man. Although these words seem to promote a sense of urgency, when viewed in this format it is not the same type of urgency that could be felt in the McCarthy cloud. Instead of fear fueling these words and urgency, it is more of a sense of duty and confidence. This difference in visualization help to provide added understandings of the Cold War period, by representing both the fear that many felt and the push towards national duty. 

Adlai Stevenson Commencement Speech to Smith College 1955

 

These visualizations provide an added element of understanding and interpretation to the Cold War historical narrative. They both help to encourage added sentiment and engagement between the audience and historical narrative, that may not be fully achieved through the reading of literature alone. However, it should be noted that the utilization of this form of visualization can promote one's own historical bias because of the many ways in which the data can be manipulated, and change the original emphasis of the content. 

[1] McCarthy, Joseph. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3633

[2] Stevenson, Adlai. http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/stevenson.html

Project Idea 1

Brief Description:

Identification, and documentation of five business owners within Atlantic City/County from between the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries, who represent the diversity of the area's history.

Goal(s):

This project would research four members of the Atlantic County community from the period of the later 19th to early 20th century. Along with basic background information, there would also be scanned pictures and documents (leases, land grants, building codes, new paper clippings, and advertisements), to demonstrate the role they played within their community and their impact on the landscape. This would provide a multi-level impact. The first would be the discovery, and preservation of information that may not be widely know from within the community. The second, would be the representation of a more inclusive history, by providing individuals of various genders and ethnicities, as well as from different backgrounds. The third, would be an attempt to connect younger and older audiences who may or may not know local history, and allow them to connect it with their larger concepts of American/International history.

Tools Used:

Scanner
Camera (If there is a need for more Current Images of the areas discussed)
Photoshopping Technology (only to be used for clearing up images)
Omeka (for website building)

All of these tools would be used in the preservation, and digitization of documents, and sources found from the archives. I also would like to present an element of data visualization either through mapping or a timeline, that would help to better convey the changing landscape of the area through these businesses, and the history that connects these individuals with the past. This could be done through the use of Timeline JS, and/or other data visualization tools.

The Intended Audience:

The audience for this project would ideally be a cross section, of adults and students. It provides information that could potentially inspire local educators to connect local history, with their current history curriculum. It also would be useful for certain individuals interested in genealogy, or Atlantic County history itself. While students may ultimately look at the website, at this stage it may be better suited to older students given the lack of interacting components, and simpler wording. If this project would be potentially expanded, there may be the ability to better connect the content to a wider age range of students, and even connect it to programs between schools and the Historical Society, where the large majority of the documents and information would come from.