Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Telling a story through images is a more challenging task than to be expected. Writing an image essay requires the writer to think more creatively than normal and from a variety of perspectives. Through this though, the historical interpretation may become a multi-layered story filled with images that help convey a deeper history.
For my image essay I chose the topic "the history of the pretzel." As I began my research, I began to realize that the history of the pretzel would also tell a touching story of early immigrant life in turn of the century America. While researching the images, I was moved by the immigrants captured in the photographs.
Finding these images did prove to be a bit challenging. I found myself constantly looking for more, hoping to find "the one." I experienced frustration when an image was copyrighted or when I was being indecisive about which image to use. I was also disappointed when I would locate a possible image, yet it was not yet digitized. Ultimately I was very satisfied with the images that I found and used in this essay.
This process definitely expanded my research capabilities. It forced me to "think outside of the box." By thinking creatively about your research, you have a greater chance of locating insightful and unique images. This essay also familiarized me with the wonderful world of the archive. There is so much valuable information in these archives; these images and documents are just waiting to be found and interpreted. It will be a glorious day when all of the archives, small and large, have enough time and money to digitize all of their images and documents.
Overall, I found this project very challenging and at the same time very fulfilling. I was extremely excited to share this image essay with my friends and family, as I hoped they would enjoy viewing the images and reading a quick history of the pretzel.
The Incredible, Edible Pretzel:
The Evolution of the Pretzel and Its Role in American Street Vending
The Evolution of the Pretzel and Its Role in American Street Vending
Origins: World's Oldest Snack Food?
Legends suggest that the pretzel was first created by an Italian Monk around 610 A.D. The monk, the legend states, decided to reward his students for good behavior and proper prayers with baked scraps of dough. Furthermore, the design represented the student's arms crossed in prayer. This design would later symbolize good luck and prosperity.
The pretzel then continues to reappear throughout history. In 1510 when a group of Turkish invaders attempted to seize Vienna, Austria, pretzel bakers heard the attack approaching and alerted the city. They stopped baking their pretzels and helped defend the city. Their actions were rewarded with a commemorative seal that depicted a lion and a pretzel.
By the 1800's, pretzels made the Atlantic Crossing to America's east coast with European immigrants; thus, beginning the pretzel's birth in American society and culture.
Similar to the very first pretzel in history, the origins of the first commercial pretzel in America is also surrounded by legend. In the late 1850's, legend suggests, a tramp, passing through Lititz, Pennsylvania, stopped at a bakery to request a free handout. The baker, Henry Rauch, gave him a meal and as a token of appreciation, the traveling tramp gave the baker a recipe for a hard pretzel. This recipe eventually fell into the hands of Julius Sturgis. With his top secret recipe in hand, Sturgis established the First Commercial Pretzel Bakery in 1861. Pretzels were delivered on routes within a day's driving distance, by horse and wagon, regardless of rain, snow, or hail.
(Obtained from a Lititz, PA historical newsletter)
The Sturgis Pretzel Factory: The First Commercial Pretzel Factory in America, 1861
In this factory, Julius Sturgis perfected his pretzel manufacturing skills; from culturing yeast to baking and kiln drying the pretzel dough. Production was at its height with four bakers and five twisters producing 5,000 pretzels a day. With the success of efficient production methods, pretzel retail was then extended to local stores.
Lititz Springs Pretzel Company, Lewis C. Haines and Bob Haines, November 1942
Obtained from the Library of Congress Archives
After managing "The Only Genuine Lititz Bretzels" (Sturgis' Brand) factory from 1885 to 1890, Thomas H. Keller established his own pretzel manufacturing bakery, it was known as the Lititz Springs Pretzel Company. Eventually Lewis C. Haines came to own this pretzel company. He is captured here loading a tray of pretzels that has just come up on a dumb waiter. The tin packaging barrels served as a way to market and sell pretzels outside of the Pennsylvania region. By the early 20th Century, the opportunity to make an income by selling pretzels also became an attractive venture to arriving immigrants.
East Side Street Peddler, 2/24/1917
For immigrants arriving in America with only a limited amount of supplies, street vending became the perfect entry level job. The pretzel, with its relatively low production cost, became a staple food that was offered by street vendors and peddlers. Both as the producer and consumer, street vending and peddlers became a business that the lower classes (often the immigrant classes) maintained.
Obtained from the Library of Congress Archives
New York City Immigrant and Pretzel Vendor, c 1896
Obtained from the Library of Congress
Vendors included immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Greece, Poland, and Romania. These vendors, many of whom did not speak English, benefited from this neighborhood based market that facilitated a familiar cultural and linguistic setting. Street vending and peddling provided immigrants with jobs, as well as a place to purchase inexpensive goods close to home; sometimes even a little snack- the pretzel!
Modern Day New York City Pretzel Vendor
Obtained from http://www.flickr.com/
Modern Day Pretzel Vendor Utilizing the Traditional Pretzel Basket
Obtained from http://www.flickr.com/photos/chang-er/219493491
Pretzel Vendor on Wheels
Obtained from http://www.flickr.com/photos/meltingnoise/1809032315
Although over 130 years have passed since Julius Sturgis established the commercialization of the pretzel, not too much has changed in the way that people enjoy this snack. Whether it is in a bag, out of basket, or off of a flashy hot dog cart, modern customers still enjoy the pretzel presumably as much as the 7th Century Monk's students, the families of Lititz, Pennsylvania, and the many immigrants that bought and sold them. Considered a symbol of good luck, long life, and prosperity, it is no small wonder that the pretzel has survived since the 7th Century.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Each year on February 14th many Americans celebrate a day of sharing love and affections with those of whom they care about most. Since we were children, we have come accustomed to the commercialized Valentine’s Day, taking little pause to truly contemplate from where this holiday derives. There is a cloud of mystery and legend surrounding Valentine’s Day, furthermore, the names of Christian martyrs and pagan festivals most often being used when detailing this diverse history. By analyzing and describing a brief history of Valentine’s Day, we may have a better appreciation for this now predominantly, “Hallmark” holiday.
The history of Valentine’s Day centers around three Christian martyrs and the Christianization of the pagan holiday Lupercalia. There were three early Christian martyrs by the name of Valentine. There was Valentine of Rome (martyrdom AD 269), the Valentine of Terni (martyrdom AD 197), and also a third Saint named Valentine martyred in Africa. Throughout history, these martyrs, who are now also legends, have come to be known as one person in the same. Thus, the legend follows as such; during the 3rd Century in failing Rome, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than married ones, therefore outlawing marriage. Valentine, a priest at this time, felt that the law was absurd and continued to marry couples in private. After being caught in performing these marriages, Valentine was condemned, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death. Some legends say he was burned at the stake, while others say that he was beheaded on February 14th. According to legend, while in prison Valentine actually sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting. Valentine was able to cure the jailer’s daughter of her blindness and from that point they fell deeply in love. Her love and affections were not able to save him though. On the eve of execution, Valentine wrote her a love letter, singed ‘From your Valentine;’ this expression is still used today. Many believe then, that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death.
The story of St. Valentine is only part of the history of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day also centers on the Christianization of the pagan Lupercalia Festival. The ancient Roman’s celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, a spring festival celebrated on February 15, held in honor of the god’s Faunus, Romulus, Remus, and Juno Februata. In ancient Rome, February was considered the official beginning of spring and also a time for purification. The festival was also used as a time to meet a prospective mate. As Christianity’s influence grew in Rome, pagan festivals like Lupercalia were Christianized. In AD 496, Pope Gelasius I outlawed the festival and declared February 14 as “Valentine’s Day.” Pope Gelasius I needed a “lovers” saint to replace the pagan Gods; therefore, he chose Valentine the Christian martyr who had been killed on the eve of the Lupercalia festival nearly two hundred years previous. At this juncture, the legends and mysteries of Valentine’s Day join to commemorate St. Valentine, while also retaining elements of the Lupercalia festival.
The Valentine’s Day we celebrate today is filled with much more mystery, love, death, and religion than is to be expected. The origins of this now commercialized holiday reveal the true essence of this holiday. Valentine’s Day should not only be a day to share your affection with loved ones, it should also be a day where people take pause to remember the complex history of a holiday that extends hundreds of years into our own cultural history.
This Experience
Writing a factual, reliable, and enjoyable history of Valentine’s Day using only free internet resources proved to be challenging, interesting, and enlightening. The main issues I encountered on this assignment where the reliability of sources, the contradictions of facts among the sources, and the extent to which there were volumes of information to digest.
Most of the websites I viewed for this assignment did not cite from where they were retrieving their information. It is quite possible the information on these sites was factual, yet without footnotes or in-text citations, the reliability and validity of their histories is compromised. It is alarming to think that much of the general public is reading these sources without questioning their validity. Although this does not apply to the entire general public, many of the readers will not view these sites with an analytical, critical eye; instead they will digest these histories as fact, furthermore sharing these histories with anyone willing to listen.
Many of the Valentine’s Day histories I encountered contradicted one another. The names, dates, and concepts are thrown around, leading me to believe that nobody has a clear grasp on the history of Valentine’s Day. The history of Valentine’s Day is clouded in mystery; this may explain for the diversity of definitions and explanations of similar names, events, and festivals around this holiday.
The variations in histories could also be attributed to the extensive presence of Valentine’s Day in popular culture. There are thousands of resources online to view discussions and histories of this holiday. The availability of resources may prove to be both positive and negative. It forces the audience to sort through hundred of sites; as we all know, this is not actually going to happen, therefore a lot of false sites are going to receive unwarranted attention. With so much information, which sites do you trust and use?
It was fascinating to see how many sites presented histories on Valentine’s Day. By reading a multitude of sites, you begin to see where authors have synthesized their own version of the history of Valentine’s Day; leaving out some facts, while adding in others. Presumably this is such the case with any history that is written, yet with the accessibility of information becoming so extensive with the internet, the visibility and usability of these abridged histories becomes that much greater; furthermore, that much more of a problem.
This experience has made me more appreciative of certain historical databases. As a graduate student, they indeed save you time from sorting through unreliable sources. With history databases you are confident that the sources are legitimate, once again saving you time. This experience also reinforces the idea that the “general public” is indeed interested in history. If people were not interested in history, there would not be the hundreds of websites that I encountered for this topic. The prevalence and existence of histories on almost any given topic further supports this argument. It is our responsibility, as academic scholars, to make all attempts to increase visibility, usability, and accessibility to histories that are factual, reliable, and enjoyable to read. This is our duty as public historians in the digital age.
The history of Valentine’s Day centers around three Christian martyrs and the Christianization of the pagan holiday Lupercalia. There were three early Christian martyrs by the name of Valentine. There was Valentine of Rome (martyrdom AD 269), the Valentine of Terni (martyrdom AD 197), and also a third Saint named Valentine martyred in Africa. Throughout history, these martyrs, who are now also legends, have come to be known as one person in the same. Thus, the legend follows as such; during the 3rd Century in failing Rome, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than married ones, therefore outlawing marriage. Valentine, a priest at this time, felt that the law was absurd and continued to marry couples in private. After being caught in performing these marriages, Valentine was condemned, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death. Some legends say he was burned at the stake, while others say that he was beheaded on February 14th. According to legend, while in prison Valentine actually sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting. Valentine was able to cure the jailer’s daughter of her blindness and from that point they fell deeply in love. Her love and affections were not able to save him though. On the eve of execution, Valentine wrote her a love letter, singed ‘From your Valentine;’ this expression is still used today. Many believe then, that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death.
The story of St. Valentine is only part of the history of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day also centers on the Christianization of the pagan Lupercalia Festival. The ancient Roman’s celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, a spring festival celebrated on February 15, held in honor of the god’s Faunus, Romulus, Remus, and Juno Februata. In ancient Rome, February was considered the official beginning of spring and also a time for purification. The festival was also used as a time to meet a prospective mate. As Christianity’s influence grew in Rome, pagan festivals like Lupercalia were Christianized. In AD 496, Pope Gelasius I outlawed the festival and declared February 14 as “Valentine’s Day.” Pope Gelasius I needed a “lovers” saint to replace the pagan Gods; therefore, he chose Valentine the Christian martyr who had been killed on the eve of the Lupercalia festival nearly two hundred years previous. At this juncture, the legends and mysteries of Valentine’s Day join to commemorate St. Valentine, while also retaining elements of the Lupercalia festival.
The Valentine’s Day we celebrate today is filled with much more mystery, love, death, and religion than is to be expected. The origins of this now commercialized holiday reveal the true essence of this holiday. Valentine’s Day should not only be a day to share your affection with loved ones, it should also be a day where people take pause to remember the complex history of a holiday that extends hundreds of years into our own cultural history.
This Experience
Writing a factual, reliable, and enjoyable history of Valentine’s Day using only free internet resources proved to be challenging, interesting, and enlightening. The main issues I encountered on this assignment where the reliability of sources, the contradictions of facts among the sources, and the extent to which there were volumes of information to digest.
Most of the websites I viewed for this assignment did not cite from where they were retrieving their information. It is quite possible the information on these sites was factual, yet without footnotes or in-text citations, the reliability and validity of their histories is compromised. It is alarming to think that much of the general public is reading these sources without questioning their validity. Although this does not apply to the entire general public, many of the readers will not view these sites with an analytical, critical eye; instead they will digest these histories as fact, furthermore sharing these histories with anyone willing to listen.
Many of the Valentine’s Day histories I encountered contradicted one another. The names, dates, and concepts are thrown around, leading me to believe that nobody has a clear grasp on the history of Valentine’s Day. The history of Valentine’s Day is clouded in mystery; this may explain for the diversity of definitions and explanations of similar names, events, and festivals around this holiday.
The variations in histories could also be attributed to the extensive presence of Valentine’s Day in popular culture. There are thousands of resources online to view discussions and histories of this holiday. The availability of resources may prove to be both positive and negative. It forces the audience to sort through hundred of sites; as we all know, this is not actually going to happen, therefore a lot of false sites are going to receive unwarranted attention. With so much information, which sites do you trust and use?
It was fascinating to see how many sites presented histories on Valentine’s Day. By reading a multitude of sites, you begin to see where authors have synthesized their own version of the history of Valentine’s Day; leaving out some facts, while adding in others. Presumably this is such the case with any history that is written, yet with the accessibility of information becoming so extensive with the internet, the visibility and usability of these abridged histories becomes that much greater; furthermore, that much more of a problem.
This experience has made me more appreciative of certain historical databases. As a graduate student, they indeed save you time from sorting through unreliable sources. With history databases you are confident that the sources are legitimate, once again saving you time. This experience also reinforces the idea that the “general public” is indeed interested in history. If people were not interested in history, there would not be the hundreds of websites that I encountered for this topic. The prevalence and existence of histories on almost any given topic further supports this argument. It is our responsibility, as academic scholars, to make all attempts to increase visibility, usability, and accessibility to histories that are factual, reliable, and enjoyable to read. This is our duty as public historians in the digital age.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
In the 21st Century, one of the most effective ways for historians to convey their ideas, scholarly works, or exhibits and collections to a broad audience is through the use of a website. The ways in which an individual website operates and presents information determines if the website is effective in capturing visitor’s attention and imagination. The New York Historical Society, a long established society and institution, has joined the modern age with its very own website. By analyzing the website’s usability, content, scholarship, presentation, and use of new media, one can determine the effectiveness of this site.
Upon visiting the New York Historical Society’s website, the first thing you encounter is a unique, unconventional menu page. Although the site receives points for originality, the vertically laid out menu options, with hard a difficult to view color scheme, forces the visitor to actually tilt their head in order to make a selection. The color scheme also makes this initial selection process difficult. Once past this problematic menu page, the rest of the site follows conventional menu and page layout methods. The site then becomes very easy to navigate and the form is extremely clear. Certain pages though, like their online database sites designed for locating digitized primary sources, are a bit confusing and could use some additional attention. The site promotes a sense of consistency by using the same color scheme, the same layout styles, and by having the New York Historical Society emblem located at the top of each webpage. The minimal amount of advertisements allows the visitor to believe that the site’s purpose is pure and directed solely by the mission of the New York Historical Society. The style and form of their website creates an accessible platform for a broad audience of internet users.
The New York Historical Society has an extremely diverse target audience. The well written site aims to reach educators, school children, college students, scholars, general interest viewers and also New York City tourists. This stated, the site offers a little bit of something for everyone. Educators will find content specific digital projects for use in their classroom, while general interest viewers and tourists will find current exhibitions, upcoming events, and podcast downloads available for their visit to New York City. All of this information is available, while scholars can browse primary sources and set up appointments to conduct research at the New York Historical Society Library. With such an extensive range in audience aim, purpose, and appeal, the New York Historical Society does an exemplary job of making the site accessible and useful to almost anyone.
As a history site, not a tourist destination, the site offers a shell of all of the historical scholarship available at the New York Historical Society. A bulk of the site gives you short descriptions of exhibits, collections, and of recent historical speakers’ presentations. The site works as a teaser; its prompts the viewer to dig further into topics of interest and to possibly even physically visit the society in New York City. As a research site, once again the site works as a teaser. You may browse the databases, their library, and many of their exhibits, but the extent to which you can really learn about these sources is limited. By setting up an appointment with the Collections Manager and by physically going to New York City, then yes, the visitor may take full advantage of the collections; for the purposes of the website though, many of the collections feel inaccessible.
There are though, certain topic specific websites sponsored in affiliation with the New York Historical Society, that offer a plethora of primary sources, historical interpretation, and new media presentations all using the resources of the New York Historical Society. These sites, which include Marion Mahony Griffin’s The Magic of America, Examination Days: The New York African Free School Collection , and the American Revolution Digital Learning Project, would be fascinating to the general viewer, as well to researchers and teachers. Due to the extensive amount of humanities scholarship the society is involved with, having these links may be the most effective way to present their extensive contribution to historical scholarship. These links point visitors to additional sources and also exemplify the society’s promotion of community interest and involvement.
The site uses a mixture of new media intermixed with classic textual presentation. There are podcast downloads, next to more detailed textual essays; there are digitized galleries followed by textual descriptions. If you browse long enough, there is a form of new media appropriate for almost any viewer. Their Media Center offers a range of podcast interviews with conversations and lectures by curators, authors, and historians. In displaying one of their latest exhibitions, Audubon’s Aviary: Portraits of Endangered Species, the site visitor is able to download an MP3 clip of the bird’s chirp. They may not be able to do this at the actual gallery; therefore the online exhibition is extremely useful. The use of MP3 clips helps bring to life the paintings and to further interest the site visitor.
The site does an exemplary job of organizing a vast institution that is involved with multiple layers of academia, community, society, and current events. Organizing such a site, while maintaining aesthetic appeal, visitor usability, and scholarly presentations, is quite an accomplishment. Although the site has some weak areas, overall, the quality of the site will continue to uphold the respected legacy of the New York Historical Society.
Upon visiting the New York Historical Society’s website, the first thing you encounter is a unique, unconventional menu page. Although the site receives points for originality, the vertically laid out menu options, with hard a difficult to view color scheme, forces the visitor to actually tilt their head in order to make a selection. The color scheme also makes this initial selection process difficult. Once past this problematic menu page, the rest of the site follows conventional menu and page layout methods. The site then becomes very easy to navigate and the form is extremely clear. Certain pages though, like their online database sites designed for locating digitized primary sources, are a bit confusing and could use some additional attention. The site promotes a sense of consistency by using the same color scheme, the same layout styles, and by having the New York Historical Society emblem located at the top of each webpage. The minimal amount of advertisements allows the visitor to believe that the site’s purpose is pure and directed solely by the mission of the New York Historical Society. The style and form of their website creates an accessible platform for a broad audience of internet users.
The New York Historical Society has an extremely diverse target audience. The well written site aims to reach educators, school children, college students, scholars, general interest viewers and also New York City tourists. This stated, the site offers a little bit of something for everyone. Educators will find content specific digital projects for use in their classroom, while general interest viewers and tourists will find current exhibitions, upcoming events, and podcast downloads available for their visit to New York City. All of this information is available, while scholars can browse primary sources and set up appointments to conduct research at the New York Historical Society Library. With such an extensive range in audience aim, purpose, and appeal, the New York Historical Society does an exemplary job of making the site accessible and useful to almost anyone.
As a history site, not a tourist destination, the site offers a shell of all of the historical scholarship available at the New York Historical Society. A bulk of the site gives you short descriptions of exhibits, collections, and of recent historical speakers’ presentations. The site works as a teaser; its prompts the viewer to dig further into topics of interest and to possibly even physically visit the society in New York City. As a research site, once again the site works as a teaser. You may browse the databases, their library, and many of their exhibits, but the extent to which you can really learn about these sources is limited. By setting up an appointment with the Collections Manager and by physically going to New York City, then yes, the visitor may take full advantage of the collections; for the purposes of the website though, many of the collections feel inaccessible.
There are though, certain topic specific websites sponsored in affiliation with the New York Historical Society, that offer a plethora of primary sources, historical interpretation, and new media presentations all using the resources of the New York Historical Society. These sites, which include Marion Mahony Griffin’s The Magic of America, Examination Days: The New York African Free School Collection , and the American Revolution Digital Learning Project, would be fascinating to the general viewer, as well to researchers and teachers. Due to the extensive amount of humanities scholarship the society is involved with, having these links may be the most effective way to present their extensive contribution to historical scholarship. These links point visitors to additional sources and also exemplify the society’s promotion of community interest and involvement.
The site uses a mixture of new media intermixed with classic textual presentation. There are podcast downloads, next to more detailed textual essays; there are digitized galleries followed by textual descriptions. If you browse long enough, there is a form of new media appropriate for almost any viewer. Their Media Center offers a range of podcast interviews with conversations and lectures by curators, authors, and historians. In displaying one of their latest exhibitions, Audubon’s Aviary: Portraits of Endangered Species, the site visitor is able to download an MP3 clip of the bird’s chirp. They may not be able to do this at the actual gallery; therefore the online exhibition is extremely useful. The use of MP3 clips helps bring to life the paintings and to further interest the site visitor.
The site does an exemplary job of organizing a vast institution that is involved with multiple layers of academia, community, society, and current events. Organizing such a site, while maintaining aesthetic appeal, visitor usability, and scholarly presentations, is quite an accomplishment. Although the site has some weak areas, overall, the quality of the site will continue to uphold the respected legacy of the New York Historical Society.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Assignment #2
29 January 2008
Approaches to History on the Internet
Digital History is an essential element in the expanding world of Public History. The internet is critical in bringing the ideas, theories, and methods of historians to the public. The internet has the ability to present a broad range of historical topics and methods, thus bringing these ideas to an even more broad audience. The internet may be used as a way to bridge the distinct gaps between academic historians, public historians, and ultimately the public. In order to bring these historical ideas to the forefront, four types of historical websites are designed and used; they are (1) archival, (2) exhibits, films, scholarships and essay, (3) teaching and learning, and (4) discussion and organizational sites.[1] A review of the following websites, The Valley of the Shadow, The History Channel, Do History, and National Museum of American History reveals the different ways in which history is presented, used, and discussed on the web.
Each of the historical websites listed above falls into a particular genre of historical website. Although labeled in a specific genre, these sites will often share qualities with the other genres. The Valley of the Shadow topic specific website “details life in two American communities, one Northern and one Southern, from the time of John Brown’s Raid to the era of Reconstruction.”[2] The site has a digital archive for examining and interpreting evidence, in order to further your understanding and perception of these two different towns. The Do History website is similar in that it presents a specific topic, a case study of Martha Ballard, while providing digitized primary sources. The History Channel website covers everything from different television specials, interactive discussion blogs, “this day in history” clips, historical video clips, to different History Channel related gifts you can purchase. The National Museum of American History website presents information on many of the exhibits and collections of the museum. The site also offers helpful teaching guides, along with ways to plan your visit to the museum. Each of these sites was created with a specific genre and audience in mind.
In creating history websites, an essential element is determining who the intended audience is. By doing this, the website may be structure in such a way to reveal the most useful information and to hopefully create repeat visitors. The Valley of the Shadow and the Do History websites are topic specific sites that are to be used for teaching and learning. The intended audience for these sites is mostly teachers in K-12. These sites are also effective in reaching people with a general interest in history and that desire the tools and methods in order to conduct their own historical research. The History Channel and National Museum of American History websites are intended for the broadest range of audience members possible. The diversity and variety present on these sites reveals the extensive range of people these sites intend to reach. Through the “glitz and glam” of video and sound clips, as well as state of the art digitized archives and exhibits, these sites are perfect for almost any world citizen. Once the given audiences have been determined, the ways in which these websites function may be developed.
Through the use of their “invented” digital archives, The Valley of the Shadow and the Do History websites offer interactive ways for people to engage with history on the web.[3] These sites differ from traditional archives for they present the reader with archive material that has some interpretation, traditional archives do not have this element.[4] At these sites, people are taken through step by step activities in interrogating the historical evidence. The Valley of the Shadow website offers a multitude of digitized primary sources; these include photographs, church records, newspapers and maps. The Do History offers similar amounts of digitized primary sources, including Martha Ballard’s Diary, as well as letters written around the same period. Each site challenges the reader to examine, explore, and to critically think about these primary sources; what do they mean, what story do they tell, and how are they significant? This type of historical site, a teaching and learning site combined with digital archives helps to further bridge the gap between academic historians and the public. By inviting the public into the detective world of the historian, the public may have a greater appreciation and understanding of the historical works ultimately published or produced.
The “exhibits, films, scholarships and essay” genre of historical website is also very effective in bringing historical themes and ideas to a broad audience. The History Channel and National Museum of American History present a variety of ways of capturing the audiences’ attention. The use of digitized exhibits, colorful photographs, enchanting historical movie clips and sound bites, all combine to form a spider-web network of digital history presentations. Both sites are filled with visual stimuli, followed by links that bring you little factoids about history (Academic historians would argue that some of this information a little too current to be interpreted as history). The use of these websites creates a sense of accessibility to the stories and exhibits being presented.
Although the National Museum of American History is closed until the summer of 2008, people are still able to explore the many riches of the museum’s exhibits. The online website creates a timeless space for many exhibits, enriching the length and accessibility of the presentations.[5] This site also offers useful information for teachers and tourists. For teachers, lesson plan ideas are presented using many of the rich resources of the museum. For tourists, entire itineraries may be planned in order to yield the highest quality experience possible. The many facets of the website all work towards bringing quality history to the greatest amount of people possible. Accessibility to rich and enlightening history is also enhanced through the use of discussion boards and blogs on these sites.
The History Channel website not only offers exciting “exhibits and films,” it also hosts an extensive network of discussion boards and blogs. These message boards cover a broad range of historical and current topics; including religion, military, and sports history. The large amounts of posts, some ranging into the thousands, reveal that this message board system is an effective way to engage people in discussion about historical and current issues. The discussion boards create dialogues that help to bridge the gaps between academic historians, public historians, and the general public. These message boards also reveal that the general audience is very interested in historical topics and that they are willing to sit down and share their ideas on many of these issues.
History websites are crucial to the guild of history. As historians, in order to convey our historical ideas to a broad audience, we must use the web. We would be doing the public a disservice if we choose not to share our historical methods and interpretations with the world via the web. Through the use of these different types of historical websites, archival, teaching, exhibits, and discussions, historians can effectively convey their messages in interactive, informative, and engaging ways. In order to most efficiently reach and inform the public of “the story of the past” (history), historians may indeed use this modern invention, the internet; the websites reviewed in this essay reveal how this can be successfully accomplished.
[1] Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/.
[2] Edward L. Ayers, The Valley of the Shadow, The Valley Project, Virginia Center for Digital History, http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/.
[3] Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/.
[4] Ibid
[5] Ibid
29 January 2008
Approaches to History on the Internet
Digital History is an essential element in the expanding world of Public History. The internet is critical in bringing the ideas, theories, and methods of historians to the public. The internet has the ability to present a broad range of historical topics and methods, thus bringing these ideas to an even more broad audience. The internet may be used as a way to bridge the distinct gaps between academic historians, public historians, and ultimately the public. In order to bring these historical ideas to the forefront, four types of historical websites are designed and used; they are (1) archival, (2) exhibits, films, scholarships and essay, (3) teaching and learning, and (4) discussion and organizational sites.[1] A review of the following websites, The Valley of the Shadow, The History Channel, Do History, and National Museum of American History reveals the different ways in which history is presented, used, and discussed on the web.
Each of the historical websites listed above falls into a particular genre of historical website. Although labeled in a specific genre, these sites will often share qualities with the other genres. The Valley of the Shadow topic specific website “details life in two American communities, one Northern and one Southern, from the time of John Brown’s Raid to the era of Reconstruction.”[2] The site has a digital archive for examining and interpreting evidence, in order to further your understanding and perception of these two different towns. The Do History website is similar in that it presents a specific topic, a case study of Martha Ballard, while providing digitized primary sources. The History Channel website covers everything from different television specials, interactive discussion blogs, “this day in history” clips, historical video clips, to different History Channel related gifts you can purchase. The National Museum of American History website presents information on many of the exhibits and collections of the museum. The site also offers helpful teaching guides, along with ways to plan your visit to the museum. Each of these sites was created with a specific genre and audience in mind.
In creating history websites, an essential element is determining who the intended audience is. By doing this, the website may be structure in such a way to reveal the most useful information and to hopefully create repeat visitors. The Valley of the Shadow and the Do History websites are topic specific sites that are to be used for teaching and learning. The intended audience for these sites is mostly teachers in K-12. These sites are also effective in reaching people with a general interest in history and that desire the tools and methods in order to conduct their own historical research. The History Channel and National Museum of American History websites are intended for the broadest range of audience members possible. The diversity and variety present on these sites reveals the extensive range of people these sites intend to reach. Through the “glitz and glam” of video and sound clips, as well as state of the art digitized archives and exhibits, these sites are perfect for almost any world citizen. Once the given audiences have been determined, the ways in which these websites function may be developed.
Through the use of their “invented” digital archives, The Valley of the Shadow and the Do History websites offer interactive ways for people to engage with history on the web.[3] These sites differ from traditional archives for they present the reader with archive material that has some interpretation, traditional archives do not have this element.[4] At these sites, people are taken through step by step activities in interrogating the historical evidence. The Valley of the Shadow website offers a multitude of digitized primary sources; these include photographs, church records, newspapers and maps. The Do History offers similar amounts of digitized primary sources, including Martha Ballard’s Diary, as well as letters written around the same period. Each site challenges the reader to examine, explore, and to critically think about these primary sources; what do they mean, what story do they tell, and how are they significant? This type of historical site, a teaching and learning site combined with digital archives helps to further bridge the gap between academic historians and the public. By inviting the public into the detective world of the historian, the public may have a greater appreciation and understanding of the historical works ultimately published or produced.
The “exhibits, films, scholarships and essay” genre of historical website is also very effective in bringing historical themes and ideas to a broad audience. The History Channel and National Museum of American History present a variety of ways of capturing the audiences’ attention. The use of digitized exhibits, colorful photographs, enchanting historical movie clips and sound bites, all combine to form a spider-web network of digital history presentations. Both sites are filled with visual stimuli, followed by links that bring you little factoids about history (Academic historians would argue that some of this information a little too current to be interpreted as history). The use of these websites creates a sense of accessibility to the stories and exhibits being presented.
Although the National Museum of American History is closed until the summer of 2008, people are still able to explore the many riches of the museum’s exhibits. The online website creates a timeless space for many exhibits, enriching the length and accessibility of the presentations.[5] This site also offers useful information for teachers and tourists. For teachers, lesson plan ideas are presented using many of the rich resources of the museum. For tourists, entire itineraries may be planned in order to yield the highest quality experience possible. The many facets of the website all work towards bringing quality history to the greatest amount of people possible. Accessibility to rich and enlightening history is also enhanced through the use of discussion boards and blogs on these sites.
The History Channel website not only offers exciting “exhibits and films,” it also hosts an extensive network of discussion boards and blogs. These message boards cover a broad range of historical and current topics; including religion, military, and sports history. The large amounts of posts, some ranging into the thousands, reveal that this message board system is an effective way to engage people in discussion about historical and current issues. The discussion boards create dialogues that help to bridge the gaps between academic historians, public historians, and the general public. These message boards also reveal that the general audience is very interested in historical topics and that they are willing to sit down and share their ideas on many of these issues.
History websites are crucial to the guild of history. As historians, in order to convey our historical ideas to a broad audience, we must use the web. We would be doing the public a disservice if we choose not to share our historical methods and interpretations with the world via the web. Through the use of these different types of historical websites, archival, teaching, exhibits, and discussions, historians can effectively convey their messages in interactive, informative, and engaging ways. In order to most efficiently reach and inform the public of “the story of the past” (history), historians may indeed use this modern invention, the internet; the websites reviewed in this essay reveal how this can be successfully accomplished.
[1] Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/.
[2] Edward L. Ayers, The Valley of the Shadow, The Valley Project, Virginia Center for Digital History, http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/.
[3] Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/.
[4] Ibid
[5] Ibid
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