While I’m not a DH student, I think I’d really like to go with the proposal option and curate it as a DH grant/award proposal. What comes to my mind is the NYCDH Graduate Student Project Award which may not be available next semester (which is my last at the GC) for my thesis capstone, but is great practice for other potential grants or awards. I’d like to continue with a project that I used for my map praxis assignment, which is the development of a future non-profit titled Northern Slavery Collective.
About the Northern Slavery Collective (NorSC)
In February 2020, staff from various museums gathered at Philipsburg Manor, New York to discuss how they are rethinking their current narratives to create inclusivity by including stories of enslaved and free peoples who lived and worked on these properties.
This network of like-minded institutions has acted as a space to work through the challenges of the interpretation of inclusive narratives. In the summer of 2021, this group created the Northern Slavery Collective, which has currently manifested as a Facebook Group and Page for the cohort to collectively share ideas, events, questions, and challenges of this interpretation process.
The organization is in its early stages, which is hoping to expand publicly through a website and social media as a resource to the public and educational communities for understanding and learning about these forgotten stories. The public facing goal is to end the myth that slavery did not exist in the North or was mild in comparison to slavery in the South.
ABOUT section from Norsc Storymaps
My DH project for NorSC
With NorSC, I’m hoping to develop a cohesive mission that supports historical sites and institutions to share the knowledge of enslaved African experiences in the Northeast. The project will be a website that functions as a source for the general public, educators/academics, and the staff/employees of these sites. Each audience will utilize the website in a different way that has DH components throughout.
The General Public
To educate the general public, the website would feature sections including general history of slavery in the Northeast, history at each site, and virtual content, including exhibitions and videos. Each site can be explored using an interactive map that will give basic features, and can be clicked to open a new page with more details. The virtual content can also incorporate Omeka to feature exhibitions and collections.
Educators/Academics
For educators and academics, there will be open access workshops, resources, syllabi, and other materials and packets that can be used for educational purposes. Again, a map feature can be used here to feature educational materials that are provide by site. I haven’t fully thought out how all the downloadable material will be stored or accessed, but this could also have some sort of DH component. In addition, presentations can be accessed from the website (not downloaded), and things like Timeline JS can also be helpful in digital education.
Staff/Employees
Staff and employees of these sites can login and access a forum to share knowledge with one another. The forum can be used as a space to collaborate on projects, share events, ask for feedback, support each others work, and so much more. The main goal would be to provide as a space to easily communicate and network with one another on exploring, discussing, and learning ways to exhibit and educate an inclusive history. I have’t fully figured out what kind of DH component would work here, but am open to any feedback, as well as feedback for this project as a whole!
