Blog

Videos, Oral Histories, and the Chester Fellowship

It has been a bit since I had the privilege of writing about my projects on the Digital Harrisburg platform, and I am delighted to be back! This fall, I entered my final undergraduate semester and my last few months at Messiah University. Instead of being sad about the impending end, I have juggled as … Continue reading Videos, Oral Histories, and the Chester Fellowship

Digitizing Washingtonia: Telling the Story of the “American” Colony in Greece

Image Credit: Aidan Hubley For May Term 2023, I joined a team of professors and students from Messiah University and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and traveled to Greece. While we were there, we expected to gain exposure to a few archaeology skills, such as drone surveying, photogrammetry, and artifact illustration. Our focus was … Continue reading Digitizing Washingtonia: Telling the Story of the “American” Colony in Greece

Harrisburg Historical: Developing a Digital Civil Rights Tour

The landing page of Harrisburg Historical, a collection of digital tours through the city. What if there was a way to conveniently access a diverse array of histories surrounding the Pennsylvania capitol in the palm of your hand? This is the very goal of Harrisburg Historical, an upcoming website and mobile application that will tell … Continue reading Harrisburg Historical: Developing a Digital Civil Rights Tour

The Newest Contributions to the Women’s History Garden

At the beginning of the semester, we chose three women to commemorate in the Civic Club’s Women’s History Garden. My partner, Kyle, and I completed extensive research on these women. We analyzed a variety of primary and secondary sources to inform our knowledge of these women and then created 1-page biographies on each woman. After … Continue reading The Newest Contributions to the Women’s History Garden

Taking the Mobile App to the Lincoln Cemetery: A First Glimpse of Lincoln Cemetery

As a Public History major, I have been bestowed the honor of continuing the work that Rachel Petroziello had started last semester on the Lincoln Cemetery Mapping Project. For some context, Lincoln Cemetery is a historically Black cemetery in Penbrook, Pennsylvania, which is also an eternal resting place for some historically significant figures such as … Continue reading Taking the Mobile App to the Lincoln Cemetery: A First Glimpse of Lincoln Cemetery

The Expansion of the Women’s History Garden

My name is Tyler Caruso and I am a Junior at Messiah University studying film and media production. During this semester as part of the Humanities Projects course at Messiah, I am working on the Women's History Garden at the Civic Club of Harrisburg. Last semester, Messiah University’s Center for Public Humanities partnered with the … Continue reading The Expansion of the Women’s History Garden

Reflections on Digital History and my work with Frederick Douglass

This past semester I have learned an incredible number of applicable skills in the world of digital history. Our class went through learning multiple platforms of website builders, while also learning a lot about different softwares that can be used in many creative ways - especially in the field of history. Some our first little … Continue reading Reflections on Digital History and my work with Frederick Douglass

Digital History: A ‘Bridge,’ Enabling the Past to be Elevated in the Present

By Rachel Dougherty I sit down to write this final post in the midst of a hectic finals week.  I’ve been busy taking cumulative exams and writing papers in an attempt to synthesize what I have learned over the course of the semester; but my Digital History final has looked a bit different.  I was … Continue reading Digital History: A ‘Bridge,’ Enabling the Past to be Elevated in the Present

The Untold Epidemic of 1916

Learn about the epidemic of measles and whooping cough that swept over Harrisburg in the year 1916. A graph of the numbers of diseases per ward. Source: Faith Swarner I was presented with a kind of mystery this semester. For our final project, we were to find information from the PA State Archives to produce … Continue reading The Untold Epidemic of 1916