Digital Humanities, Information Fluency, and the Digital Harrisburg Project

Posted on by David Pettegrew

Yesterday morning, the Dean of the School of Humanities and a small contingent from the history department made a presentation to administrators at our school, Messiah College, about Digital Humanities and new initiatives in Digital Harrisburg. It was exciting. Our dean, Peter Powers, gave an overview of new movements, activities, courses, and assignments afoot on … Continue reading Digital Humanities, Information Fluency, and the Digital Harrisburg Project

Harrisburg on the Map: An Update on the US Census Project

Posted on by David Pettegrew

As students have noted recently (here, here, and here), everyone feels a sense of accomplishment and relief in bringing to completion the “City  Social” U.S. Census data project for the digital history class. What students have been able to accomplish in the last six weeks is truly remarkable both on an historical and logistical level. … Continue reading Harrisburg on the Map: An Update on the US Census Project

Practical Applications of Census Data

Posted on by Digital Harrisburg

We have spent many weeks working on digitizing census data, tediously comparing spreadsheets and meticulously analyzing the entries. But the question remains as to what can be done with this data? What is the point of digitizing this information? Digitizing this census data opens doors to obtaining many different types of information. As you know, … Continue reading Practical Applications of Census Data

Why I Love Digital Harrisburg

Posted on by Digital Harrisburg

The Digital Harrisburg Project has done much to rejuvenate the culture of the History Department here at Messiah College.  As chair of the Department, I am excited about this initiative for several reasons: 1.  It allows our students to "do history."  So often college history majors sit passively as their professors lecture at them.  Since … Continue reading Why I Love Digital Harrisburg

So What Exactly are We Doing?

Posted on by Digital Harrisburg

As you must have gathered from exploring this site, students at Messiah College are working on projects that involve bringing historical information about Harrisburg, PA and the City Beautiful Movement into the Digital Age. But with all the information about census data, archiving and digitization, it’s easy for details about what is occurring within the … Continue reading So What Exactly are We Doing?

New Initiatives in Digital Harrisburg

Posted on by David Pettegrew

There is a new buzz about our campus about the digital humanities, digital history, and the prospects of creating a digital project, or series of projects, related to the people, culture, and history of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s state capital. The Department of History at Messiah College has created this site to publicize our new initiatives in … Continue reading New Initiatives in Digital Harrisburg