As little yellow flowers started to bloom across the graveyard, honoring every ancestor that breathed life into them, the Spring 2023 semester has come to an end, and it is high time to wrap up everything that has been done to push this project forward until now. I was stunned momentarily when I stepped into … Continue reading Blossoming of Lincoln Cemetery
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
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
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
Image Source: Alex Shehigian by Alex Shehigian For part one of this story, click here. For part two, click here. As the semester draws to a close, it is time to provide a final update on the Women’s History Garden project. It’s been an incredible journey working with the Civic Club of Harrisburg and the … Continue reading Wrapping Up the Women’s History Garden Project
Throughout this fall semester I have expanded my experience as a historian; however, particularly my experiences with the field of digital history. The digital history course exposed me to a great number of tools, such as website and blog creation programs like Omeka and WordPress. Both of these tools have allowed me to not only … Continue reading Reflecting on Digital History 2022
Featured image credits: Walnut and Short Looking North Toward Capitol, January 4,1918, Private Papers (Series MG-085-APRP-3, Box 1), MG-085, J. Horace McFarland Private Papers, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg. - By Kelan Amme When I first began taking Digital History in August of this year (2022), I expected myself to be learning about how the historical … Continue reading Historians Behind the Screen, Lens, Records Box, Database… A Semester’s Reflection on the Second Capitol Expansion
- Kelan Amme, Lenwood Sloan (who plays Martin J. Delaney), and Lewis Butts (who plays Jacob T. Compton) discuss project details. Image by Kelan Amme. For part one of this story, click here. For part two of this story, click here. When I first began brainstorming how the Chester Way walking tour, my idea of … Continue reading Retelling the Story of Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community: My Final Reflections
Photo by Kelan Amme As part of the Digital History course offered at Messiah University, students are given the opportunity to gain experience in archival research during visits to the Pennsylvania State Archives and the Historical Society of Dauphin County. During two separate trips to Harrisburg, students were tasked with identifying manuscripts, books, and other … Continue reading Searching for Answers
By: Rachel Dougherty As my time in Digital History winds down as the semester comes to a natural conclusion, I find I have two final reflections from this course that seem to juxtapose one another. First, I am truly amazed at the amount and quality of history that is able to be done in the … Continue reading Archival Research: A journey that may not actually be about the destination
Digital Harrisburg 