Fall semester 2025 at Messiah University began six weeks ago and our students have been busy working on a number of projects related to the history of Harrisburg. As the coordinator for digital humanities with Messiah University's Center for Public Humanities (CPH), I'm excited about what our students will accomplish this term in collaboration with … Continue reading The Digital Harrisburg Initiative in Fall 2025
As the semester draws to a close, so does the culmination of our labor—the completion of the "Along the Chester Way" Story Map. This semester-long project was a combined effort of three key individuals: Kelan Amme, Cade Smucker, and me. Kelan and Cade headed the research and writing portion of the project. Meanwhile, I was … Continue reading Concluding the Chester Way Story Map
The final week of the Fall 2023 semester is upon us, and thus our student team is putting the final touches on our contribution to the Chester Way Civil Rights Tour on the Harrisburg Historical website. If you’re new to this story, Harrisburg Historical is a Curatescape project by Messiah University, the T. Morris Chester Welcome … Continue reading A Tour Takes Shape: December Update on Harrisburg Historical
Image Credit: Dan Gleiter My name is Joshua Flores. I am a senior-level digital media major with a concentration in interactive design studying at Messiah University. This semester I enrolled in the Humanities Project course and became involved with the Commonwealth Monument Project Heritage tours which includes the T. Morris Chester & the Chester Way … Continue reading Along the Chester Way: Visualizing History with Story Maps
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
As this semester comes to a close so does this chapter of my Humanities Project. Towards the beginning of this project, I had set my sights on completing a documentary style short film that told the story of the “Gathering at the Crossroads” Commonwealth Monument featured on T. Morris Chester Way. As I continued on … Continue reading The end of this chapter
- 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
By: Keli Ganey It's good to be back with exciting updates on my project "The Story Behind the Bronze. " We are now 8 weeks into our humanities projects course and having covered the brainstorm, planning, and coordinating phases it’s time to create. I first traveled to the monument itself to taken in it’s story … Continue reading Works in Progress
By Keli Ganey The Harrisburg monument, “A Gathering at the Crossroads,” commemorates the passing of the 15th and 19th amendments and the multi-cultural community of the Old 8th Ward in Harrisburg. The sculpture represents four orators, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, William Howard Day, Jacob Compton, and Thomas Morris Chester. These four were powerful forces of … Continue reading The Story Behind the Bronze
By Kelan Amme This fall, I will be helping to create a video/audio tour of African American History in the city of Harrisburg. In partnership with the Center for Public Humanities at Messiah University, the T. Morris Chester Welcome Center (at the McCormick Public Library), and Mr. Lenwood Sloan of the International Institute for Peace … Continue reading Retelling the story of Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community
Digital Harrisburg 