Sitting in the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg this afternoon, I was glad to find myself with a little time to reflect on this past semester in Digital History. It was strange to realize how much we had accomplished in terms of reading, learning techniques, and project research. Project 1 seemed to fly by as … Continue reading Looking Backward and Looking Forward
During our last few Digital History class periods, we've gained an introduction to GIS (geographic information system). I'm familiar with the basics of GIS from my internship this summer. I worked for the Bureau for Historic Preservation, in the CRGIS (sculptural resources geographic information system) Office, but I really only used a program call GeoMedia. I am not overly familiar with ArcGIS, … Continue reading Have a Spatial Day
As the days are getting colder, our research is getting warmer. At the moment our Digital History course at Messiah College is waist deep in our third project for the semester. Over the past few class periods we have been learning a lot about the inner workings of ArcGIS, a digital mapping technology. We take … Continue reading Mapping the African American Reformers of Harrisburg
As this semester progresses, I realize more and more how similar Digital History is to Historical Archaeology. Where one researcher is brushing dust off artifacts, another is pouring through archives and databases for their very own dusty material. The more time you spend digging around, the more information you can gather and the more you … Continue reading Digital Archaeology
A week ago, at the Dauphin County Historical Society, I found my project of interest to be but a small fish in a big sea. Our Digital History class took a trip to these archives to conduct research for our third project where we will be creating biographies for important figures in the improvement campaign. … Continue reading For Richer and Poorer
Digital History is opening my eyes to the different avenues that students can use to understand history. As an aspiring Social Studies teacher, this course has given me a new way to make history more enjoyable for both middle and high school students. Two weeks ago, some fellow students and I gave presentations about other digital … Continue reading Local History Taught Through Digital Harrisburg
Our first assignment, The City Social Project, involves mapping demographic data for Harrisburg in 1900 and creating a digital map of Harrisburg along the lines of the Mapping DuBois project. Each student is responsible for keying 2,000 records of the 1900 U.S. Census. In a class of twelve students, that means we are processing over 24,000 entries total. With the … Continue reading The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Navigating Your Way Through the 1900 United States Census Records
Digital Harrisburg 