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 When this semester’s Digital History course began, I was capable of discussing the more theoretical elements to this facet of the discipline of History but lacked technical experience in the vast majority of applications and tools that have now become central to the field. As our class explored … Continue reading Sharing the Stories of Harrisburg’s Schools through Story Maps
By; Sam Erikson According to historians Daniel Cohn and Roy Rosenzweig, digital history is the process of “gathering, preserving, and presenting the past on the web.” It sounds simple, yet complex. However, if you utilize the historical tools and platforms that work for you, the possibilities for conducting digital historical work are endless. Going into … Continue reading Digital History: Learning to Gather, Preserve, and Present J. Horace McFarland and the Harrisburg Park Commission
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
by Rachel Petroziello Now that my fifth semester at Messiah University is quickly coming to a close, I can definitively conclude that this has truly been the semester of leaving my comfort zone. Of course I've had to broaden my horizons at other points during my education - taking a math general education course as … Continue reading A Semester of New Experiences
- 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
Image Source: The Civic Club of Harrisburg by Alex Shehigian As we move into the month of November, I’m pleased to be able to provide another update on the Women’s History Garden project. The project is off to an excellent start. Over the past two months, our team sought out information on and crafted … Continue reading A Mid-Semester Update on the Women’s History Garden Project
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons by Alex Shehigian Hello again! I’m Alex Shehigian, a public history major and digital public humanities minor at Messiah University. I’m excited to share with you about the project I’ll be contributing to for this semester’s section of Humanities Projects. For this course, Messiah students partner with community groups to blend … Continue reading A Fresh Look at Harrisburg’s Influential Women
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 