Digital Review 3: The Well Read President: Examining the Reading Habits of Theodore Roosevelt

After looking through the American Historical Associations website I noticed an interesting excerpt. The American Historical Association conducted a conference in the beginning of 2018 that included a section called, “Digital Projects Lightning Round.” There were about 15 separate digital history projects that reigned from Omeka sites to text mining. Of these separate sites, the one that intrigued me the most is, “The Well Read President: Examining the Reading Habits of Theodore Roosevelt,” by Ms. Karen Sieber at Loyola University in Chicago, IL.

Her Project begins with a Word Press site that explains how she came to wonder and in turn research this topic. She understood that Theodore Roosevelt throughout his life is an avid reader and an author himself to many manuscripts. Sieber saw the opportunity for a truly interesting text mining project that can show influence through Theodore Roosevelt’s political career. She creates a visual timeline of teach book that Roosevelt is believed to have read during 1901-1904, his first term as president. The timeline also includes a virtual bookshelf that holds a selection of these books through themes. Sieber’s main purpose and thesis of the digital project is to show Roosevelt’s connection to the books that he read and how they shape his diplomatic decisions as well as his family relationships.

Once entering the timeline, the user is presented with a quote by Theodore Roosevelt himself that explains his love for books and how they connect with the idea of choice. The quote is presented with an image of Roosevelt sitting in his own personal library at home. The user is then asked to click onto the next slide that explains everything that is written in paragraph two while also including that each book in the virtual bookshelf can be read for free with a link through the book title. The slide show continues and begins with the first book on October 12th, 1901 being, “Uncle Remus.” An image of an illustration within the book is placed next to a short paragraph that explains President Theodore Roosevelts connection to the book being a duty as a father. This slide show goes on and proceeds in this arrangement through the timeline of his first term. Looking at the timeline, which is placed above the slide show, the user can interact with it. The user is allowed to skip around the timeline and choose which book they would like to learn more about and the books relationship to the former president. On the left-hand side of the timeline, each book is placed in a group of themes. These themes include, Father, President, Intellectual, Historian, and Outdoorsman.

Some points that do need to be addressed are the user interaction with the themes and the number of books on the timeline. The timeline could be improved by allowing the user to choose one of the assortments of themes to look at only a certain range of books. This is an organizational suggestion that could make it easier for the user to understand the concept. The other quick concern is that there is no scroll bar to move through the timeline making it harder to see the full scope of it. There are a good number of books on the timeline, but it does seem contradicting when the introduction explains that Theodore Roosevelt would at many times read a book a day. This timeline only places a handful of books a month, this may just be due to lack of resources. One may not be able to know each, and every book read by Theodore Roosevelt during this time. Overall this digital project is very exciting, and I believe is the best way to show this type of research. This research is made to best be done as a digital project. https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1XxQsrOujJ-jtnzdjaF15oXhvXN4pJUurFnxf8_Xsc6w&font=Default&lang=en&timenav_position=top&initial_zoom=2&height=650

OUTHISTORY.ORG

This online oral history project is an online database of writings about the LGBTQ community and a way to preserve that information. The beginnings of this project came from a man by the name of Jonathen Ned Katz. After writing book in the 1970’s he wanted to keep the conversation alive and moving. Once he saw the importance and impact computer would have, that is when he decided to create a website. This conversation includes an outlet to not only begin an archive for this community, but also to expand the audience and find new solutions to the archive problem. Katza believes that there are archives throughout the world for the LGBTQ community yet they are hardly accessible and usually quite small.

This website was reinvigorated with a new look and transferred to the software, Omeka in 2011. The website consists of timelines, a blog, and written material about the subject from multiple leading experts on the matter. once I began working on learning the ins and outs of the website design and organization it was easy to understand. The website is organized so the user can organize what will pop up by dates, times, or subjects. After the user specifies it down to a single topic or event there is certain interviews or papers that can be read. I understand most of this website to be archival but at the same time creates arguments for these topics and is in no way unbiased.

The things that could be worked on are on a more technical note. The website is on Omeka yet I do not feel that the oral history project is using Omeka for what it was created to do. The website is using it as a place to exhibit but the amount of information and how it is edited makes it look very cluttered. Another point that could be worked on is the blog section of the oral history project. It has not been updated on since 2017 and i believe that may also include the totality of the website as well. Overall the website is very informative and has a large amount of resources that can be easily accessible.

http://outhistory.org/

Digital Review: Musical Passage

This website talks about music in the Caribbean from the African slaves brought over by the slave trade. “Musical Passage,” talks about this topic through the diary of a man named Hans Sloane. In his diary, that is mainly botanist research based, he also briefly speaks of the native inhabitants and their music.

The website opens up with a page of sheet music and an audio reflection of that music being played. On the left side of the diary/ sheet music the user can see the inscription that Hans Sloane wrote about the sheet music. Once the user places their mouse over a key word it reveals a question on the far left of the page. On the right side of the page with the musical composition, the user can choose one of five songs to listen to. Those songs are listed as Angola, Papa, Koromanti 1, 2, and,3.

After the user is done looking at the front page they are able to browse the options on the right hand side of the page. The drop down menu has three options that include explore, read, and about. The explore section is the first tab where the user can look once again at the opening page. The next tab of “read,” is a page that tells you the information that is known about Hans Sloane who was taken to the island as a doctor to take care of the Caribbean governor. Quickly the governor died and Sloane stayed on the island to study the environment. The page continues with more descriptive information about Sloane. It then transitions to the history of the slave trade in the islands. Of those slaves the author talks about the musicians within the free slave communities.

The author does point out the downfalls of the research. Explaining the music could have been from a man who did not follow the traditional slave journey. Another key note is the audio file of the music that is playing in the background are interpretations of what musicians and historians believe to be correct.
The author of the page brings on a historian by the name of Richard Rath who speaks about the historical perspective. All of this is then cited in the about page with the rest of the authors references.

The points that were somewhat a hindrance in learning about this history and interacting with the website is the length of information, the scroll bar, and the information given on the opening explore page. The read tab really is a read with a huge amount of information and argument. The author proves his argument like they would with a thesis paper. It does not use a digital history to the best of its abilities. The scroll bar is a user friendly problem for the fact that if the user uses the up and down arrow keys then the page scrolls slowly. Once the user finds the scroll bar to the right, the mouse when moved down the page scrolls up. The information on the entrance page looks very appealing. Yet, it is in old English and needs some translation as well.

http://www.musicalpassage.org/#about

History Through Time…Line

Histography, https://histography.io/. Created by Matan Stauber at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. The project was over seen by Ronel Mor as a final project. This database is an interactive archive that is presented as a timeline. The timeline crosses through 14 billion years of events, starting from the Big Bang all the way to the end of 2015. The large amount of data that is being processes into this website is being siphoned through Wikipedia. Each page of major events that are mentioned on Wikipedia are placed onto this extended timeline and are represented by a dot.

When you begin working with the interface a pop up opens to explain very simply in two sentences how to begin using the timeline. Once pressing “got it,” the user is free to roam the timeline. At the bottom of the timeline there is a bar that allows the user to decide upon the years that are shown more in depth. When the sliding bar is moved it also gives the user the name of the eras that are being shown for that section. After deciding upon years, the user can hover over the dots (events) and look at a short snapshot of what the event is. When pressing the dot, the snapshot expands and some of the extra links that can be seen are related events, read wiki page, and watch video. Clicking on related events takes the user to other dots on the timeline, read the wiki page and watch video opens a pop up within the site.

The extras on this website can be seen on the top and on the left of the timeline. The top of the timeline Has three options, the first is the “about” page which takes you off the website. Then there is the “based on Wikipedia,” section that sends you to the Wikipedia website. At the end there is a simple “sound on” button that allows the user to turn of the music for concentration. On the lefts is a list of topics being Literature, Music, Wars, Politics, Construction, and Inventions. Selecting one of these topics like Music changes the timelines shape and only places important musical events. If the user decides to click on another topic like Politics, then the timeline morphs once again and is separated into two parallel timelines. The bottom black timeline being about music and the top white timeline being about Politics. Every time the user selects a new topic then the topic chosen before is sent to the bottom and the new topic chosen takes it place.

The project could be used by classrooms, researchers, history enthusiasts, librarians, university professors, and students. The website URL is short and easy to access and easily searchable in a Google search engine. One of the only cumbersome points is the website automatically reloads if the user decides to visit another open page on the desktop. It is also somewhat difficult for the user to select specific years with the sliding tool bar.

The effectiveness in the capacity of digit media is positive when it comes to comparing topics in specific eras. It is a great teaching aid in showing what event are happening during an era and how it could affect or mirror another event. The website is user friendly and simple to interact with, yet it would be difficult to convert the project into print or film. It may be possible to create a snapshot of the database into an exhibit to show different events happening at the same time.

Overall the digital project is very informative and eye opening. The different ways to manipulate the timeline can be helpful in multiple realms of historical, digital, and informational research. Syphoning information through Wikipedia allows the designer a vast amount of information with a workforce that continually pushes more information out. The timeline only goes to 2015 and I do not know if the designer is going to be continuing the digital project, but it will continue to be useful.

Shirley Chisholm for President

To be honest this is the first time in my years of studying history that this woman has come to attention. Shirley Chisholm is the first African American woman to run for the Presidential Office. The First African American to wish to run as a presidential candidate from one of the major parties. She went up against the status quo throughout her political career. Beginning with becoming the first African American women to be elected as a U.S. Congresswoman in a New York District. Only four years after that she had her sights set on the presidential nomination.

This election would be historical in its own way, the republican nomination would be given to Richard Nixon. This was after the events at Watergate but before the public knew Nixon was involved. His opponent from the Democratic party would not be Shirley Chisholm in the end but George McGovern. He lost to Nixon by a land slide.

Shirley Chisholm knew her odds in 1972 were not in her favor. Many believed that her end goal was not to receive the presidential nomination but could gather enough delegates to ask for cooperation from the other nominees. She wanted to fight for equal rights of women, African Americans, and Native Americans.

Shirley Chisholm would have a large turnout but many feared that if they voted for her then their vote would not really mean anything. The democratic citizens top priority was stopping the Republican vote, Richard Nixon from becoming president of the United States. There were those who supported Chisholm, but others felt angered by the idea of an African American woman running. Other politicians and many journalists did not take her bid seriously and would even go as far to say that being a woman would be a mental hindrance. She did not publicly fight against any specific person or organization, but she did speak her beliefs about equality for all. There were many times that the article states where her posters would be written across with the N word and offensive images.

Shirley Chisholm died in 2005 and was unable to see the nomination and election of Barack Obama. Yet, it was her first steps into just trying for a nomination that influenced the history of African Americans and women in politics.

Reference: https://www.history.com/news/shirley-chisholm-presidential-campaign-george-wallace

Mummies: From A Funeral to A Public Spectacle

As I begin to write this blog about mummies. I think to myself, “why are we so interested about the dead and its rituals? What makes mummies a thing of fear?” Since the beginning mummies have been seen depicted on the big screen as coming to life. We even dress up as mummies during Halloween and walk around with toilet paper wrap around our head. Mummies have intrigued people since their emergence into popular culture.

Mummification is a process to honor the dead and prepare them for their next life. Each high priest at the time had their own mummification process and had evolved from each generation of priest. This article that I read combined both of these ideas in a Hodge podge kind of way. A new discovery in Egypt’s El-Asasef necropolis that is located near Luxor has been unveiled. It has been unveiled in the most public of settings. The newly discovered tomb has been opened in front of media from all around the world for the first time. Our intrigue for the dead has made the unveiling such a media spectacle.

A group of mummies found inside a tomb from Luxor, Egypt.

The archaeologists have uncovered two mummies, one male and one female. They believe the female to be named Thuya and the male to be named Thaw-irkhet-if. The male is believed to be a priest who would embalm many pharaohs in his life time. This may be the reason why the female mummy is so well preserved. In this article one can see photos of archaeologists opening the tomb for the first time. The antiquate paintings and hieroglyphics on the roof. In these images one can also see the beautiful artifacts that these two mummies believed they would be taking with them to the afterlife. The tomb still has a great deal to tell researchers in the near future.

After hundreds of years of finding mummies, we as a nation are still so intrigued by them. So, intrigued that a new discovery needs to be publicized all around the world. It may be great to help flourish the economy of Egypt, yet the mummies should be treated with dignity and respect.

Reference: https://www.history.com/news/egypt-mummy-discovery-photos-luxor#&gid=ci0238ef9ff0002774&pid=ad-5

Edward S. Curtis: Photography of Native Americans

During my time scrolling through the internet from Pinterest to Facebook I have come to love taking a detour to the history channels articles. They may not be the most academically dense, but they give some insight on a range of topics that are interesting and valuable in their own ways. For this article I came across a short article about a late 19th century photographer from the United States. A man by the name of Edward S. Curtis

Edward S. Curtis was a man who in 1887 decided to leave his home state of Washington State. He traveled throughout the west coast of the United States capturing photos of multiple Native American tribes. For the next 30 years or so he had met and researched close to 80 separate tribes along his journey. The photos have come to be a rare find in the museum community because this was a time of American expansion ideals and Native Americans and preserving their culture was definitely not a priority for many. This is during a time after Andrew Jackson signs in the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and Natives are displaced from their homeland.

In this article Edward S. Curtis has commentary shown under every one of the twenty photos shown. This was a great idea from the people at the History Channel because it allows readers like me to not only know what I am looking at but some type of perspective. A downfall of Edward S. Curtis’ commentary is one may be able to hear the racist undertones. He may not have been aware of it but in present day it could be frowned upon by others.

An example of this being his photo entitled “Out of Darkness, 1904.” He states, “Navajo Indians emerging from the shadows of the high walls of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona typifying the transition from barbarism to civilization.” A product of his time Edward S. Curtis may believe that the Native Americans he is taking photographs are barbaric, but he is still doing a great service of researching and taking photographs of these tribes.

https://www.history.com/news/native-american-tribe-photos

Actors, Hispanics, and the Alamo

I came across this interesting article by the “Independent” that is written in the United Kingdom. This article by David Thomson is speaking of relevant American issues in many southern states, “Film Studies: ‘The Alamo’- it’s flopped again. And Here’s why…” It begins with the film industry when creating these films about the Alamo and their reactions from the audience. Multiple movies have been created like John Wayne’s version of “The Alamo” and two other films in the 1950’s that were favored from the audience.

This article has bias sprinkled throughout, but if you wipe some of that off one can see there are valid points to this article. The major points that Thomson is trying to make have to do with why these types of movies are not having such a positive response like they used to. He bases the problem on the actors who many are not culturally attuned with the character and have no background in the religion, nationality, or culture of these characters that are shown on the big screen.

Thomson points out a reason for this is due to not having enough A-list Latin American actors currently. We are at this transition when there is more of a Latin American population every year in the United States. Yet, what Thomson is saying is the representation in general for Latin Americans is low and that could mean in government and in film.

This article peaked my curiosity after a trip to the Alamo with my colleagues and from working there I have had time to digest a great deal of information. There are huge discrepancies in the John Wayne film that many are understanding today. Not only are there historical inaccuracies but there is also outright racism in some areas of the film against the Tejanos inside the town and the Mexican military. A change in the population of the United States has changed the ideals for many who want to be represented in the media and be represented in a positive light.

Creating a Micro-Documentary on this subject before if one looks at the most popular films that have to do with the Alamo. One will see this ideal, that the Texans are the hero’s and the Mexican military are the villains. To this day many Americans may feel the same sentiments but as time has passed people are beginning to look at this battle with an objective lens.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/film-studies-the-alamo-its-flopped-again-and-heres-why-58742.html

Thanksgiving a Story for Children

Thanksgiving, a time to welcome family home that one hasn’t seen for ages or welcome in new friends. Many Americans may say that the true essence of Thanksgiving is family, friends, relationships, food and football. We are taught in grade school with drawings of hand turkeys and Thanksgiving plays that it was a momentous occasion in the lives of pilgrims. That pilgrims were dying of starvation and the cold until the Native Americans of the area taught the pilgrims how to grow crops especially corn (I will leave out the history of corn for a whole other blog). At the end of the harvest all gathered around a table and had a large feast, now called the first Thanksgiving.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian beg to differ this whole story. In their new exhibit “Americans,” the visitor takes a look into the history of these different stories of Native Americans that we are taught as a child. The museum tries to separate fact from fiction and place the voices of Native American tribes who were affected by this history. The museum began this process with assigning the curator of this exhibit to be Mr. Paul Chaat Smith who is of Comanche Native American Descent and Cecile Ganteaume.

At the time of the first Thanksgiving the pilgrims who were involved did not may much attention to this single meal and was written about in passing. It was normal for pilgrims, natives, and many others to have an ending meal after the harvest. It was not until the American Revolution that George Washington desired a National Holiday to give thanks.

The idea did not receive momentum until the ending of the Civil War once the masses became captivated by this era of pilgrims. The article also points out that at around 1855 when all of this was happening a manuscript was found containing the writings of William Bradford. This perfect storm of sorts is what helped the creation of this national holiday and a change in the narration.

Some eye-opening points in this article for me must begin with, only 1% of the population is Native American and yet the commercialization of this group is astounding. Images of illustrated Native Americans can be seen on butter, canned vegetables, bike brands, sports teams, and a multitude of other subjects. We as a country are beginning to understand how these biases who we have become numb to are wrong.

Mr. Smith believes all these holidays and stories may be ways for us as Americans to play down what we really did to these Native people. Now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel because we as a nation are beginning to look back at our past with a scrutinizing lens and we in the public history community are trying to mend those wrongs by finding the truth and admitting what happened.

The “Americans” exhibit will be open to the public till 2022 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-unremarkable-brunch-forest-turned-thanksgiving-we-know-180970811/

Eating Your Way Through History

During my time in class this semester I have learned about the power of internet podcasts. One, in particular, has really caught my attention called, Stuff You Missed in History Class.  Listening to this podcast in my room as I am folding clothes I stumble upon an interesting interview. A woman by the name of Anne Byrn’s has written a book by the name of American Cookie. I don’t know if I was just hungry at the time or just the idea that a history podcast will be talking about cookie but something caught my attention.

The book is a mixture of a cookbook and a historical narrative. From the interview, anyone can see how much heart she has put not only in the research but in the recipes also. She speaks of having to decipher many of these recipes through trial and error due to many of them being lost in translation. It is easy to ignore or not even realize the importance of food culture is to the present and the past.

Cookies with different ingredients, fillings, and history

A great example she points out in her interview is women from New Orleans in the past century who could not make ends meet used food to survive. Lower class women would pass on recipes for candies, cookies, and brittles to their children. This is an important exchange because of the many upper-class women did not know how to make these goodies or were too nervous to even try. Working with candy was extremely difficult and dangerous even to this day. These lower-class women will sell these candies after church to the community in order to make the money needed to survive.

Ms. Byrn’s talks about the ingredients that go into every cookie and how they differ from region and state. For just being a cookie many would not think that there could be so many combinations. All the way down to different types of fats are used and how they can change through the generations that are being passed down by.

These are just some of the great aspects of this podcast and book. Bringing to light the interesting precedent food has on our past. Making me think of my own cultural sweets and how they may represent me and my past.

https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/interview-anne-byrns-american-cookie.htm

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