Author: kerplunk5688

There is no shortage of interesting and engaging blogs concerning the Civil War, especially given the current commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the war. For the digital history project, I am looking to create a WordPress blog and Civil War Washington D.C travel blog, through the eyes of the Lincolns. There are plenty of great travel blogs, including numerous ones that detail all of the fantastic opportunities here in DC. This blog is an opportunity to present some great historic sites and historic conversations from the perspective of the Lincolns’ experience in Washington.

Each week I would post as a member of the family who spent time in Washington during Lincoln’s presidency. Posts would also include Tad or Willie, who could offer families some great insights and suggestions of places to bring their children to see. One of the types of blog posts I plan on using to help relate our current environment in DC to our historic past is by asking readers to to post pictures of the buildings and monuments to show where old buildings used to stand. In addition to just presenting information about historic sites and programs in D.C., the blog will offer visitors the chance to comment on their experiences at these sites while engaging in conversations about memory.

The best contribution this blog can offer is a chance to participate and help create memory surrounding the Civil War in the nation’s capital.This past year historian David Blight published American Oracle, a book that details how historians and authors wrote and remembered the Civil War during the Civil Rights Movement. This blog can serve as a tool for historians, including myself, when trying to analysis and reflect on how our unique society remembered this crucial period in history during the 150th anniversary. With the first African-American President still serving here in the city that Lincoln helped craft, I am hoping to give people a rescource for exploring not only this city, but history too. Every corner in Washington has a Civil War story, and the chance to use Lincoln as the voice would only attract more members to this conversation. I want this blog to be a forum for people to present how and why they engage and remember these places Americans, including the Lincolns, frequented. This is our capital, and this blog is a chance for people to use their voices to determine how we memorialize one of the saddest times in our history.

A trip to the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History is inspiring. But, if you’re like me, you look around and wonder: where else do they keep all of American History? Well, like any museum, they have a vast percentage of their collections in storage, protecting them from the elements, including visitors’ eyes. Much like the National Archives, a tiny percentage (less than 5%!) of their collection can ever be seen by us commoners. But the Smithsonian has found a way to let you peer into some of the treasures within the vaults. It’s a website called HistoryWired: a few of our favorite things.

When you visit the site a helpful second screen pops up with directions to help you navigate the site. The site map is divided into ten “squares” that are general topics for the objects. Once you click on one of those main squares, smaller squares representing individual objects appear. The Smithsonian has also built in tools to help you customize your trip through the vaults, even allowing you to rate your interest in the objects as well. There is also text version of the site, including a laundry list of the objects within the site. A couple members of the Smithsonian’s staff mentioned there have been technical difficulties with the site at times. As long as you make sure your computer, tablet, etc. has the proper applications, the site is fantastic.

While the site only has a limited portion of their collections, they point out specifically on the site that most of these objects are not on current display at the museum. Some scholars have asked if putting collections online or creating pseudo-digital museums is the best option for the future. Wouldn’t that cause a sharp drop in visitation to the Smithsonian to see their physical objects? Such a forum for objects, while it allows you rate an object, it doesn’t allow you to engage in a discussion with any museum staff about the object or an exhibit.

The Smithsonian seems to have struck a great balance. They have objects here in Washington people will make the pilgrimage to see. But they also built a platform to showcase their collections to people who don’t have the opportunity to visit Washington. For those who do have that chance, this site entices people to come and visit to see what other treasures they can see not through a screen, but glass instead. After several hours spent wondering through the SI’s collections, I also wondered if highly rated objects could transition to physical display in D.C. Do you think it would benefit curators and staff to consult these rantings when planning temporary exhibits? They have offered quizzes recently such as “Are you smarter than a curator,” maybe this would give people the chance to take a real shot at the job.

If you’ve ever had to do research in an archive or been lucky enough to have to transcribe original documents, sometimes it may seem like there’s no end is sight (especially if you work at one of the archives or libraries trying to find a way to transcribe and digitize your collection). This article was a short interview with Nicole Saylor, the head of Digital Library  Services for the University of Iowa Libraries.

Like untold numbers of historic sites and libraries with Civil War collections, Saylor and the University of Iowa Libraries began looking to try and transcribe their vast Civil War diaries and letters collections in anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (which started this past July). But they quickly realized they were short on man-power, money, and time. What is a digital librarian to do? Well, ask and you shall receive! Saylor and her colleagues “crowdsourced” the Civil War by digitizing the letters and diaries and making them available to the public. They created a website where transcribers can choose a document, transcribe it in a niffy box, and email it to them for review. The letter I transcribed last week is being reviewed by Saylor’s team as we blog!

Saylor said she had no idea how successful the project would be, and even faced resistance from staff members asking “is the public qualified to transcribe?” She simply stated they weren’t looking for perfect, but for engagement. Well thay certainly got that and more, when the site crashed it first day due to the overwhelming traffic. Several transcribers who have spent numerous hours on he project have told Saylor they feel as if these writers have become members of their family. Gotta love Civil War nerds, right?

This project at the University of Iowa Libraries is very similar to the “What’s On the Menu?” project being undertaken at the New York Public Library. Both projects represent steps towards not only engaging the public, but actively enlisting their participation in the continued success of the collections and institutions. Such a project ten years ago would have been unheard of! But not all historians necessarily feel the same.

Engagement and participation, yes. But the public transcribing? Can that be their domain as well? The internet has opened up questions of authority and ethics for historians. Is transcribing something better left to eager interns and historians? Or could we think of other institutions who could benefit from reaching out to the public for their help? What potential downsides could such a project create? Would it be more time-consuming to weed through other transcribers work that to do it yourself? Whether you’re a Civil War nerd or not, it is a very cool idea that you have been a part of preserving part of the past. So go on, and pick a letter to transcribe!