As a historian, I am also a lover of geography. These two fields are partners; one cannot exist without the other. All of history has been molded by borders and voyages – and the field of geography is rather shallow without an understanding of the history of a region’s landscape and people. Mapping is therefore an essential element of historical study. Digital tools now offer us an opportunity to expand the capabilities of traditional maps, and enhance historical understanding.
I am currently interning with the Duquesne Archives, working primarily with the ongoing Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Project. This project aims to collect the personal histories of Duquesne graduates who have served in the Armed Forces – so far, we have eight oral histories on record, ranging from service in World War II to the Global War on Terror. Most range from 1.5-2.5 hours in length, much longer than most listeners are willing to invest. As oral historians, we are tasked with presenting the information from veterans’ oral histories into formats that are interesting and accessible to a diverse audience.
StoryMap JS by Knightlab offers the opportunity to create a visual narrative for oral histories. By pairing text and images with a mapping feature, a fuller picture of the narrative emerges. I chose to exhibit the oral history of Philip Ward, a Duquesne graduate and Navy veteran who served during the Cold War. Ward’s military service took him from Clairton, Pennsylvania to South America and the Pacific. This map does not generate any new scholarship, but it supports historical analysis through the digital exhibition of oral history. The Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Project is an ongoing project, with the hope that more and more veterans will contribute their stories. Digital exhibition fortifies the project by making it accessible not only to other veterans who wonder how their stories will be told, or if they matter, but perhaps to an unexpected range of visitors who either won’t or can’t attend exhibitions in person.
View my StoryMap here:
In his article Visualizations and Historical Arguments, John Theibault argues that “the question whether a visualization is hard to interpret because it is unfamiliar or because it relies on unrealistic expectations of background information assumes greater importance because digitization allows for even greater information density and novelty of form.” In many cases, I’ve found assumptions of proficiency or understanding to be found within data visualization, which is somewhat of turn-off for non-digitally-minded people (which might disproportionately include humanists). This platform, however, does not rely on the either the creator or viewer having any expertise in either digital tools or the topic at hand. It affords the presentation of narrative data without the pompous air that is sometimes found within digital presentation tools.
I am fairly new to this type of narrative technology, so I am still learning what is available on free platforms. I have learned that Knightlab also offers an option to use inline audio (via their “Soundcite” app) in StoryMaps. This is exciting for Oral History presentations! As the Veterans’ digital exhibit is developed further through the use of StoryMaps, I plan to incorporate audio clips of the oral history into this application.
The one issue I had with this platform – and it is quite minor – is that the travel path between data points is not adjustable and is preset based on the traditional map view of the Western hemisphere on the Left and the Eastern hemisphere on the Right (see above). So when Ward journeyed from Uruguay to Japan, the map shows him going East, through Africa, India, and China which is both confusing to the viewer (given that he was traveling on a naval aircraft carrier) and inaccurate. I wish that there was a way to customize these maps or travel paths for accuracy.
This tool may not be the most complex or data-heavy of mapping tools, but it is a handy and user-friendly application for digital novices who want to enhance their projects through digitization.