Oral History Blog

"The Other Suburbanites" discusses the history of African American neighborhoods as they developed in the early part of the twentieth century. In particular, it looks at a neighborhood neighborhood near Cleveland known as Chagrin Falls Park. Settled for the most part by rural immigrants from the South, Cahgrin Falls is used as an example for how many other African American suburbs developed alongside their more well known predominately white counterparts. The main thrust of the article is to prove that although the overall look of these neighborhoods may have differed from stereotypical views of suburbia, that did not mean the residents did not maintain the same mindset of what suburban living meant.

The ways the oral history interviews were worked in was very well done, working with the narration as opposed to being presented as a separate artifact. However, having said that, I personally appreciate it when one is presented with a clip of the actual oral history interview, where one is able to see the interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee take place. I think this provides more of a feeling of connection with the work and reminds the reader how close the process of oral history can be. I also thought some of the interviews were spaced wide apart, with some jammed next to each other and whole sections of the article not even referencing them. While the ones close together were for the most part important in regards to their relation to one another, the article may have included more in other areas.

New Media: Wallace and Smith blog

Questions about New Media

Each of these articles raises the vital questions that are still raised in the history profession today. That is, what should be the role of new technologies in presenting/producing history?

While some of the technological speculations Wallace had may seem dated, it is interesting to see how much of the technological advances he embraced at the time.

About the dangers of losing museum crowds to the Internet or other forms of electronic medium, I would hazard that many of the people who would seek history solely online would not be typically visit a museum in the first place. While it would be easy to say that the increasing pace and easy access provided by modern living could inspire more opportunities for laziness, the people who go to museums will not give the real experience up for a virtual one. If anything, it might inspire more people to visit actual museums.

Is it just me, or did the JASON project sound kind of odd. Who is going to tour a museum at 9 o’clock at night? I can just imagine drag races down the galleries of the Louvre.

I thought it was interesting to see how Wallace did not seem to embrace the possibilities of the Internet as much as he advocated for the select use of technology in museums. While he wrote this at a relatively early point in the history of the Internet, he seemed to know enough about its capabilities to discuss it.

Carl Smith seems to look at the possibilities of the Internet in a more favorable light. He discusses his involvement in creating an online museum site for the Great Chicago Fire and discusses using the Internet to do serious history. Though he acknowledges that there are hindrances to using the Internet, he believes that the lack of constraints that the Internet provides is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Multimedia presentations, the ability to use artifacts not available to traditional museums, and interactivity are all benefits he puts forth.

However, the important question of whether one can do serious history on the Internet is the main focus of this article to which Carl Smith says yes. According to his definition of history using primary sources to provide clear historic information to a larger audience, the Internet is a more than adequate medium for conducting serious history.

These questions about history in the digital medium to me are intriguing in the fact that it is not based on some of the more familiar grounds for academic historical debate. Rather than discuss the merits of whether it is more appropriate to look at history from a cultural, social, etc. standpoint the discussion focuses on the medium. While one could argue that there are many forms of presenting historical information (museums, paper, oral), technology is unique in the fact its increasing importance in all of these forms. For example, oral history in the modern, academically accepted sense would not be possible without the advent of vocal recording, which has gone from reel to reel, to cassette, to now having the capability to store thousands of recordings on a single server. The question of what medium history should be presented on is an important one and should continue to bring about fascinating and heated debates.

Preserving Nature Blog

Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History by Richard West Sellers looks at the evolution of what exactly was the purpose of the National Park Service. Was it designed for the enjoyment of the General Public? Or was it created to preserve the natural surroundings that made each park worthy of being preserved? Were these mutually exclusive of each other or were they in fact the same goal? In the end, Sellers believes that the National Park Service should be a better advocate for conservation in the Parks. However, he does acknowledge the success of the Service in promoting the natural environments they were placed in charge of to the larger public.

The text offers interesting insight into how natural National Parks really are. Sellers seems to take the viewpoint a park is more of a planned landscape than a natural one ,"carefully preserved and developed" (page 89). He portrays the early planners as more promoters than actual conservationists, more interested in the commercial development of the Park Service than conservation methods.

One of the big issues that was addressed in the text was the struggle between scientists and . Looking at the text from one perspective, it would seem as though Sellers was more inclined to be on the side of the scientists, who . However, there are a few places in the text where Sellers does acknowledge the influence such factors as promotion had in the formation of the park. The most apparent .

Does this highlight a larger topic of the difference in preserving something vs. keeping something pristine? By making something accessible to a larger audience, are you destroying part of the inherent nature that made it so appealing to begin with? I think Sellers would argue that careful conservation does not equal pristine environments. Rather, parks are constructs created for the enjoyment of the larger public and therefore have to be modified in some manner.

However, he would most assuredly advocate smarter preservation methods, that is employing a variety of experts (historians, scientists, etc.) and maintain a high level of conservation education among all members of the National Park Service. This way, preservation is not just something that a gathering of politicians lays down on paper, but it becomes a real example set by those who feel strongly about it. Also, he would probably advise against promoting a park to host the Winter Olympics.

Tour Blog

I think the visit to the Old Cemetery was important in both connecting the house that Riley lived in to the place where he is now buried and to look at, through a very important part of communal life, the effect race and class relations had on Tallahassee. For one, while it was segregated at one point, it still had spots available for blacks of a certain social status to be laid to rest. I wonder how many higher status African-Americans chose to be buried in the City Cemetery as opposed to a predominately black cemetery?

The Frenchtown Tour was interesting in the fact that its history was explained more through current events rather than talking extensively about its past. The topics of gentrification were very interesting, especially from a historic preservation point of view. However, I think it would have been worthwhile to hear more history on some of the businesses that operated in the neighborhood at one time.

One thing I think could have been shown on the Frenchtown Route were examples of businesses that are still operating in the community. One example of this can be seen in the mortuary service that operates a block away from my house on Copeland Street. One thing I learned when conducting oral history interviews in Charlotte were the importance of funeral homes in black communities. In many cases, they were centers of social interaction and even political power. While the business down the street does not appear to be the site of political activism, yet I think it would have been worthwhile to examine such places.

Goodwood was a very interesting stop. I enjoyed hearing about the different renovations the house undertook and was impressed with certain architectural features. However, I was disappointed by the fact that there was no discussions involving the theme of the tour, that is the history of African-Americans in Tallahassee. Though there was some questions asked about the history of slavery/tenant farming on the property, we were told that they did not possess any information on that. Even more, they seemed to indicate it would be very unlikely to determine this history any time in the future, due to loss of much of the property. This seems to be another example of why there are movements to preserve African-American heritage in Tallahassee as well as elsewhere, as so much of it has been lost.

Despite this, I believe the Goodwood does raise some interesting questions in regards to the first house we looked at, the Riley residence. For instance, if Riley was such a wealthy individual, why build a fairly modest dwelling. In comparison to Goodwood, the Riley house is a relatively cozy structure. Though Goodwood had for the most part been constructed in an even earlier, more affluent time, it would not be . And Riley did not seem to suffer from any land constraints, so why not build a larger structure as his house. Was it his personal preference, a person who did not need to be surrounded by extravagance? Were there some outside factors that influenced his decision? sound business sense, the more land he does not build on the more he could sell to the city?

Young Post

This text comprises a selection of articles from Preservation magazine written by Dwight Young. In the introduction by Richard Moe, President of the National Trust, he describes these essays work at “making us smile, reflect and look around the world with a fresh eye.”. To me this kind of sounds like an interesting choice of words, considering Young is interested in preserving the heritage of the built environment.

This collection of articles could be described in some respects as preservation lite. One function of these articles is to connect within the field itself, to reach out to other preservationists in the field by talking about similar experiences one might encounter while engaging in historic preservation. Another is to reach out to a broader audience by showing a more personal side of the preservation field. That is, to show the public at least some small manner of the types of people who are interested in preservation and, more importantly, to show why they became and remain interested in taking care of historic structures. While not quite Dave Barry, Young does come across with a kind of colloquial charm that does remind one of a congenial uncle.

There are many places where Young comes off as not only an advocate for a preserver of old buildings but for an older way of thinking, of doing things. I wonder, is this almost an integrative part of the preservationist’s job. In order to preserve our built heritage does one have to advocate holding the past to a higher standard in certain areas such as moral values or modes of thought?

From the range of articles that were chosen to go into this one text, it is easy to see some of the core beliefs of Young. At other times, one sees points that seem to diverge from the other articles. One example of this can be seen in his piece on a house whose owner chose to paint their old home a rather vivid shade of blue. He expresses admiration for this as keeping the look of an old house fresh. Do these kinds of comments detract from the goals of preserving the built environment? Is this kind of thinking necessary in order to recieve broader support from a larger audience?