Category Archives: Final Project

Online Security

Based on the presentation on wednesday, nothing I do online is safe.  I really do not do many activities that requires any advanced personal information.  I use Google and Youtube and get recommendations  based on my history and that is about it.  I do not often make purchases online and I am only registered to a few sites; none of which require more than my name and e-mail address.

Finding items for my project has not been extremely difficult but has become more challenging recently.  I have used all the images that the Library of Congress has offered on my subject, and that I can legally use.  I have eight items in my database and have ideas for two more (another video and visualization) but that is about it.  I found some photographs on a blogpost that were relevant but to obtain the rights to them involved a long process and a fee. All of the items have relevance, but the only item that I have that I consider especially useful is a diagram that shows the extent of the damage inflicted during the riots.

Omeka Exhibit

The exhibit I am planning in Omeka is going to be a visual examination of the neighborhoods affected by the 1968 D.C. riots.  The exhibit will begin with a page, that has a video containing raw footage of the riots and a map showing the extent of the destruction, to introduce the audience to the subject.  Next, will be a series of pages that contain one to two images of each neighborhood paired with a light amount of text discussing how the area was affected directly by the riots.

D.C. Riots Vietnam War (Video not yet uploaded to Omeka)

City Wide Damage Report

 D.C. riot. April ’68. Aftermath / [WKL].

DC Riot Aftermath

Soldiers Stand Guard

National Guard

U Street

Text Mining Tools and Project Progress

Text mining tools like Wordle and Google Ngram are of basically no use to me for my project.  I do not believe these tools should be used for any formal project except, maybe, to get very basic statistical data from Ngram.  Wordle is really more of an art project application that can be used to kill time and not much else; it does show you the prevalence of certain words but it does nothing that can aid a project.  Neither of these tools will be of much use to me when I am trying to show the effect of the 1968 Washington D.C. riots.

I have not made much progress on my project in terms of actual physical work on the Omeka account or on the paper but I have narrowed down my topic to a point where it easier to explore, and found a few more resources that will be helpful.  My research will focus on the affect the Riots had on the surrounding neighborhoods.  The paper should now be more focused and easier to assemble, however I still need to find more resources with useful information.

Map Assignment

Screen Shot 2014-04-03 at 4.07.52 PM

 

 

1968 Washington D.C. Riots

When designing my map, I chose just to do a general overview of the riots by pointing out the areas that were affected.  In the first layer, I pinpointed all the neighborhoods that were involved and added a small informational bit with an historic image of the location.  In the second layer, I only added points that showed where the riots began and ended.  I did not draw any lines or shapes to connect the points because while there were clear spots where the riots started and finished, the riots occurred in several neighborhoods at once therefore any diagram would be confusing and unnecessary.  I could not think anything else to do with the map; this topic can only can only be analyzed in map form by showing the places the event occurred in.  There is nothing more that could be shown, except maybe adding the statistics of the damage in the description.

My map did not help me much in learning more about my topic because mapping is unlikely to provide information on how the neighborhoods were affected.  The map can show the total area that was damaged but not much more.  I can see what was affected but not how it was affected.  It is hard to determine cause and effect relationships looking only at an online map.

Final Project Topic

For my final project I have chosen to focus on the area of race relations in Washington D.C.  My specific topic will be the riots that occurred in the city in 1968.  I will investigate the subject for the causes and factors leading up to the events, what actually happened, and what were the temporary and permanent effects on the city and the people in it.

When I research this topic further I will begin by going to Wikipedia for a general overview and then accessing the George Mason University Library database system.  I will use the sites that are indicated to specialize in history or at least have a section for history.  When I find a site that seems to allow access to a helpful and relevant amount of information I will begin taking notes and citing information on a word document.  If one site does not come through as a plethora of information I will extract materials from a number of databases to get what I need for the project.

Topics for Final Project

Topic No.1

The first topic possibility for my final project is slavery in Washington D.C.

Importance of Subject

This topic is important because it covers a subject that is inhuman and cruel and how it relates to a place that played such an important part in maintaining this nation.  D.C. is known for its buildings, museums, and a wide array of political activities, but very little is reported on the effect of slavery on the city.  Slavery existed for a significant amount of time in the United States during a period of a supposed growth.  It is important to remember these injustices happened even with intellectual and political development.

Search Steps

I would begin this investigation by logging onto JSTOR and searching for phrases and terms like slavery and Washington D.C., opinion of slavery in 19th century, and slavery and African-americans in D.C.  Afterwards I could move onto some primary sources such as journals of slaves at the time or some type of document of an D.C. resident acknowledging his or her treatment of slaves.  During my investigation I could narrow down the topic even further by closely examining a smaller aspect discovered in research.

Topic No.2

The second topic possibility is race relations in the city.

Importance

Race relations in Washington D.C. is important because the entire area is very diverse and how different groups of people react with each other is a necessary thing to understand.  There have always been problems between blacks and whites in the capitol and there will likely always be to some extent, but without understanding why these problems occur  they will probably get even worse and possibly increase.  By examining specific issues and incidents that led to disagreements and even violence and what methods were used to attempt to remedy these situations, it is possible to get a better understanding of what needs to be done.

Search Steps

Like the first topic I would begin researching by accessing JSTOR and trying out some phrases that would likely bring the best results.  As soon as I found any information, I could then narrow my focus.  I could chose to search for more resources that cover topics such as unfair laws, police involvement, and demonstrations or other major events.

Topic NO.3

The third topic that is a possibility for my final project is the Museums of Washington D.C.

Importance

The museums of D.C. are important because they gather knowledge and allow everyone, who is able, to take it in.  They are historical institutions that show the intellectual capabilities of a nation that wants to spread the potential to learn to everyone.  Because of this, it is necessary to understand why and how these irreplaceable establishments were created and the effect it has had on the city and the people in it.  By understanding the development of the museums we can truly appreciate their value to Washington D.C. and the nation.building_16

Search Steps

Like the previous two topics I would begin my research on JSTOR because it seems to be one of the better databases for studying history.  I would type in phrases like museum development in Washington D.C., Museum history in D.C., and possibly  Smithsonian history in D.C.  After browsing the results of these searches I could then look for individuals and primary sources from those individuals.  Hopefully, by this point I will have found enough information to fully develop my project.