For this week’s blog post I decided to analyze the Digital Harlem project. This project showcases the everyday life of African residents in Harlem, New York from 1915 to 1930 and which locations they frequented along with key events at that location. This data was pulled by using lists of locations regularly published in the New York Age. This interactive map allows users to click on each location and imagine what exactly occurred in these places. The map covers everything from churches, to nightclubs, to sports, and even illegal gambling. The project then further analyzes a particular month (January 1925) to provide a glimpse of what exactly this month meant to a Harlem resident. To supplement this data, the creator also included brief history of the lives of the individuals that the map represented and why certain locations were significant in history.
The Digital Harlem project was created from an outsider’s point of view who is trying to understand the day-to-day life of Africans back in the early 1900s Harlem. They created it assuming African Harlem residents went to these places shown in the New York Age when maybe a lot of them did not go to these places and went to more secretive ones for gatherings, especially more controversial ones. However, I still enjoy this digital representation a lot because it provides a fun way to explore history and a good source of information to find out how these people lived. We just need to keep in mind that this information provided may not be the full representation of their lives as it is most likely very nuanced.
Furthermore, I believe it’d be very interesting to compare and contrast this Harlem map to other locations in the US during that period of time. Did Harlem provide more places for Africans to enjoy and visit? How much more and how did this affect the thoughts of people in Harlem? It would be cool to even see more direct quotes of Harlem residents during that time, both Africans and non-Africans, and compare their beliefs and everyday lives.
Overall, I enjoyed analyzing this digital mapping project a lot. I am surprised to see that the creator of this map was able to collect so much information about Harlem from as long as 102 years ago. It was very interesting navigating and exploring the platform and gaining more insight. I think this was another cool project to showcase exactly how digital humanities can be used to supplement educational resources.
Hi Wandahe,
Thanks for sharing! I too looked at the Harlem dataset and had some similar criticisms. I liked how the site was interactive and allowed you to explore the information on your own, but also had some suggestions as to where to focus those interests. But like you mention, this is already providing a lens/bias for the user. Good work!
Wanda! I totally agree that because this was created by someone who didn’t actually live in Harlem, it may be a bit limited in actual understanding of how people lived in Harlem at the time. I would love to see real quotes from Harlem residents as well – this would really add a nice human touch to the overall project. Nice work!