For this week’s blog post, I decided to explore the Digital Harlem Map. This map used various information ranging from legal records, newspapers, and published and archival sources to illustrate the life in Harlem during the years of 1915-1930. What is unique about this map and collection of data is that it is not solely focused on black artists or the black middle class. It presents the daily life of African New Yorkers.
The data presented on the website is very organized. To the left of the screen, it is split into Events, Places, and Specific Person where you are able to manually select someone. As I clicked on these options, for events, it showed a variety of events that happened in Harlem ranging from shootings, violence, sexual offenses to basketball games and parties. With places, it gives you options to choose the type of place, race of the owner, place function name, start/end date, address, and type of event. This map even gives you six people to “select a person.” This section has to be the most interesting part in the map; it actually gives you an understanding of the conditions, environment, and how these people lived in the city of Harlem. Each person has a different story, a different perspective, and life as they lived in Harlem. With this option, the audience is able to see various perspectives of Harlem.
The center of the website gives a direct map of Harlem, giving you options to separate by years. The right side of the site gives the audience the ability to filter through the data focusing mainly on churches, sports events, number of arrests, January 1925, and nightlife. As you click on these options, information is given on the left bar as well, which helps the readers understand how these places and events affected the life in Harlem.
By organizing and utilizing the map this way, the creator really touches on the subject that life in Harlem was rough and because the creator of this map actually graphed and pinpointed the events that was happening and where it occurred, we as the viewers are able to see that it these events were happening multiple times on a daily basis. It gives a real and authentic visualization on the conditions in Harlem and allows us to acknowledge that this is not all of the events that happened; it’s just what the creator was able to collect.
What I think was missing from this map was the meaning behind the color-coded areas. As I was browsing the website, I was trying to find hints and indicators on why certain areas were pink and orange. Additionally, I think it would have been even more informative if there were articles, journals, diaries, or something that gave us more of an insight on the “ordinary African New Yorker.”