Im choosing to write about the Digital Harlem website that details events occurring within Harlem between 1920 and 1930. Instantly, one would be able to deduce that this decade is best know as the prohibition era based on the type of events that are highlighted: police arrests, church location, nightlife locations, and sporting locations. More importantly, the cultural explosion known as the Harlem Renaissance occurs throughout this period as well; thus, both phenomena have shaped the cultural and social landscape of the area that the website chooses to map.
The website chooses to illustrates two sides to Harlem of this period. One side represents the blight of Harlem, for arrests relating to gambling are illustrated, and the pervasiveness speakeasies and brothels align almost every block contained within the neighborhood. The other side represents Harlem as an incubator for social expression as churches, sporting venues, and nightclubs are illustrated throughout the map. This illustration is done by placing a selection of four categories (as mentioned above) to the right of the map, which instantly captures the eye of a person, and persuades explore prohibition era Harlem. It is only when a viewer chooses use the search engine that they would soon realize that there is a greater selection of categorical places to chose from such as bakeries, barber shops, and beauty salons– it’s important to note that there are a total of 224 beauty salons recorded for the map, yet one would have to physically query for them.
This website is focused on the blight of the prohibition era and that is determined by the fact that the legends tab and the selections of each search category ( To the left of the map: “Events,” Places,” “Select a Person”) primarily focus on morbid topics. Both the legend tab and events category highlight mostly events dealing with criminal activity. The “Select a Person” category highlight the lives of a select group of individuals, which so happen to have their trouble with law enforcement as well.
Sources such as the “District Attorney’s Closed Case Files” and the “Probation Department Case Files” show in what direction the research for this website was driven. Furthermore, publications such as Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars by Shane White and Co., and “Harlem Undercover: Vice Investigators, Race and Prostitution in the 1920s,” by Stephen Roberson have used the website to their benefit. Thus, revealing the audience for whom the website is intended for.
I like how you split up the map of Harlem into two different sides. I didn’t think to split up Harlem into a side that represented the blight of the bourough and the social side. I saw it more as a way for the map makers to categorize and stereotype the average lives of African American New Yorkers. I like your approach a little better because it makes it seem like there was a positive and negative side to their lives and that the map makers werent all that biased when designing the map.
Hi there!
Your analysis of the map was spot on. The approach you took is very interesting. It highlights how the information given by the map can be categorized and how this transitioned to the ontology of the work. It is interesting that they base a large narrative in the map from the testimonies of only a few individuals. They had to select this individuals on criteria they hoped to portray from the larger data set. I wonder what the map would look like if the individuals that they used were focused on individuals picked randomly.
Hi! I also did my blog post of Digital Harlem. I found it interesting that you pointed out that “one side represents the blight of Harlem, for arrests relating to gambling are illustrated… The other side represents Harlem as an incubator for social expression as churches, sporting venues, and nightclubs are illustrated throughout the map.” Initially I didn’t quite understand why the researchers included those specific events, but I can see now that the events do contrast each other. Perhaps the side that represents Harlem as an incubator for social expression should also display theaters, artwork or notable areas of creativity.
Overall, great post!