Roger Michael Downs, Thesis Supervisor Roger Michael Downs, Thesis Honors Advisor Cynthia Ann Brewer, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
cultural geography feminist geography multimedia cartography community media oral histories
Abstract:
In this thesis, I develop a solution to the inaccessibility of the Solebury Township Historical Society’s oral history collection. I suggest a web-based oral history archive that features a multimedia map. Influenced by perspectives in feminist and cultural geography, I explain how individual narratives create place, how place informs culture, and thus, why a map is an appropriate vehicle for sharing these stories. I argue georeferenced oral histories provide explorations of the intangible traces that contribute to a community’s sense of place. Then, I describe the case of the Solebury Township Historical Society’s oral history collection and discuss the solution. The considerations I outline and the decisions I investigate can be utilized by other small community organizations interested in creating their own web-based multimedia map projects. With the ubiquity of technology, place-based personal stories can be easily accessible to the public. Therefore, this thesis explores how small organizations can use affordable technology to make oral histories available on the Web.