Sheep or Irrelevance?

I was hesitant, at first, to join even more online social networks. It would be just something else to suck up my time and expose myself to the world, while hermiting on my couch. However, the more I explored, I realized these sites might take up more of my time, and my eyeballs will be even dryer at night from staring longer at the computer screen, but I will have been somewhat productive (at least more so than the hours spent mesmerized by cats and pie on Pinterest and Foodgawker every week).  Not only are these good research tools for images and videos but excellent modes of publicity, promotion, and providing access to a wider audience. While using Flickr, museums are able to engage the public, not only as patrons but also, as the National Maritime Museum in London proved, as curators. The more social media grows, the easier it is to connect with new patrons every day, as well as receive feedback. As Jim Richardson points out, Youtube is a two-way communication device. The museum can send out information, but the public can send information back. Not only can this feedback be useful to the museum as an assessment tool, but also as more advertisement. The videos, and comments people make could be used to promote the museum even more. Who needs to hire someone to create a video when visitors to the museum will make one for you on the spot with their smart phones, post it to social media where 500 of their friends will see it on their Newsfeed?

For personal use, photo storage and organization programs like Flickr, Picasa, and Google Plus are excellent for the photographs people collect for projects or family vacation. It is now okay to store the 1 million pictures of your family pet dressed in various Halloween costumes and the five photos of the museum exhibit you spent a month researching, writing and laying out during a summer internship, in the same place. Why? Because there is plenty of room on Flickr’s terabyte of storage for both, and Picasa will separate your personal life from your professional one by organizing your photos for you, let you edit them, and sync with your desktop through Google Plus (this is the age of the camera phone, no one has time to look at all of the pictures they take, much less organize and transfer them between devices and programs).

Google Plus is not only useful for photographs, but also for conducting business meetings or online video chats and interviews. Again, no need to separate the personal from professional because this social network is, according to Christina Warren “truly unlike anything available on other networks” and the Hangout feature is perfect for having business meetings or sharing pictures of the fancy dinner you made last night.

Social media is an important means to connect to customers and business associates, share ideas and resources, ask for help, and create interest. Public history is about presenting information to the people, helping them feel a connection, and involving them in the conversation. The two are inseparable. 

Roxanne "Roxie" Pulley, Social Media Victim  Enthusiast and Hat Model. Courtesy of my iPhone.

Wading In the Water

Based on our class discussion on Monday, and the links Dr. Cebula shared on the blog, I predict this class will be both liberating and frustrating. In our effort to define "Digital Storytelling" and the variety of descriptions we found online has demonstrated the flexibility of the medium, which seems to be lacking any sort of boundary. The "digital" part seems to be self-explanatory, however this is a digital world. Almost everything can be described by the adjective. All the links Dr. Cebula provided are examples of different types of digital stories on a variety of topics. We will have a lot of decisions to make, techniques to learn, and programs to explore. It is daunting to think of the possibilities. This is obviously a field not limited to public history, as shown through some of the links from Dr. Cebula. Each has their pros and cons, but might be a perfect fit for their context and message.

The first video was the most helpful because it provides some type of structure to help us focus the development of our projects. Having key elements to consider makes the process less overwhelming as well as providing guidance to create a clear and concise message to our audience. The Stony Brook website will probably be a widely used resource at first, but as we become more comfortable with our direction and requirements I hope this resource will be reduced to a reference.

The article on Brown University’s website is a reminder of the movement toward digital everything. If you are not a part of the digital world then it seems as if you might as well be irrelevant (an exaggeration perhaps). Not only does “going digital” mean streamlining, but also a wider audience. The idea of less work required to reach more people must sound like a good one to everyone.

The Spokane Historical site is a perfect example of digital storytelling. I didn’t realize there were so many around the country (two for my part of the country!). It will be interesting to explore these in-depth and find new ideas and inspiration that we can incorporate into our projects.

The scariest and most exciting part of a new adventure is getting started. Hopefully with these resources and examples, we will have some help wading into the ocean of digital storytelling, unless Dr. Cebula decides to go with the Sink or Swim approach (I hope not!). By the end of this class we should have the basic skills, knowledge of available tools, and confidence to use digital storytelling as a means of outreach and communication in whatever field we decide to pursue. 

(This was the result of the Sink or Swim approach.  http://crystalcomments.com/graphics/10/p/3/cat)

Thirst for More: A Negative Nancy's Analysis of a Good Read.

            As we discussed last week in class, the intended audience for this book is realtors, or anyone interested in Spokane real estate, and it was even more apparent in the second half. Even with this observation in mind, it was a good read, but left me wanting more. My favorite part was Chapter 5. The park system is a unique feature to Spokane’s infrastructure and important to the community, even in its beginnings. I find it interesting that the donation of the land “was clearly a serious conflict of interest with an illegal donative intent to the land owners, it proved to be quite popular with many of the town’s successful developers” (165). I am still not familiar with all of the parks and recreation areas and it made me want to drive around the city to discover what they had to offer.

Manito Park circa 1905-1907 (courtsey of discovery-school.org)

            The next chapter went though the history of Spokane’s architecture. Though I am not by any means an expert in architecture, in all of the pictures the Bamontes used, the houses were a similar square cottage-like structure, just different sizes and ornamentation. I am glad they decided to start with the native dwellings, though short and very generalized.

            Another part I enjoyed was Chapter 7, which describes the different homes of Spokane’s wealthy. Partly because I am envious of their rich lifestyle and houses, but I especially enjoyed the pictures in this chapter. However, I was left wanting to know more about the people who lived inside them as well as how the other half lived. It was also interesting to hear about other famous architects of early Spokane, besides Kirkland Cutter, but the authors did not really expand on the impact of their work on the development of the city, they just discussed certain buildings they designed.

            The old ads in Chapter 9 were very interesting and I hope we are able to find some like that for our ghost signs. Again though, it left me wanting more. They hardly discussed the ads, mostly just reprinting them.

            Since I’m being such a Negative Nancy this entire post, I guess I should end on a positive note. I did enjoy the read and the obvious effort put into their research is impressive. Even if the authors did not take it as far as I was hoping, it serves as motivation for continued research and analysis. This will be a great resource for local history on Spokane. 

A Town Determined

The precarious beginning of Spokane seems a bit off from the bustling city is has grown into after only 140 years. The journey the Bamontes bring us on, in their book Spokane, Our Early History, is enlightening, not only to new Spokanites such as myself, but I’m sure to long term residents as well.

            According to the authors, if it wasn’t for a few determined and patient investors including the “Father of Spokane,” James Glover who “tenaciously clung to his vision and made enough right moves to build the town, and rightfully claim the title” (18).  When the Northern pacific finally arrives in Spokane, or Spokan, the small boomtown becomes a “city of reckoning” (p. 30). With the railroad, population increased and the mining industry took off, creating a need for infrastructure including utilities, public transportation, hospitals, schools, media and telecommunications, and a fire department further cementing Spokane’s permanence in the Inland Northwest.

James N. Glover known as the Father of Spokane. (courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture)

            The Great Spokane Fire should have been a major set back to the growing hinterland, was instead motivation for businesses and city leaders to prove to “the world that the spirit of Spokane was untouched” (p. 96). After massive reconstruction, Spokane was “more impressive than ever”(p. 97) and hosted The Northwestern Industrial Exposition.

            The Bamontes emphasize the community of Spokane when describing the various recovery efforts from tragedy after tragedy. They demonstrate how the citizens worked together for the benefit of the city, instead of their individual interests, which seems to be out of the ordinary for a western boomtown. However, they also point out times when people or businesses did take advantage of others downfall such as The Panic of 1893 when the Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheebank took the opportunity to take over much of the city’s real-estate. The city was able to get through these tough times, helped along with new construction of public buildings and again, the rally of the community around Fort George Wright.

            As Spokane started to take root in the Inland Northwest, the development of two sides of society formed along with it. The “darker side of Spokane” (p. 115) consisted of the wage workers and violence, was balanced by the “Age of Elegance,” (p. 115) which was filled with eastern cultural elite in their elegant Kirtland Cutter mansions and automobiles. Spokane continued to grow with large immigrant populations forming their own communities within the city, such as the Scandinavian neighborhood of Peaceful Valley. This increase in population brought both positive and negative changes, including vagrancy, more saloons, grocery stores, hospitals, public transportation and electric lights.

            The Bamontes' section on significant buildings was of particular interest because of our class project. We will be researching buildings in the community, and with resources such as this book, we will discover the impact of certain buildings on the community, the business inside and the owners. The city of Spokane has worked since its founding on the Falls to live up to the vision of James Glover

Reading and Writing about Spokane

This week readings are about reading the community much like we are reading cemeteries for our paper. Chapter 9 in Nearby History describes the analysis of the cultural landscape, seperating it from the natural landscape and reading the development of a town by locating the "indicators of change" (179). I thought the authors make an important point about being careful when looking for symbolism in buildings and structures and instead encourage historians to look for "changes dictated by necessity" (186).

Many of the buildings historians will analyze are probably on the National Register for Historic Places. Chapter 10 describes the benefits and challanges to historic presertvation. There is an interesting balance between progress and remembering the past. It is important to remember history and the way life was before, but people also have to live their lives in the present and "the whole landscape cannot be locked in time" (199). The authors provide important information for not only people interested in historic preservation but for historians with their list of contact information. Historians, who might not be interested in preserving a certian piece of property, can use these sources when looking for information about a certian society's history.

The University of Wisconsin- Madison's information about reading landscapes will be very helpful when we start looking at the ghost signs in our section of Spokane. Though all of the information and advice is applicable to our project, the most helpful section is the Cities, Town, and Infrastructure. We will need to use all of our senses to get a feel for the neighborhood in the turn of the century so we can understand the context, though I would not recommend taking off your shoes so you can feel the concrete of the streets of Spokane under your feet. 

I have to admit, I did not enjoy John Fahey's essay When the Dutch Owned Spokane. This seemed to be a very important part in Spokane's history, redevelopment after the fire, but Fahey focuses on a business hisotry of the Dutch morgage firm, Northwestern and Pacific Hyoptheekbank and leaves discussion of its impact on Spokane for the last few paragraphs. He breifly states that because of Dutch investment, the city was able to recover so quickly, then adds, almost as if under his breath, that it would have happened anyway, just not quite as fast. He also comes just short of blaming the Dutch for the massive forclosures in the mid 1890's. I wish this essay would have examined the effect of the Dutch on the city of Spokane instead of focusing on the company and their financial history. It was nice to put the Dutch investors into context with the Spokane Historical stop of the Couer d'Alene Hotel.

Recovery after the 1889 fire. (image courtesy of The Spokesman-Review)

The advice given by Kyvig and Marty in Chapter 11 will be helpful, not only when we start to work on our projects, but when we work on any other historical paper or project. I know one of the problems I have when doing research is never taking notes on my sources, which the authors list as a "cardinal rule" (212). I always find myself frantically trying to remember a source for an important piece of information because I did not take correct notes.

I though the last chapter in Nearby History  was particularly interesting. It was a history of history and historians. It was interesting to see the development in the concentrations of studies change over time, based on what was happening in the present day. For example, the social-protest movements encouraged historians to study history through the lives of "ordinary people" and not just through the elite class. The best way to do this was making generalization through studies done in a concentrated area, local history, which was previously scoffed at by academic historians. Now the current emphasis in history is on the links between "elite culture and popular mass culture to social, economic and political developments"(251). Public History will play and important role in determining these links and presenting them to other historians and society.

Images and Artifacts of the Pacific Northwest

This week’s readings focus on images and artifacts. As public historians we will use artifacts and images a great deal, whether they are photographs, objects inside a display case, landscape structures or buildings. 

The Inland Northwest contains structures that are used as evidence of the growth and development of Spokane, from large mansions to public parks and structures left from Expo ’74.  In Henry Matthews' essay Kirtland Cutter: Spokane's Architect, Cutter drafts mansions for the rich investors who relocate to the Inland Northwest from the east coast. The large houses reaffirm that Spokane is an industrial and economic player in national affairs, like larger cities in the east and they could also have, "through Cutter's imagination and professional skill, the symbols of old wealth"(169) linking the old world with the frontier.  In J. Williams T. Youngs' essay Thinking Globally, Acting Locally, he discusses the efforts of local leaders to renew urban Spokane to give the city a stronger core. This essay is a great bookend to the story of Spokane's founding, development, growth, decline and ultimately urban renewal and "federalization" through Expo '74. The focus of the expo on environmentalism was supported internationally and nationally, giving Spokane the opportunity to be  a cause of global change, instead of reacting to it.

The next couple of chapters in Thrush's book explore the next step of Seatle's transformation on the eve of the Second World War. He points out how native images are used by urban Seattle to connect them with their “place story” even though the native people no longer had an active role in the historical interpretation. Seattle became "a city that used Indian images and stories to make sense of itself, real Native people, and especially those not affiliated with totem poles, were pushed to the margins of urban society"(149-150). The retelling of Seattle’s history was taken up by two different organizations with differing viewpoints. The Pioneers wanted to remember the times before urban expansion and keep alive the connection to the Denny landing and first settlers. They used the memories of the local natives to supplement their narration of the past. The Tilikums used Indian imagery to tell their version of local imperial history and promote their social organization. The actual indigenous population had either moved outside the city or became absorbed into urban society. Their images, however distorted, remain as their representatives to the land that was once theirs.

Pictures used in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Expedition. The top photo is the Spokane building. (courtesy of Wiki Images)

The analysis of photographs discussed in Nearby History is important for our project because we will use them to research our buildings. I thought it was interesting how Kyvig and Marty showed how photographs were edited even before Photoshop. I would have never considered looking for evidence of editing when studying older photographs. Artifacts are also important to Public Historians because we will use them to bring history to the public. I was also not aware of the newer discipline of Industrial Archaeology. The time period of most of our ghost signs will be from is the period of industrial growth in Spokane.

I enjoyed looking at the ghost signs in San Francisco. My favorite was the second slide with the letter “O.” I feel like that one would be fun and challenging to research. It almost looks like a sign for a hotel that was housed inside the building, but you never know. A couple of the ghost signs they found were in great shape. I wonder if they were redone or just preserved well?

Transition and Development of the Northwest

The essays in Stratton’s anthology, written by Wayne Ramussen and Carlos Schwantes explain two sides of growth and development of the city of Spokane. Ramussen’s essay, A Century of Farming in the Inland Empire, explores the West Plains’ evolution and settlement through agriculture. He links the economic success of the city with the progression of farming on the Palouse, demonstrating how “Spokane is so closely tied to the fortunes of agriculture” (136). He links the Inland Empire to the rest of the nation by showing how the recessions of the 1890’s and 1930’s affected the farmers and settlers of the Palouse and therefore the city of Spokane.

            Schwantes’ essay, A Labor History to World War I, explores the development of Spokane through labor trends, showing how this “economic colony” (145) was different then the rest of the west. The biggest adjustment in the growth of industry was the transition from subsistence settlers and wageworkers and Spokane’s isolation from the rest of the country created a sense of community united in their resistance to exploitation from outsiders. Though Spokane experiences the same challenges as the rest of the country in the fifty years prior to WWI, “Spokane’s local and regional circumstances uniquely shaped worker’s responses to those experiences” (156).

            Also in Stratton’s anthology is Ruth Moynihan’s essay, Let Women Vote: Abigail Scott Duniway in Washington Territory, discussing the unique impact of women’s suffrage on the Northwest, especially in Washington which because of her efforts and following passed women’s suffrage ten years earlier than the rest of the nation. This essay and the two previously discussed will come in particularly handy When studying “ghost signs” around Spokane because many of the buildings and major industries were being built around the time of some of our “ghost signs.” We know have a background of the economic and social development happening during this time period.

Birds eye view of Seattle 1908 (courtesy of wiki images)

     Coll Thrush, in Native Seattle, gives us another example of a developing and changing society in the west. The next three chapters discuss the same time period as the essays in Stratton’s anthology, the fifty years around the turn of the century. He shows the evolution of the city from urban and indigenous populations living side by side to the eventual incorporation of the native population who start functioning as important parts of the urban society. Eventually the native population, who are not absorbed into the growing urban society of Seattle, disappears, making room for the white urban leaders to use this as evidence of superiority. They also start to take advantage of esoteric native traditions and culture involving natives into the urban framework, but only in places designated by the urban whites. It is ironic how white elites used their collection of native artifacts as a status symbol and natives used material goods they would by in the city as a status symbol.

            The use of unpublished documents and oral history discussed in Nearby History, will become pertinent in our research of Spokane’s "ghost signs." In our research on the buildings, neighborhoods and people we will use the census records to discover a context for our signs. I though it was important that the authors pointed out how the vital records could contain errors. Oral history might be used in our research when we interview business owners and people who used to live in the neighborhood.