Monthly Archives: December 2015

Final Project, Revised and Finished!

history+cartography

After working on the revisions suggested at the last class all weekend, I think I am finally done with this atlas project. I think it looks much better than before, and really appreciate all the great feedback and tips the class and Dr. Petrik had for me. It’s always nice to get more eyes on a project to help you see the things that weren’t so obvious to you as the creator. It ended up being 2 pages longer since I put each of the Sanborn maps on separate pages. The pages at the end are all images since I ran out of essay, but I think that it still works. I also colored in the river on those maps for continuity.

I still need to print and deliver this project by tomorrow at noon, so I need to find some time to do that still. Other than that, I am done for the semester! It was such a fun class and I’m glad to have worked with everyone in the class. I’ve learned a lot from each of your projects, and now in the very slight chance that anyone you meet says they are from Renovo, you’ll know exactly where that is! Good luck to all my classmates in finishing your finals and the rest of the history program.

Here it is, the final project!

This week I’ve left a comment on Kim’s blog about her final project.

Final Project – Almost!

history+cartography, Uncategorized

This past week I’ve been working diligently on my atlas project, which is almost finished. I have all the design done and my text, but I still need to work on my essay as it’s still in it’s rough stage. My argument is that the geographic location of Renovo, PA was instrumental in its success as a railroad town and subsequently as a destination for immigrants from 1880 – 1920. In my essay, I write about the immigrant population of Renovo during this time and how the vast majority of them worked for the railroad or provided some type of service to the community, such as owning businesses like breweries, clothing and tailoring, etc. Had the railroad not decided to establish a railyard and workshops in Renovo, there would not have been such a diverse population of immigrants in the town.

While I was hoping to find patterns of immigrant residences by looking at census records, I found that they were pretty well distributed across town. There was a section in the middle of town that did house many Irish immigrants in 1910, and there was actually a section on the east end of town that was labeled on the 1911 Sanborn map as the “Italian Colony,” so there were a few pockets of Renovo that featured one immigrant group more than the others. There were also a predominance of Austrian-Slovenian and Hungarian-Slovakians to the west of Renovo in an area called Stouts Hill. Most worked for the railroad and those that didn’t worked in a clay mine nearby.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s preliminary projects tonight and also hoping to get some feedback on mine. I think everyone in the class has been working very hard on these projects and I think they will all turn out pretty great.

Here’s my draft – I need to edit the essay, so please pardon its rough state!

My Preliminary Final Atlas Project

 

I’ve fallen a bit behind on commenting, but last week I commented on Danielle’s blog.

This week I’ve commented on Dale’s preliminary final project.