February Update

Last week we did another check in for the Oberlin Project.  Pieces of the projects are going well and steadily coming together, making it easier to see how pieces of the project connects to each other and the larger question of abolition in South Western Ontario. 

• The Goggle Map for the interactive timeline and Wilson locations is going well.  Logistics have been worked out; however the task of coding and finding the exact longitude and latitude of locations have proven to be another feat.  An issue arises particularly when reference is made to locations that no longer exist or utilize the same name as another location.
  
• The mini biographies of individuals mentioned in the letters have been going well also.  People in the letters have been identified and basic information is being compiled.  A link will be created to show people where more information can be located on these individuals.
  
• The Hiram Wilson biography is progressing well—an early version has been posted on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Wilson-- this page will have a link to the website once it is completed).  Unlike other works dedicated to Wilson’s life there has been an attempt to delve into his life after he left Dawn and went to St. Catherin's.
  
• A small trip to the Uncle Tom’s Cabin site is being organized in order to find out a bit more about what was set up at Dawn.  
  
• A few weeks ago I attempted to upload the first version of the video that is being created regarding the trips taken during the completion of this project.  Unfortunately this was unsuccessful.  Following the completion of the video—after the trip to the Uncle Tom’s Cabin site, the video will be exported to another format and upload will be attempted again.
  
• An extensive bibliography for the whole project is being compiled, though there has been some question about how precisely to divide it up or organize it.
  
• And finally, now that all the letters have been edited I will be able to compile them into one document which may be used for the embedded Google search for the letter content.

In the end website construction has been going well, it is hoped that a preliminary launch will occur just after reading week (this will allow us the opportunity to explore the website and work out any kinks prior to the official launch).  All the individual and collaborative portions of the website are to be given over to the members of the class working on the website on Thursday, the 17^th of February in order to make sure the launch date can be met.

Through the creation of the website it is hoped that accessibility to the information gleaned from the Hiram Wilson letters, and the project as a whole, will increase and awareness will be spread.  As part of the ever expanding archive of digital history and knowledge is important to be mindful of the image and interpretation of the facts we are displaying on the website.  Besides being a digital history project the website will delve into areas of history from below, religious and abolitionist areas of historical investigation, issues of memory, and the realm of public history.

Our next task is to try and link the Oberlin and Chatham projects—our two main ideas being the idea of global citizenship or the trans-Atlantic freedom movement.  This is being done in order to figure out precisely how to organize and advertise the launch of the website and the guest lecture being associated with it to occur in March.  Our class is looking forward to the event.