The Dickinsonia History Project is a digital museum developed by students and faculty of the History Department. It explores the history of our college, uses the college to explore history, and provides a bridge to the comprehensive research materials in our archives and special collections.
The project is designed to stimulate student historical thinking, research and writing. This pilot version of the site gives a sense of the kinds of work the project will support.
The first iteration of the project has four main elements,
- The Timeline highlights significant moments in Dickinson’s history. This first version was built by Garrett Intern Cassidy Leighton ’14 with help from Ashieda McKoy ’14 and Alex Egner ’13. It will grow as we receive suggestions and comments.
- The Digital Microcosm is a personal exploration of over a century of college yearbooks, by Leah Miller ’14.
- The History of Science Exhibit tells the story of selected scientific artifacts from the Dickinson Collection and was researched and written by independent study students Xueyin Zha ‘16 and Frank Vitale ‘16
- The Source Gallery spotlights thought-provoking single images from the archival collections, to encourage new historical questions, thinking, and discussion.
The project as a whole was inspired by a proposal made by Will Nelligan ’14. Its initial development was supported by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Digital Humanities by Dickinson College, by the Garrett Internship, and by the Dickinson College Archives. Ryan Burke designed our theme, and a committee consisting of Regina Sweeney, Jim Gerencser, Will Nelligan, Christopher Francese and Emily Pawley filled out the concept.
Much of the digital museum builds on the remarkable work done by Professor John Osborne and generations of Dickinson history students, who pioneered digital history at Dickinson beginning in the mid-1990s. We also benefit enormously from the work done by the Archives and Special Collections staff and interns. For further research into the history of the college, their site is invaluable.
Suggestions, comments, and proposals for future exhibits are very welcome from across the college community and should be sent to Prof. Emily Pawley: pawleye@dickinson.edu