Damiani Daniel – The Digital Past Course Blog

A Difficult Journey

The travel distance from Westport, California to San Francisco is a little over 204 miles long. A journey that encompasses every aspect to west coast life; fishing, lumber markets, farming, and social aspects such as hotels, restaurants and general stores. For a white male American citizen, the trip can be much easier. In the 20th century when racial segregation was still prominent, only white males were allowed to use the railroads in California. With no access to public transportation, the journey from north California to southern California was unforgivable. According to the Green Book project, there are no welcoming stops along this route; meaning that if someone from African decent tried to sleep at a hotel or find comfort in a restaurant for the evening, they would be kicked out. My map suggests that there were many more stops available along Interstate 1 and Interstate 101. From Westport to San Francisco there are 3 major camping grounds welcoming to all because at the time, they were owned by Russian Americans. The Russian Gultch State Park is the biggest and most well known. I was curious as to why the Green Book did not have all of the stops that I found throughout my tour, but it does suggest that some of those places, if not most of them, were not friendly or welcoming to native people or anyone who was not a white male. According to The American Guide Series, white male travelers did not face much adversity along the way but black male and female citizens faced a lot. ¹. From not being able to find a place to sleep, eat, or hangout to not even being welcomed into the town, the travel differences between white and black people is immense.

Although San Francisco acquired a large population following the market collapse and the Dust Bowl, this just made jobs harder to get for again, anyone who was not a white male. Asian Americans were very segregated and forced to take the labor heavy, low-paying jobs as were other immigrant races. Using this mapping website, I was able to get a better understanding of just how far away these places are without the use of automobiles for the majority of the population.

The American Guide series was a successful contribution to American history and society. ². This helped people grasp how challenging it was to be someone other than a white male when regarding traveling or being a tourist. Tourism at that time was plentiful because people were on the move due to the Dust Bowl and market crash. However, this still was segregated. Fishing expeditions were only granted to the white male who had the money and hotels prioritized white people rather than the “first come, first serve” policy.

Overall, this assignment gave me better insight on how people used to travel in the west, what they would encounter, and what adversity they would face depending on who they were. I left out a couple stops along the way because from Westport to San Francisco, there are over 30 places such as beaches, ports, farms, towns and state parks. The important places along this route are the places that I have indicated in my map.

Industrial and Rural Life: 1930s

Throughout the 1930s there was a lot of adversity. Adversity for small-time farmers just trying to survive, city-folk who were constantly looking for work in a dying economy, and adversity for the government to overcome the many travesties of the Great Depression. There were issues that affected all walks of American and global life, such as the stock market crash in 1929. ¹ As a result of the stock market crash, not only were American farmers and industrial workers hit with a catastrophic economic decline, but also most countries in the world. For industrial workers, one of the problems was that factories could not provide adequate wages for their employees so they could not acquire laborers. This led to a deep decline in industrial production and deflation in prices, high unemployment rates, mass panic and a sharp increase in poverty and homelessness. On Voyant, I targeted the term “Homeless” and found that “Subway Stuff” mentioned homelessness on the subway trains at night which is still happening today. ². Throughout my research on Voyant, I noticed a heavier correlation with the terms “men”, “jobs”, and “work” than the terms “woman”, “job” and “work” within the articles pertaining industrial living but the opposite correlation between them when looking at rural living related articles.

This was interesting because the way of life that this correlation portrays is not only that it was much harder for women to obtain jobs in the 1930s but also today when women face much more adversity and negative stereotyping than men obtaining jobs and in the workplace. It was also interesting because it made me think about if the socio-cultural way of rural living is a more advanced in the way of gender equality. By comparing these terms on Voyant and reading the articles, I was able to draw conclusions to the fact that rural living is more advanced in gender norms and equality in not only everyday life, but also in working environments.

Coming from a background of rural living and farm life myself and noticing this opposite correlation among rural living, I looked more deeply at these articles to find information. In the article “A Farming Preacher”, ³ the man interviewed mentioned working together and providing on the farm every day with his wife, and the children doing their share; feeding the animals, cleaning the house and doing laundry once they were home from school. By adding the term “farm” to the list of target words, I confirmed that in the articles pertaining to rural living there was a stronger correlation between the terms “women” and “work” meaning that in rural lifestyle the ideals of equal opportunity and ‘everyone does their share’ were more prominent.

Fountain Hughes Interview: Blog Post #5

I came into this with the question: What is the transition from a slave to a free citizen like? Fountain Hughes is a Charlottesville, Virginia born slave who was birthed by Mary Hughes on May 10th, 1948. He worked at the Monticello farm with his mother, and brother. He states mentions that his grandfather “belonged” to Thomas Jefferson and his master would treat him and the other slaves well. However, Hughes’ experience tells a different story. They were not given shoes until age 13, they had no rest or break during work; they would work through sickness, fatigue, and malnourishment. He often references his treatment to that of a dog. “If I was to be put back into slavery now, I would take a gun and end it myself.” He said when speaking about the experience. Although Fountain talks about how drastically his life changed once he was free, it was not an easy transition. He mentions that the first couple weeks of freedom he and his brother had no place to go, no place to sleep, and nothing to eat; they had nothing nor a clue of what to do. Their first couple weeks of freedom they would just find any random car in any random spot and if it was unlocked, they had a place to sleep. Luckily their mother, Mary Hughes, had a home in Baltimore where she allowed them to stay but had to pay rent. At first I thought there was no way they would be able to afford it with the eventual $1.00 a day wages, but the rent was so cheap their mother only requested $1 a month from each of them (which is equal to about $10.00 today. I could not find any corresponding stories in our readings however, the reading in this ling describes his life on the Monticello property, as well as his family history, and other stories from slaves that have had similar backgrounds and situations as he did. ( https://www.monticello.org/getting-word/people/fountain-hughes ) ¹

My timeline ( file:///Users/dandami4gmail.com/Downloads/Fountain%20Hughes%20Timeline%20(1)/od1.html ) puts all of his most cherished and valuable memories into chronological order. This interview helped me answer my question because he talks about the horrors of slavery and how it helped shape him as a free citizen. I love how he initially talks about how he never takes handouts, never asks for a loan, and never pays with credit. He prides himself on a lifetime of “If I want this item, I will work and pay for it in cash once I have the money.” He is humble, smart, hardworking, and kind. He holds no debt, once he was free due to the abolishment of slavery in 1964, he worked and made a living. I thought this interview gave good insight on how different life is now versus the 1800s. The interview was also interesting because it was made in 1949 so the quality of the audio was almost impossible to understand. His story puts into perspective how life is meant to be cherished and to be grateful for the things you have.

Blog Post #4

Algorithmic criticism essentially dictates the AI Bias, or Black-Box Algorithms ( https://www.wired.com/story/what-does-a-fair-algorithm-look-like/?GuidesLearnMore ) when google searching a topic. The algorithmic manipulation of literacy when a google search is made consists of many different variations. For example, according to Noble, Algorithms of Oppression, when google searching “Black Girls”, all that comes up on the first page is pornography. Feminism in the 1930’s impacted the search engines in the sense that male decision making and google searches tend to shift towards sexualizing women. The blatant sexist and demoralizing male bias behind this is appalling, and unfortunately, whoever is in charge of creating these ludicrous algorithms that come up with that kind of search results does not care about knowledge and un-bias decision making, but rather only cares about a small portion of the population. Another example is when big , money making corporations have the finances to put their advertisements over simple google searches; meaning no matter what you personally want to search, you are forced to look at some business as well. Contemporary digital activists and WPA – era activists are similar in the sense that the search results have not changed much. They still prioritize the more vulgar, sexist, and racist results rather than an algorithm that takes everyone into account.

Skill Assignment #3 / blog post #3

The image I selected is from the Work Projects Administration ( http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/admin/items/show/167 ) and depicts a family, a father, mother and child all prepared for the work that is ahead. The father looks like he is holding some sort of tool for a factory job while the mother is holding a sort of mop depicting household work and the child is empty-handed but looks more than ready to work. I chose this image because I thought it was strong, inspiring, and true. Strong because it shows that there will be work that needs to be done, and only you can do that work. Inspiring because it encourages people to help others and if you can get your job done then you can help someone else (your wife) get their job done as well. And truthful because it is how the 1930’s work situation was arranged. The father usually worked in a factory while the mother stayed home, developing the child and fixing up the house. This reveals that almost every family in the 1930’s was in this gender roll arrangement. The answers to the historical questions I was seeking consisted of: “How can the government encourage families to get their work done when nothing is guaranteed?” This poster method helps us think more critically because it depicts an ideal situation, that may seem impossible, but with the help of the specifics on the posters and hard work, can be achieved for a better life. These methods helped me learn more about the poster because every little aspect of it had a description as for why it was there, how it helped people and in what way it helped them. http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/exhibits/show/https—www-loc-gov-pictures-r The conclusions I took away from this are that one, a poster showing an ideal situation can motivate people to achieve that outcome; and two, everyone has a place on this planet, no matter what kind of work you are doing, there is always work that needs to be done.

Extra Credit

I believe Dickstein was right in his belief that Art creates a form of escapism, as well as allowing people to think in a more creative, less literal way that can stimulate growth and perspective in times of struggle. Dickstein stated that the “economic devastation of 2008 created more than just financial trouble, it is accompanied with psychological depression, feelings of low morale, feeling hopeless, and a terrifying sense that the future will bare only trouble.” These feelings cannot be fully accounted for or fixed with the government talking about the situation at hand. Times like these demand another form of encouragement to get the mental and economic state of being back from despair. Art, in any sense, has helped people grow, learn, and adapt to the constantly changing world we live in. In today’s time, we do not have any crisis regarding the stability of the economic market, but we do have major issues in other areas. For example, there are huge movements happening with the LGBTQ community and it continues to grow because the popular culture is becoming less judgmental and more open with how people feel and what people need to thrive. The movement really caught fire and began in 2015 when Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner announced his transition from being a male to female. This sparked something all over the world but for the first couple years and still now mainly in the United States. People all over were now comfortable enough to announce their own truths, the thought that “if Bruce can do it on a global stage then I can do it in my own life” snowballed all over. Thus creating a new future where people can feel much more confident and aware of who they are without the fears of rejection. Another example I see in today’s society is in Comedy acts. Comedy is a great form of art; it creates a whole new perspective for situations. If we can turn a terrible situation into a “I mean come on, how did we let this happen, really?” kind of joke, we can accept it better and grow from it. With that being said, popular culture is not always following good patterns. The new movie ‘The Joker’ has stemmed a lot of talk about how people relate more with the Joker and identify as someone as lost as he is. The movie is said to depict a lot of real life situations and circumstances of unfair treatment. This is bad because the popular culture will follow with negative thoughts and actions to back up their fears. To answer the question simply, Dickstein is correct that people will seek another form of relief during bad times, but that reliance on escapism can create a sense of dependency that we NEED something other than reality to help us grow.

Blog Post #2

The digital realm is limitless when compared to old age text and 19th century (and before) dissertations. We now have the ability to read and/ or listen to something online and use citations and hyperlinks to dive deeper into fact checking, confirming doubt, or just learning more about that topic. These online databases, such as The Toronto Star: Pages of the Past and the Globe and Mail, talked about by Ian Milligan, that gives us over ten years of data to look at plus the digital references and pathways to find even more and earlier data regarding the subject. For me, a book is my favorite source of learning, but I would be lying if I said that all of my questions and thoughts get answered or touched on in a paper-back book; I now have the ability to read a book and then go online and research all of the underlying meanings and ideas that are sparked in my mind due to the text. Before the digital age, people would read a book, or a dissertation and that was it; you could think about it, read similar texts or other people’s ideas, but it was never something that you could truly dig to the bottom of. ¹

Academically, being able to ‘surf the web’ and research things online is a monumental change. Instead of going to the library, searching for a specific book or article, you can simply type into Google and find not only your answer, but a more in depth explanation on what you are looking for, but we are pretending that it is the same as physically reading a book or finding an answer ourselves. Personally, digital projects are great; giving those who may not know how to physically go out and find events a place to learn, and eventually join in and help in whatever way they can. These projects are also great because whether we like to admit it or not, we do not acknowledge big events that we may drive by with that much detailed thought; they kind of get brushed under the rug once they are not there anymore. These digital projects are anchored into the web, being forever attainable. So being able to use Google, Electronic Books, and Digital Projects, students and people in general have the resources to research anything and everything they want rather than having a ceiling that is the front and back of a book. ²

With all of that being said, I believe we lose some of our retainability when researching things online or typing a paper rather than reading a book or writing on paper. I definitely retain information better when I write it in a notebook rather than type it into a word document. I can type without looking or while having a conversation, as I’m sure many people can, but I am fully concentrated on what I am writing while writing and it engages my mind much more. It is obvious that we can research more things on the internet rather than in books or dissertations, but because of that, we tend to scratch the surface of thousands of topics rather than learning or mastering them. Reading a book and thinking about what you are reading gives our brains much more of a workout than a simple google search. I believe we are becoming lazy. I mean, why would I read a whole book or textbook for information that I can watch on YouTube? The efficiency and easy access of the internet is being replaced with regular, personal thought. We can learn whatever we want while sitting on a couch on our lap tops; that damages us because we are not then practicing the art of going out and finding things on our own.

Author: Damiani Daniel