For my final project in this course I asked the historic question of ‘How does exploring the New Deal through the five senses portray the work it took to rebuild America? “. Through research and building an online exhibit I was able to find answers to my question. During the Great Depression “Unemployment peaked at 25 percent in 1932. With no end in sight, and with private firms crippled and charities overwhelmed by the crisis, Americans looked to their government as the last barrier against starvation, hopelessness, and perpetual poverty” (American Yawp). With people unable to work can a sense of hopelessness and unhappiness swept the country. When the New Deal took action many programs were implemented to get people moving again and back to work.
My first page of my exhibit explores the importance of sound during the New Deal. I explain how President Roosevelt used the radio to broadcast his live “Fireside Chats”. This took work, people had to get a radio to listen in, be home at a certain time to listen or go somewhere if they did not have one. I incorporated a clip of Roosevelt speaking into this page using soundcite. Being able to hear the sound of Roosevelt’s friendly voice speaking to his people makes you understand how the citizens also began to trust him. The trust is what helped immensely in the success of his New Deal programs.
The next to pages of my exhibit focus on touch. For touch I incorporate the Federal Art Project image and annotated them. This project came about because of the idea that “Investment in art would be ‘in material wealth, contentment and well being’”(Park & Markowitz). I used annotation here because I wanted users to have to physically touch their mouse and click on the annotation so that while they are viewing my exhibit they are using their sense of touch as well.
I grouped together the last three senses and formed my page on the American Guide Series. I used a map because “Digital mapping and database construction can allow us to reconstruct, preserve, and visualize vestiges of the past “ (posner) I wanted people to move through the map I added and feel as though they were actually taking a trip from the book. Envisioning the new sights they would see, smells and even tastes. I also added in a few sentences about America Eats which was a book that was never fully published Writers still “ collected amazing stories: interviewing cooks and eaters” and “ transcribing recipes”(America Eats).
After finishing my project I can conclude that exploring the New Deal through your senses does in fact make the work it took to succeed more prominent. I wanted to be able to” illustrate ideas and movement, not necessarily data points as we’ve been discussing them “. My point to this whole exhibit was that Americans had lost their way because of the Great Depression. When the New Deal arouse and Americans were given the opportunity to do something about it they jumped right to it. They were put to work. If nobody had made artwork, got a radio or traveled the country the success would not have been so great. They wanted to work to make America better and that is exactly what they did.
Mulligan, Shannon. Exploring the New Deal Through the Five Senses.http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/exhibits/show/exploring-the-new-deal-through
The Great Depression. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the “First” New Deal. Retrieved from http://www.americanyawp.com/text/23-the-great-depression/
America Eats. https://whatamericaate.org/about.php
Bond, S. E. Mapping Racism and Assessing the Success of Digital Humanities. (https://sarahemilybond.com/2017/10/20/mapping-racism-and-assessing-the-success-of-the-digital-humanities/)
Posner, M. Humanities Data a Necessary Contradiction. http://miriamposner.com/blog/humanities-data-a-necessary-contradiction/
Park, M & Markowitz, G. New Deal for Public Art. (Dropbox)
