Trip: https://storymap.knightlab.com/edit/?id=virginia-a-guide-to-the-old-dominion-tour-1
When it comes to mapping out the racial stigma people might have in certain areas, it’s important to point out how Virginia doesn’t even have a heatmap for black people. This shows that people of color aren’t very welcome in many of any stops during this time. As discussed in previous reading, this was very important for people of color to know whenever travelling. 1. This, compared to the trip I made, could show that it’s dangerous for people of color to travel throughout Virginia. This shows that the books written about the states, were probably not made for people of color to use.
Mapping and special history can teach us what the past thought about the places we now live in. For instance, in my tour I chose Virginia, since I live here and am familiar with a lot of the areas the book was talking about. This way, I can compare what the authors thought about the area back in the 1930s-40s and how I see the world today. It also gives good examples to how the state worked back then and what areas were important then that aren’t so important now. Spatial history can tell us where people lived, and how people travelled. For instance, back when the book was being written, many people travelled by bus instead of their own cars, so there are many stops where the bus would be able to drop people off or pick them up. It describes where the best tourist areas are as well, so it shows which areas might be considered more interesting for tourists.
By using primary sources, we can get better information about the states that we are travelling though in our research than if it were secondary sources. We can see exactly what the people were thinking and how they described states. Also, we can see exactly what they were seeing back when there weren’t many highways or much ease of travel. This way is better than a secondary source, because instead of getting what a historian thinks happened, or how they think a group of people thought, we can see exactly what the person was going through and how they travelled throughout the United states.
