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MITH
April 25, 2012
Digital Dialogues

5/1 MITH Digital Dialogue: Carla Peterson and Seth Denbo, “From Print to Digital: The Black Gotham Digital Archive”

Black Gotham book cover

Tuesday, May 1, 12:30-1:45pm
6137 McKeldin Library, Special Events
Cosponsored by the Departments of African-American Studies, American Studies, and English

“From Print to Digital: The Black Gotham Digital Archive” by CARLA PETERSON
Co-presenter: SETH DENBO

I’ve spent my MITH fellowship year working on “The Black Gotham Digital Archive.” My goal is to link an interactive web site, smart phones, and the geographic spaces of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn to create a deeper understanding of nineteenth-century black New York. . . . Continue Reading

Carla Peterson
April 23, 2012
Faculty Fellows

Taking Stock

This will be one of my last blog entries prior to the launch of the Black Gotham Digital Archive so it seems like an appropriate moment for me to step back and take stock of all things Black Gotham.

Looking back. By my count, since the publication of Black Gotham in February 2011 I’ve given some forty-five book talks with three more scheduled for this spring. . . . Continue Reading

Carla Peterson
March 14, 2012
Faculty Fellows , Research

The Black Gotham Digital Archive: The Draft Riots of July 1863

View of Vandewater Street


I found this note in the Harry A. Williamson Papers at the Schomburg Center while doing research for Black Gotham.  It’s a central document in my “cluster” on the New York City draft riots and uncovers a fascinating story.  The first part of the story relates to Williamson’s identity.  He turns out to be the grandson of Albro Lyons, the man to whom the note is addressed.  . . . Continue Reading

Emma Millon
March 5, 2012
Community , Faculty Fellows , News

MITH Faculty Fellow to Speak at UM Libraries’ Campus Author Series

Wednesday, March 7th at 4:30pm Carla Peterson, Ph.D, professor of English, MITH Faculty Fellow, and director of the Black Gotham Archive, will be giving a talk as part of the University of Maryland Libraries’ Speaking of Books… Conversations with Campus Authors series. Carla will be speaking on her recently published book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale UP, 2011). . . . Continue Reading

Emma Millon
February 22, 2012
Community , Faculty Fellows , News

MITH Faculty Fellow Carla Peterson in the News

Carla Peterson

In celebration of Black History Month, this week the University of Maryland is profiling Carla Peterson, professor of English and MITH Faculty Fellow, on her research project, Black Gotham Archive. In “Online Archive to Share Stories of 19th Century Free Blacks,” Karen Shih, University Editor, interviews Peterson on her family history, 19th century black New Yorkers, and the origins of her digital archive. . . . Continue Reading

Emma Millon
February 20, 2012
Faculty Fellows , News

Part 2: MITH Faculty Fellow Answers Readers’ Questions on Times’ “Taking Questions”

Last week, Carla Peterson, professor of English and a MITH Faculty Fellow, was featured by The New York Times City Room “Taking Questions” series on her book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011). Over the course of the week, readers submitted their questions to Dr. . . . Continue Reading

Emma Millon
February 15, 2012
Community , Faculty Fellows , News

MITH Faculty Fellow Answers Readers’ Questions on Times’ “Taking Questions”

Carla Peterson, professor of English and a MITH Faculty Fellow, is being featured this week by The New York Times City Room “Taking Questions” series on her recent book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011). Black Gotham is a riveting account of Peterson’s quest to reconstruct the lives of her nineteenth-century ancestors. . . . Continue Reading

Carla Peterson
January 30, 2012
Faculty Fellows , Research

Storytelling

I ended my last blog entry with the suggestion that one possible virtue of virtuality might be that a digital archive inverts the book’s relationship between word and image (in the case of Black Gotham, portraits of people as well as depictions of places—maps, streets, buildings, etc.).  “In my book,” I wrote, “word was the primary vehicle for telling my story and image functioned as supporting illustration; in the digital archive, image is the primary vehicle and word supporting document.”

I’m well aware, however, that much like a printed book a digital archive must create and sustain a narrative arc—consisting not only of a beginning, middle, and end, but also of a certain narrative tension that impels the viewer forward to look, search, discover.  . . . Continue Reading

Carla Peterson
December 20, 2011
Faculty Fellows , Research

Beginnings

It might seem strange to be talking about “beginnings” just as the semester is winding down, but that’s exactly where I’m at: taking my very first step toward setting up the Black Gotham Digital Archive.

I had my first training session with Seth Denbo and Amanda Visconti last week, with Kirsten Keister joining us at the end. . . . Continue Reading

Carla Peterson
November 21, 2011
Faculty Fellows , Research

What’s the Virtue of Virtuality?

As is generally the case with things intellectual, progress on my digital archive has been quite slow.

I have several “handlers” (as I call them) at MITH and they are all terrific. Kirsten Keister is responsible for the design of this website which I think is truly elegant—and she did it in record time. Emma Millon is going to teach me how to post my blog entries in a couple of hours so hopefully I will be posting this one myself! . . . Continue Reading