Photo Essay

My experience creating a photo essay was not as easy as I thought it would be. The hardest part of this project was finding a topic. The photo essay could be on anything a person, place, or event. It took me about three days to decide what to final do this assignment on. I narrowed it down to running. My first idea was to do the 1980 Olympics in Munich. During the summer Olympics that year, a group of Israeli athletes were taken hostage and then killed in the Olympic Village by a group of terrorist. Right after the event took place the American athletes boycotted the rest of the games in protest, which meant some athletes did not get a chance to compete. This included one of track and fields great, Steve Prefontaine. It was hard to find five pictures of this event. The same single picture kept appearing of one of the terrorist, but there really were not a lot of other pictures. I therefore felt it would be difficult to do this topic. Therefore, I moved on.

The next idea I came up with was the Boston Marathon. At first, this seemed like a good idea. I found pictures from the first Boston Marathon. The problem came to finding pictures of the first women running the marathon. The problem is that the first women snuck into the race because at the time women were not allowed to compete. So there is an unofficial first women’s Boston Marathon then there is an official Boston Marathon. I just thought that might be too difficult to explain and not as historical as I thought this project might require. So finally, I came to my final topic the Olympic marathon.

Using the Olympic marathon as the topic for my photo essay was still a difficult task. I knew the general history of the Olympic marathon had its roots in Ancient Greece. The problem was finding a picture that represented marathon running in ancient Greece since there were no cameras at that point and since the first marathon is technically a legend. Fortunately, Wikipedia provided a very nice picture of an artifact from ancient Greece. Wikipedia was also nice enough to provide a picture of the first modern Olympic marathon. It’s a pretty well known picture in the running world, which was immediately familiar to me. The beginning part of this project was easy, the ending however was a bit more difficult.

Women’s Olympic running I knew was slow to take off. Women were banned from track and field events until the 1928 Olympics. Even then, they were running short events with no race over a half-mile for many years to come. I found out easily that the Olympic marathon for women began in 1982 and easily found the name of the winner. At that point I Googled the name of the winner. Finding pictures of was not difficult. The problem I had was distinguishing whether or not they were copyrighted photos. Most of the pictures of her were from regular running websites and they had no credits on the picture. Therefore, I did my best picking a picture that I do not think is copyrighted. The same issue occurred with my final picture of the 2004 Athens Olympics. The pictures I used I found through a Google images search. The picture was part of a news article on a running website. The credit was part of the picture. Therefore, I used the credit that was attached to the picture. I’m still not exactly sure if I used the picture or gave it a proper credit.

The final problem I had was with my fourth picture about paralympic marathoners. I had a very hard time finding pictures of paralympic competitors. The paralympic’s are not the most popular events so it was hard to find pictures of them. It was even harder to find pictures of the particular marathon event. The paralympics in the last couple of years have had official photographers that have copyrighted their images making it difficult to find pictures. Out of sheer exhaustion of looking for a non-copyrighted image, I chose the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics from Wikipedia to depict that element of the photo essay. Overall, the technical elements of posting the pictures were easy. The difficulty was finding the pictures and figuring out if, they were copyrighted or not.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Above is a Greek vase with runners at the panathenaic games around 530 BC. The Marathon is 26.2 mile running race. The first recorded marathon is said to have taken place during the days of Ancient Greece. Legend has it that a Greek solider, Pheidippides, ran from Marathon to Athens non-stop to announce that the Persians were defeated at the Battle of Marathon. He then dropped dead after delivering the news. From this legend and from the ancient Olympic games the Olympic Marathon was born.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Above is a picture of competitors during the first modern Olympic marathon. In 1896, the first modern Olympics took place in Athens, Greece. The first event of the modern games was the Marathon. On April 10, 1896, seventeen runners began the race on the Marathon Bridge. Competitors included Edwin Flack of Australia, Arthur Blake of the United States, Albin Lermusiaux of France, Gyula Kellner of Hungary, and the other 13 runners were Greek. The winner of the 40K (24.8 miles) course was Spyridon Louis of Greece.

Credit: Lasell College Athletics
Above is a picture of Joan Benoit winner of the first women’s Olympic marathon. At the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, California, the women’s marathon became an official Olympic event. Joan Benoit of the United Sates won the first gold medal in the event with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes. The establishment of a women’s Olympic marathon was a struggle. Before the 1980’s, there were no women’s distance races in the Olympics. The longest races were the women’s 1,500 meters (about a mile), which was established in 1972. Long distance running was considered “too strenuous” for women. However, with women running other famous marathons like the Boston Marathon women made a strong case to the International Olympic Committee to get the race added.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Above is a picture of the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Paralympic's in Athens. The first paralympic marathon took place during the New York games in 1984. It was open to both male and female competitors. The paralympic marathons are broken down into several races to account for varying levels of disability.

Credit: Victah/www.PhotoRun.net
Above is a picture of the 2004 Olympic women’s marathon. The Olympics that year took place in Athens, Greece and the race route was similar to the ancient path traveled from Marathon to Athens. The top three finishers were Mizuki Noguchi from Japan with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, 20 seconds, Catherine Ndereba of Kenya with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, 32 seconds and Deena Kastor of the United States with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 20 seconds. The marathon has come a long way from its ancient greek roots.

Website Evaluation

www.nps.gov/vafo/ is the website for Valley Forge National Historical Park. Most commonly, know as Valley Forge, the park is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania about twenty miles outside the city of Philadelphia. Its historical importance lies in its role during the Revolutionary War. The site may describe the significance of Valley Forge best when it says…
Of all the places associated with America's War for Independence, none conveys more the impression of suffering, sacrifice, and ultimate triumph than Valley Forge. No battles were fought here, no bayonet charges or artillery bombardments took place, but during the winter of 1777-78 approximately 2,000 soldiers died at hospitals in the surrounding area nonetheless. Valley Forge is the story of an army's epic struggle to survive against terrible odds, against hunger, disease, and the unrelenting forces of nature.
This website does an outstanding job of conveying Valley Forge’s history while additionally connecting it to the present.

The site is incredibly user friendly right from the beginning. The site home has a banner at the top of the page for the National Park Service: U.S. Department of the Interior with a link to the National Park Service website, nps.gov. On the left is a navigation bar. This navigation bar remains consistent on every page of the site. The navigation bar consists of a search tool that can search the Valley Forge Park site or can search the National Park Service site. Below the search function are ten category headings that link to major areas of the site. In addition to the main categories, there are the Site Index, Frequently Asked Questions, Bookstore, and Contact buttons. The navigation bar is placed in a good location and categorized in an appropriate matter making it easy for uses to find what they are looking for.

Other features that make this site particularly user friendly is the lack of display picture length restrictions. The entire website fits in the window no matter how you manipulate the window. The page can also be made printer friendly so that all parts of the page will be displayed when printed instead of parts being cut off. The text is also easy to read because the font colors are dark with a light background. Additionally the text size can be changed by the click of a button making it small, medium or large.

The site is filled with useful content for all audiences. Most importantly all information is current. There is a timestamp of last updates and is different on each page, not just the entire site. For example the Valley Forge News page is more recent being updated 1/8/07 at 10:22 EST. While the Support the Park page is less recent having last changed on 9/24/06 at 14:06 EST. The content and scholarship varies depending on what part of the site you visit. For the general public who does not want detailed information about the entire winter encampment of the Continental Army the History and Culture page provides about a page and a half summery of the events that took place at Valley Forge. This is an appropriate length for the general public. Enough text to present the important information but not long enough to make them lose interest.

The site does provide content and scholarship for the more academically/historically inclined. The History & Culture page is a good place to find more academic/historical information. There are links to People, Places, Stories, and Collections pages. Each provides increasingly in-depth information the more buttons you click on. To find the most scholarly information you would go to the Collections page then navigate to the Archives & Library page. This page provides links to the library collection at Valley Forge Park, which has approximately 7,000 volumes including books, reports, theses and dissertations, and periodicals. Additionally, the park is in the process of digitizing documents and publications but currently, Valley Forge : Making and Remaking a National Symbol, The Valley Forge Report, and A Demographic Survey of the Continental Army that Wintered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777-1778 are available online. In addition to this scholarly information, there is a designated area for teachers. This area includes extensive information on how to incorporate Valley Forge Park into the classroom. This includes a 71-page curriculum PDF, which includes primary source activities.

The most exciting part of this website is its use of new media. One would not expect historical websites, especially government historical websites to be the most technologically savvy, but this site proves otherwise. The site has at least two high quality images on every page. It has a special area devoted to Photos & Multimedia. The page is broken down into Photo Gallery and Multimedia Presentations. The Photo Gallery page has ten photo galleries broken down into five categories for easy searching. The Photo Galleries can be either viewed as an Album or viewed as a slideshow with the latest version of Flash. The Multimedia Presentations page has Video and Audio Podcasts available for download.

In brief, the Valley Forge National Historical Park website is one of the best historical sites I have viewed. It contains content and scholarships that all audiences would enjoy. It is incredibly user friendly because of its layout and presentation and its use of new media is surprisingly up to date in current. Most importantly is makes the user want to experience the park first hand.

History of Valentine's Day

February 14 is Valentines Day. Each year people celebrate with candy, flowers, and cards. There is no doubt that this special day in February is a major holiday. Those who celebrate know that is a day devoted to love. Few however know its true origin and meaning.

The name at least for Valentine’s Day comes from Saint Valentine. According to Catholics there appears to have been three St. Valentines. One suffered in Africa. The other two might be the same person. The first is described as the bishop of Interamna. The other was a priest in Rome. The namesake St. Valentine lived around the year 270 AD and was a priest in Rome. During his life, the ruler of Rome was Emperor Claudius II. It is said that during his rule he prevented young men from getting married. He did this because he found that his soldiers, who were away from home for long periods of time, were better if they were not distracted by their wives back at home.

Legend has it that St. Valentine was arrested by Claudius because he was wither helping martyrs or secretly marrying young couples. Whatever the reason, after being apprehended it is that that Valentine wrote to first love letter. Apparently during his time in jail, he fell in love with the jailers daughter and wrote her a letter. Consequently, the first Valentine card. Valentine was beaten and then beheaded for his actions. Therefore, becoming a martyr and saint and creating the story of the St. Valentine.

The reason we know about St. Valentine today is because of records and evidence that have been preserved through time. The story of St. Valentine was recorded in martyrologies and biographies. Included in these texts was the date of his death assumed to be around mid February. Other information included was the site of his burial at Flaminian Way. Additionally it is known that the site of his relics is at the church of St. Praxedes.

How a holiday coupled with love was derived out of the death of a 3rd century priest has its own unique history. The connection of St. Valentine and the present holiday seems to come from the association of the date of the saints death and a pagan Roman festival. The festival was called the feast of Lupercalis or Lupercalia. The festival was apparently a celebration of love. Another possible connection between the saint and love is the belief that birds mate in the middle of February. The date at least was solidified in 496 when “Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14 to be the feast day of two Roman martyrs, both named Saint Valentine”. From that day on the priest from Rome was forever linked to the holiday of love and the namesake will always be traced back to Saint Valentine.

Evaluation Essay

History on the web takes a variety of forms. In the early 1990's there were only a handful of sites. Today there are hundreds of thousands. History sites on the web are used for archives, exhibits, films, and scholarship to name a few. The four website’s used for evaluation is this assignment are prime examples of the different representations of history and approaches used to show history on the web.

The first website evaluated was The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War. This site is essentially an archival site or as Michael O’Mally and Roy Rosenzweig explain in their article, Brave New World or Blind Alley? American History on the Web, the site is a “docuverse they are still using the web as a resource- a place to go to find specific information”. The overall approach for this site is archival but it is unique when compared to a typical library/archive site. Rather than an index, the archive is broken into different sections. The site has a clear focus on two locations and is split into three periods. The audience for this website would probably be Civil War enthusiast who seeks solid documentation presented in a more interactive, user-friendly way.

The second website evaluated is The History Channel. The presentation of history on this site completely contrasts with The Valley of the Shadow. The History Channel site is a combination of film and commercial approaches. Cohen and Rosenzweig in their book Digital History explain that film sites generally “offer timelines, images, primary sources, program transcripts, and teaching materials as well as ‘special features’ such as games, interviews done for the programs, online forums with historians, and QuickTime VR explorations of historic places” (p. 38). The History Channel site incorporates most of these things, since the site is designed to accompany the programming on the television channel. Major areas of focus include shows, schedules, video gallery, shop, games, and classroom.

The History Channel, in addition to the film approach, is extremely commercial. The site has a popular audience and as a result, it gears it sites towards that audience. It has numerous advertisements not only for its programming, but also for other partner channels like A&E. Outside companies are also advertised. For example, a popular area, “This Day in History”, is sponsored by Hyundai, a car company. Other commercial areas of the site include small advertisement for history channel merchandise and of course a link to The History Channel Store. Overall, this history site is more of a companion to popular TV shows, rather than an informative, scholarly, historical resource.

DoHistory.com, the third site for evaluation combines a variety of approaches for representing history on the web. The site is a presentation of Laurel Thatcher Ulrick’s case study on Martha Ballard, a woman living in 18th century Maine. Ulrick’s work later became a book and was also adapted into a movie entitled A Midwife’s Tale. The site is geared towards readers of Ulrick’s book, viewers of her film, and students of women’s and colonial American history. Like The Valley of the Shadow, this history site provides an archive for the documents used in Ulrick’s research. Additionally the site is used as a companion for the film, providing more information. Finally, it is a teaching tool with a particular section entitled “Teaching with the Website”. This site is a great example of how one site can approach history in a variety of ways to accommodate an audience with diverse needs and interests.

The final site is for the National Museum of American History, which is a museum and organization site. The National Museum of American History is mostly a museum site. Its main areas are focused on its collections, exhibitions, events and programs, and information about the museum. It is geared towards approaching history the way the museum itself approaches history. This is through online exhibits and information.

Since the National Museum of American History is part of the Smithsonian Institution, it also provides organizational information. The site provides information about the museum itself as well as other Smithsonian museums. The site can also be used as a teaching tool, since it has lots of educational aids and activities. Overall the site can be very helpful for those who wish to visit the museum in the future.

History on the web is made up of a variety of representations. Examining these four website’s is just a small example of how history can be so diversely presented. Each site is geared towards a unique audience and can be used for a variety of different tasks. Thus proving not all history sites are the same.

Alice Paul’s Fight for Suffrage

This Alice Paul’s Fight for Suffrage page is part of the PBS for kid’s website. PBS for Kids, which is probably best known for Sesame Street, Mister Rogers, and Reading Rainbow also, has an area called WayBack, which looks at U.S history for Kids. Part of this site is called Women & The Vote. This site gives a brief history of Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party in their fight for suffrage. Although this site is created for children, it gives a nice background, good pictures, and most importantly a link to suggested readings,which include videos and non-fiction and fiction books.

Alice Paul Institute Website

The Alice Paul Institute, which is a non profit organization located in Mount Laural, New Jersey. Its loacation, called Paulsdale, is a National Historic Landmark, since it was the home where Alice Paul was born and raised. The site is clearly in its beginning stages. It provides information about The Alice Paul Institute and also gives details on Paulsdale and Alice Paul herself. It is not the best source to find about the National Woman’s Party or Alice Paul, but it is a nice site to view before going to a tour or event at The Alice Paul Institute.

Conversations with Alice Paul: Woman Suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment

Conversations with Alice Paul: Woman Suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment site is part of the Online Archive of California . The site is an archive of The Suffragist Oral History Project, which is a set of interviews with leaders of the woman’s suffragist movement. This site is unique because it provides a transcript of an oral interview given by Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman’s Party and author of the Equal Rights Amendment. 1) Family and Education 2) The USA Suffrage Campaign 3) The Suffrage Campaign Reviewed 4) The Equal Rights Amendment
5) Other Accomplishments. Visitors of this site will enjoy the personal details and information it provides. However, the site is slow to load and can be tiresome to read.

Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party

The Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, a Library of Congress site is one for the more visually inspired. This site provides nearly 500 digital pictures documenting the women who fought for suffrage as members of the National Woman’s party. The site shows only a small portion of the records available at the Library of Congress Manuscript Division dedicated to the National Woman’s Party. Visitors to this site will enjoy the large number of images available. They also have access to a timeline of the National Woman’s Party from 1912-1997, which provides images as well as hyperlinks to important figures in the party. A number of essays are also available as short excerpts that can be downloaded in full as PDF’s. Overall, this site has a wonderful balance of information and images that will keep any user’s attention.

The Sewall-Belmont House & Museum

The Sewall-Belmont House & Museum is a museum located on Capitol Hill that documents the fight for women’s equality. This national landmark was the former residence of Alice Paul, a leader in the women’s rights movement and author of the Equal Rights Amendment. The home is also the headquarters of the National Woman’s Party. Visitors to this site will be impressed with its sophistication. The site provides information on expected museum information such as hours, directions, tours, and upcoming programs. However, a plethora of useful information is available on the site. There are links that provide detailed information to the museums collection. This includes the National Woman’s Party Digital Collection, which is updated continuously. There are also pages dedicated to the Hilles Feminist Library, which according to the site is “the first library in the country entirely dedicated to the study of the history of women in the United States and abroad” located on the museum property. Other highlights of this site include education information for the public, teachers, and students. This is an eye-catching, interactive, informative site!

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