Gene Henriksen of St. Paul, Minnesota has created a unique new
Web site called the Northern Plains Archive Project, although he also refers to
it as "Hidden History." I had to spend a bit of time learning how to
use this site. Once I began to understand the power of Henriksen’s "Deep
Maps," I became very comfortable with his project.
Henriksen’s goal is to "build a home for common people's
history accessible on their own terms.'' He sees the archive as a kind of
people's encyclopedia of the region, giving users easy access to a wealth of
knowledge while allowing them to add information of their own in the form of
reminiscences, photographs or even videos. To explain the "Deep Maps"
approach risks oversimplification; basically, by clicking on a map, users can
access other maps (from different periods or from specific places), along with a
great variety of information. For example, this drill-down information includes
excerpts from John Reed Swanton's 1952 work, "The Indian Tribes of North
America.''
The site is still in its formative stages but shows a lot of
promise. It shows maps and contains a lot of information about the upper
Mississippi River area. The site gives history as textual information, maps,
pictures and even a few multimedia clips with full video.
An article on TwinCities.com points out that Henriksen is a
self-taught cartographer, historian and computer programmer. He never received
formal training in those subjects. He is a lawyer who served as St. Paul's first
affirmative action director.
These days Henriksen’s immediate priority is to raise money
for a pilot "deep map'' that will focus on St. Paul's historic West Side
flats, once home to many immigrants. The pilot and other work will require about
$100,000 in all -- money Henriksen is now working to raise. The Hidden History
site serves as a pilot model showing the concept of deep maps.
For more background information, look at the TwinCities.com news
article on http://www.pioneerplanet.com
Then go to the Hidden History Web site at: http://www.hiddenhistory.com.
Read the Welcome message and then click on "Deep Map Demo." One
warning: many of the maps and pictures are large files. If you are on a dial-up
modem, you may find the site is slow to navigate. On a cable modem or DSL
connection, the information appears on-screen almost instantly.
My thanks to both Kathryn Bassett and to William G. Hoffmeyer
for letting me know about the unique Northern Plains Archive Project.
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