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Introduction to Digital History

A course page for HIST 209: Introduction to Digital History

  • Student Sandboxes
    • 2019
      • Rosenthal
      • Haleigh Ardolino
      • Bryce Stump
      • Taylor Stewart
      • Andrew Smith
      • Liesl Greider
      • Garrett Channell
      • Eric Hayslett
      • Sabrina Utz
      • Liz Lee
      • Madeline Rice
      • Jared Soisson
    • 2023
      • Sam Gentile
      • Jalen Ross
      • Nebiyu D. Fanta
      • Samantha Rosenthal
      • Owen Collander
      • Lindsay Blanchfield
      • Becca Goldstein
      • Jayde Mooney
      • Megan Reynolds
      • Kellen Drawbaugh
      • Jack Graves
      • Zach King
      • Ginny Wingo
      • Rachel Simmons
      • Alex Feuer
      • Julia Needham
      • Erin Ramsay
      • Will Larkey
  • Class Projects
    • 1893 Roanoke Race Riot
      • StoryMap
      • Documents
      • Context
    • Digital Project Reviews

Julia Needham

Welcome to my Sandbox!

Skill #1

Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Freeport, ME

My name is Julia Needham, and I’m a senior at Roanoke College! I’m majoring in communication studies with a minor in Spanish. I live near Portland, ME I spend a lot of my time reading on the beach or swimming in the ocean. I can’t wait to see what exciting opportunities the future holds after graduating in May 2023!

Skill #2

This is the screenshot of the metadata related to the Blue Ridge Lambda Press Volume 10, Number 3, 1992. This depicts the metadata which helps with future research because of the breakdown of the information, making it more simplistic to work with. YAY–the site finally went through.

Skill #3

Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.), 22 March 1883. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89067274/1883-03-22/ed-1/seq-2/>

This article slanders the name of Victoria Woodhull since she’s a women’s rights activist, but they bring her daughter into this. Basically, the piece is saying how it’s contradictory of her daughter to be engaged and get married since her mom doesn’t follow that traditional path. And how Woodhull is going against what she stands for since she allows her daughter to get married. An example from this piece that is so disrespectful is “For a woman of talent this is a sacrifice which the ordinary female mind will fail to grasp in its full extent.” Disgusting rhetoric like this is why women are still to this day viewed to be lesser than men.

Skill #3

Trump Speech

Word clouds were created from Google Donald J. Trump’s inaugural speech (left) and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech (right), gathered from The American Presidency Project.

JFK Speech

The first speech comes from Donald J. Trump (Republican) in 2017 and next to it is John F. Kennedy’s (Democratic) in 1961. Why I chose to look at these not just because of their opposing political parties but with a large interest in the difference in rhetoric. Presidential rhetoric is its own category, but I wanted to narrow my focus on the potential overlap relating to time and political parties. Since JFK is known for his positive outlook, I took words like “let, us, free, world, country, and sides..” from his speech because of the positive connotation associated with these words. Moreso a sense of unity. We look at Trump’s and they seem more aimed at the Republican party, rather than making it feel more welcoming, or inclusive. Words like “God, Obama, left, American, wealth” are all words that most Americans can identify with. Not everyone is wealthy or aligns with Christianity. With both of these speeches, I believe you can see the transformation of rhetoric, more so aimed at political parties rather than addressing America as a whole.

Google NGram results from “birth control,” “abortion,” and “HPV” in English books from 1800 until 2019, Google Books Ngram

I decided to look at topics in relation to female reproductive rights. I am a bit surprised about abortion being a popular word used since the 1800s. In my mind, that always felt like a newer topic being talked about, since I know that abortion is seen as “taboo” when it’s a real-life issue, but I find it really interesting with it actually having relevance back in the 1800s. The spike around 1960 is when Planned Parenthood was founded, so that’s why it shoots right up. As well as birth control, I’m not entirely sure when birth control was safe and legal to consume, but as well as abortion there was a noticeable spike after 1960 from the formation of Planned Parenthood. Another surprise I found was that HPV wasn’t spiked until after the 1980s when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was coming about. It was discovered in the 1960’s so I assume research was still being conducted for this new STI. Planned Parenthood has most definitely made an influence in the spikes I see on this NGram because of how helpful their resources are.

Skill #4

“Julia’s Map” by Julia Needham, Created in Google Maps, data points retrieved from Programming Historian.

Click this link to understand where to go to fall in love with Maine. I get emotional talking about this state. Whatever I’m biased I’ve lived there my entire life, but coming to VA for school has absolutely set my mind on moving back. Maine is so unique in so many different ways. The food, the welcoming culture, the landscape, I’ve never seen such a state. It has no connection to the UK Global Fat Supply, but also surprising since it’s on the coast. But, Nantucket and Massachusetts are more so whale territories so that could have some influence on UK Fat Supply.

Skill #5

Shared with you on Google Sheets!! 

Skill #6

Heath by <a href=”https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/175689″>Blue Dot Sessions</a>

You can feel and absorb the energy that the Eastern Promenade in Portland gives off on a summer night. Everyone comes together in this park to hang out, all ages. I usually crawl around this part of Portland for the sunset and then head more into town for nightlife. The sound effects came from here, and the song is credited above but came from here.

Skill #7

My Very Own Video Game:

Source: Screenshot from “Would You Survive the Titanic?”, 2023.

Check out my Twine, a text-based video game. To play, click on this link. The link will pull up an HTML file. Click “Download.” Now, open the website for Twine, click “Use in your Browser.” Click “Library,” then “Import,” and choose the HTML file you just downloaded. Click on the imported story. Now click “Build,” then “Play.” Voila: it’s my game!

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