Event Title

SSA03 - The JFK Assassination Records Act of 1992 and Digital History

Presenter Information

Diane Cline, George Washington University

Location

CB1-309

Streaming Media

Start Date

4-11-2017 1:45 PM

Description

My course at George Washington University is called Digital History, and it introduces undergraduate students to new technologies and practices that professionals inside and outside of academia use to preserve, provide access to, analyze, and exhibit primary sources for history. I take students on a journey from Digitization, through Discovery, to Design, and Dissemination (building an Omeka exhibit). This year's theme really engaged the students, and was also timely. The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Act of 1992 specified that 25 years from the day it was signed, all documents pertaining to it in government hands must be turned over to NARA and made available to the public (except for documents which the president himself withholds on national security grounds). That 25-year window closed on October 26, 2017. Through NARA's citizen-archivist program, each student got an FBI folder for a key person of interest. They transcribed their folder to help NARA make their October 26, 2017 deadline, and felt they were contributing to the country's history in doing the project. We had guest speakers who are practitioners in the digital humanities, including archivists, librarians, digital project managers, and internal historians in institutions like the Ford's Theatre, Smithsonian Museums, and National Archives. The end product is an Omeka digital historical exhibit on witnessing the assassination. On the last day of class, being in Washington DC, we took the metro to Arlington Cemetery to see JFK's final resting place. This is the third year I have taught the class, but the first using this theme.