8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
1/54
HISTORICAL MARKERS 2.0Steven Lubar John Nicholas Brown Center, Brown University
1Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
2/54
Todays Talk
Tradition
Trends
Technology
Thoughts: What should RI do?
2Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
3/54
Tradition (Historical Markers 1.0)
Starting in the early 1900s (some earlier)
Traditional topics: Revolutionary, Civil War sites
Tied to automobile tourism
3Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
4/54
Rhode Islands Markers1880s - recent times
Placed by a diverse group of organizations
No official process
Very traditional (with some exceptions)
Very incomplete coverage
No plans, few recent markers
4Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
5/54
1877Site of King Phillips death, placed
1877 by the Rhode Island HistoricalSociety
5Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
6/54
1889Carter Jackson Monument, placed
1889 by Joseph Peace Hazard
6Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
7/54
1906Site of Great Swamp Fight, placed1906 by Rhode Island Society of
Colonial Wars
7Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
8/54
1906Rhode Island Historical Societyresolution on historic markers
8Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
9/54
1933Great Swamp Fight, placed 1933 by
by State of Rhode Island
9Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
10/54
1940Slater Mill, placed 1940 by National
Association of Cotton Manufacturersand the Rhode Island Textile
Association.
10Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
11/54
1925The Rhode Island Red, placed1925
by the Rhode Island Red Club ofAmerica
11Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
12/54
1942Mohegan Bluffs, placed 1942 byBlock Island Historical Society
12Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
13/54
1954TherealRhode Island Red memorial,
placed by the R.I. Red CentennialCommission, 1954
13Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
14/54
1976Erected 1976 by Newport, Rhode
Island Branch, NAACP, BicentennialCommission
14Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
15/54
2002John Brown House, placed by the
Rhode Island Black Heritage Society,2002
15Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
16/54
Recent TrendsSocial history revolution
Diversity of individuals
represented
Diversity of topics
Historical background
Humor!
Thematic tours
Civil War tours
W3R (Washington-RochambeauRevolutionary Route
16Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
17/54
Topic Criteria for Virginia
Historical Highway MarkersThe state historical highway marker program commemorates facts,
persons, events, and places prominently identified with the history of the
nation, state, or region. Each proposed marker text shall be reviewed andedited by the manager of the marker program and the staff of the
Department of Historic Resources and, with the location, shall be
approved by the Board of Historic Resources.
No marker shall be erected to commemorate a living person.
In order to be eligible for a marker for an event, the event must have occurredat least 50 years ago. A fact, place, or person must have attained its
significance at least 50 years ago. Exceptions may be allowed if the event,
act, place, or person is of extraordinary historical significance.
17Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
18/54
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
19/54
Thematic
TrailsWashington, DC, Civil War to Civil
Rights Downtown Heritage Trail
19Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
20/54
Historical
ContextHistorical Village of Westport Point,
Westport, Massachusetts
20Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
21/54
The Legend of the Turnips,Westport, Massachusetts
Stories
21Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
22/54
Trends in Technology
Historical marker databases
State indexes
State histories tied to markers
HMDB (Historic Marker Database)
Historic Marker Society of America
22Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
23/5423Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
24/5424Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
25/54
25Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
26/54
26Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
27/54
27Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
28/54
Whats Next? 2.0
Beyond the historical marker...
Links to online information?
Geolocation: Smart-phone based?
Crowd sourced? Social networks?
28Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
29/54
On-line Links
Scan QR Codes for moreinformation; links fromsmartphones to websites
29Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
30/54
On-line Links
Scan QR Codes for moreinformation; links fromsmartphones to websites
30Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
31/54
Smartphone Apps
Google MyMaps for iPhone
Historic maps: HistoricEarth app
Historic sites: HistoricPlaces app
Geolocated crowd-sourcing and social networking (Flook,SCVNGR, BlockChalk, Foursquare, Graffitio, Yelp, Woices )
31Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
32/54
Google MyMaps
32Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
33/54
GoogleMyMaps
(mobile)Find historic sites nearby, withimages (including video); get
directions to sites.James L. Gray Store,
Adamsville, RI,postcard, 1920
33Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
34/54
HistoricEarth
iPhone appFades between historic maps andcontemporary maps
Good coverage of Rhode Island
34Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
35/54
Historic Places
iPhone appAn odd assortment of historicmarkers and sites, from American
Guide Series, lists of historicmarkers; incomplete.
35Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
36/54
Geolocated
crowd-sourcingand social
networkinMore than one voice
More than one story
Social
Games
36Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
37/54
FlookLeave, and find, local cards withimages and a few words
37Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
38/54
GraffitioWrite on a local wall - mostly bars.
38Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
39/54
ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.
Some historical sites. Geo-gaming
39Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
40/54
ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.
Some historical sites. Geo-gaming
40Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
41/54
ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.
Some historical sites. Geo-gaming
41Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
42/54
Future Smartphone Apps
Geolocated museum collections
Geolocated historic images
Geolocated historical information (stories, data)
Augmented reality apps
42Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
43/54
GeolocatedMuseum
CollectionsSmartphone shows artifacts whosehistory near your location
43Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
44/54
44Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
45/54
GeolocatedHistoric
ArchitectureSmartphone shows historic images ofbuildings nearby
45Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
46/54
GeolocatedHistoric
ArchitectureSmartphone shows historic images ofbuildings nearby
46Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
47/54
Augmented
RealityHistoric
ArchitectureSmartphone superimposes historicimages of buildings and associated
information on the live images of thebuildings.
47Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
48/54
Augmented
RealityHistoric
ArchitectureSmartphone superimposes historicimages of buildings and associated
information on the live images of thebuildings.
James L. Gray Store,Adamsville, RI,postcard, 1920
48Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
49/54
Augmented
RealityHistorical
InformationSmartphone superimposes
information from census, citydirectory or other historical sourceson the live images of the buildings.
Point your phone at the site for moreinformation.
49Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
50/54
Augmented
RealityHistorical
InformationSmartphone superimposes
information from census, citydirectory or other historical sourceson the live images of the buildings.
Point your phone at the site for moreinformation.
50Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
51/54
Augmented
RealityHistorical
InformationSmartphone superimposes
information from census, citydirectory or other historical sourceson the live images of the buildings.
Point your phone at the site for moreinformation.
1840Census
... ...
1880Census
... ...
1920
Census... ...
51Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
52/54
Rhode Islands Markers
1880s - recent times
Placed by a diverse group of organizations
No official process
Very traditional (with some exceptions)
Very incomplete coverage
No plans, few recent markers
REPRISE
52Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
53/54
A Modest Proposal
Continue a decentralized system, but with state support
Skip roadside markers and move to smartphone apps
Add QR codes to existing historic markers
Add a branded QR code to other state signs
Build a state history site to link to, tied to school standards,museum collections, census and other records
53Sunday, April 18, 2010
8/9/2019 Historical Marker Talk
54/54
T H A N K S ! ...
l b @ b d