Skip to main content

New Beginnings: Let's Research the Historical Puzzle Pieces of the JDP

 

Photo of Log’d Dwelling Replica at the JDP: https://history.delaware.gov/john-dickinson-plantation/

Hours: 41              

                               In a few days, I will have been a member of HCA for two weeks. I am still in the beginning stages of my position, and as of right now, I am working on buffing my knowledge of the history of the JDP, John Dickinson, and the enslaved, indentured, and free people who lived and labored there. Last Wednesday, Annie Fenimore and Gloria Henry, two Historic Site Interpreters of HCA, graciously took time to meet with me at the JDP to fill me in on portions of my future endeavors as an Inclusive History Researcher of this organization. Also, I received a thorough tour from Annie through the mansion of the JDP and discovered a lot more about the JDP then I believe I could have just from reading secondary documents available on scholarly websites and databases.

                               One of the biggest things that stuck with me about this tour is that due to information that remains unknown about JDP history (which we aim to uncover), there are narratives about the enslaved people who dwelled at the JDP that may cause visitors to wonder about other segments of their life. For instance, as Annie and I discussed, why might a certain account found about an enslaved person’s recollection of a life event that occurred at the JDP include primarily positive thoughts about this event? Could this person have held back from saying certain things, knowing well about the power imbalance between her and those who owned her as she tried to evade punishment or another form of negative treatment from her enslavers? These are all important thoughts to have and reflect on, and one of the things that can help a historian think critically about the information presented in historical documents and sources. As the saying goes, there is always two sides to a coin, and having said that, there are often many sides to a historical narrative that we must be attentive of!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post #10: How Can We Promote Diversity and Cordialness In Archival Spaces?

  In the article What’s Wrong with Digital Stewardship: Evaluating the Organization of Digital Preservation Programs from Practitioners’ Perspectives (2020), a study conducted in 2018 unveiled certain issues that archival practitioners found to be hindering the staffing and efficiency of their program’s digital preservation methods. Amongst the thoughts expressed by the participants via interview were concerns about microaggressions, prejudice, and misogyny within their work environments. [1] Though incidents of misogynistic and prejudice behavior are found in a multitude of career pathways, many archives and special collection practitioners today push for diversity of staff within their work and research spaces. In one of these interviews, an anonymous participant pointed out a negative factor of the nature of tenure. The participant stated that due to the tenured status of the practitioner they work with, when they hear said staff member making misogynistic comments towards othe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Post #8: Important Discussions of Copyright and Digitization in Archival Spaces

  This week’s discussion in Temple’s Archives and Manuscripts course concerning the protocols of copyright in the archival realm is one that many a researcher might find vital. As a traditional historian, I tend to utilize physical books and monographs. However, I often utilize more contemporary research materials for my papers such as online articles, audio, and countless of other digital sources to input into my papers and assignments. I, like many other researchers, would like to avoid being guilty of copyrighting another’s work and or utilizing a work when it should be restricted or was wrongfully, whether intentionally or unintentionally, made to be used publicly. In Dharma Akmon’s Only With Your Permission: How Rights Respond (Or Don’t Respond) to Requests to Display Archival Materials Online , it is disclosed that many archives try to take multiple measures to ensure that works with complicated rights issues are not digitized to mitigate potential cases of copyright. [1] Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Post #7: Archival Ethics and Decisions on Document Preservation

  After reading Timothy D. Pyatt’s article The Harding Affair Letters: How One Archivist Took Every Measure Possible To Ensure Their Preservation , I pondered upon the way that the letters were handled by archivist Ken Duckett and also how letters disclosing an affair of someone out of the public eye may have been treated during Duckett’s lifetime. For instance, if Duckett received a box which included documents about the life of someone who was a well-respected figure in their hometown, but not so much on a national or universal scale, would the same measures to preserve the Harding letters be illustrated in the case of this hypothetical figure? Would these measures have been different in Duckett’s time vs. what would occur today? Pyatt discloses that Duckett believed in preserving the letters to allow a fuller understanding of Harding’s narrative. [1] In contrast to the Harding letters, it can be argued that the letters of people who are not affiliated with political or public-r...
Post a Comment
Read more