I chose to analyze the DH project “History of Eugene and Springfield” , which is a website that was created on June 2, 2022 about the state of Oregon and the history of these two cities. While Oregon is generally considered a blue state with predominately liberal ideas, its history is filled with darkness and racism. Throughout the website there are countless links and categories ranging from the “harrowing history”, to field trip destinations, to the first settlers in these two towns.
The harrowing history section of the website is pretty straight forward, as it goes in depth on previous laws that were instated in Oregon that essentially banned African Americans from living in the state. Oregon always gets credit for being anti-slavery, but in reality the racial prejudice throughout the state during that time is the reasoning behind the amount of whiteness and the overall demographics in the state. Meanwhile, the field trip destinations section contains a map of Eugene with all of the historic and cultural landmarks that were and still are significant to the city’s history. You can interact with these landmarks, and some of them include Annie Mims Lane, the Eugene Japanese-American memorial, and countless others.
I feel like the website isn’t missing too much, and is a great way to inform oneself not only about the history of Eugene but also our state as a whole. The goal of this website was to get across to readers that Oregon has a dark past, and it’s extremely important that everyone understands how things became the way they were. Especially in today’s world, people must accurately be taught history or else their knowledge can be skewed. The Ferry Street Village section holds major significance when talking about the history of Eugene, because African Americans were essentially bulldozed out of their homes and communities and driven into the outskirts of town that were run down without the essentials needed to live comfortably. This is crucial to the understanding of city demographics and the areas in which people live.
This was my first time analyzing a DH project, and the sheer amount of information included by the authors made it extremely easy to work with. I also was able to utilize some of my current digital skills, as well as practicing some searching skills that I still need to work on. Like I stated earlier, authors Kiele Head, Sesilie Stout, Bobbie Adelson, and Catherine Oswalt are trying to spread information to I’d assume younger people who are unfamiliar with Eugene’s roots. As someone who grew up in Portland, Oregon, I have already heard a lot about the bad side of Oregon’s history, but it was still very informational as I still had no clue about Eugene. I think this is a very useful website, for those wanting to learn history, for those looking to explore culturally significant areas of these cities, and for those who are simply curious. If this isn’t already apart of school curriculum, especially for younger kids, I think it certainly has to be.