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HISTORICAL MARKERS 2.0Steven Lubar John Nicholas Brown Center, Brown University

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Todays Talk

Tradition

Trends

Technology

Thoughts: What should RI do?

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Tradition (Historical Markers 1.0)

Starting in the early 1900s (some earlier)

Traditional topics: Revolutionary, Civil War sites

Tied to automobile tourism

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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

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1877Site of King Phillips death, placed

1877 by the Rhode Island HistoricalSociety

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1889Carter Jackson Monument, placed

1889 by Joseph Peace Hazard

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1906Site of Great Swamp Fight, placed1906 by Rhode Island Society of

Colonial Wars

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1906Rhode Island Historical Societyresolution on historic markers

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1933Great Swamp Fight, placed 1933 by

by State of Rhode Island

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1940Slater Mill, placed 1940 by National

Association of Cotton Manufacturersand the Rhode Island Textile

Association.

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1925The Rhode Island Red, placed1925

by the Rhode Island Red Club ofAmerica

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1942Mohegan Bluffs, placed 1942 byBlock Island Historical Society

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1954TherealRhode Island Red memorial,

placed by the R.I. Red CentennialCommission, 1954

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1976Erected 1976 by Newport, Rhode

Island Branch, NAACP, BicentennialCommission

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2002John Brown House, placed by the

Rhode Island Black Heritage Society,2002

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Recent TrendsSocial history revolution

Diversity of individuals

represented

Diversity of topics

Historical background

Humor!

Thematic tours

Civil War tours

W3R (Washington-RochambeauRevolutionary Route

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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.

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Thematic

TrailsWashington, DC, Civil War to Civil

Rights Downtown Heritage Trail

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Historical

ContextHistorical Village of Westport Point,

Westport, Massachusetts

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The Legend of the Turnips,Westport, Massachusetts

Stories

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Trends in Technology

Historical marker databases

State indexes

State histories tied to markers

HMDB (Historic Marker Database)

Historic Marker Society of America

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Whats Next? 2.0

Beyond the historical marker...

Links to online information?

Geolocation: Smart-phone based?

Crowd sourced? Social networks?

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On-line Links

Scan QR Codes for moreinformation; links fromsmartphones to websites

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On-line Links

Scan QR Codes for moreinformation; links fromsmartphones to websites

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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 )

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Google MyMaps

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GoogleMyMaps

(mobile)Find historic sites nearby, withimages (including video); get

directions to sites.James L. Gray Store,

Adamsville, RI,postcard, 1920

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HistoricEarth

iPhone appFades between historic maps andcontemporary maps

Good coverage of Rhode Island

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Historic Places

iPhone appAn odd assortment of historicmarkers and sites, from American

Guide Series, lists of historicmarkers; incomplete.

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Geolocated

crowd-sourcingand social

networkinMore than one voice

More than one story

Social

Games

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FlookLeave, and find, local cards withimages and a few words

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GraffitioWrite on a local wall - mostly bars.

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ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.

Some historical sites. Geo-gaming

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ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.

Some historical sites. Geo-gaming

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ScvngrInteractive scavenger hunts - Paid forby organizations, free for users.

Some historical sites. Geo-gaming

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Future Smartphone Apps

Geolocated museum collections

Geolocated historic images

Geolocated historical information (stories, data)

Augmented reality apps

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GeolocatedMuseum

CollectionsSmartphone shows artifacts whosehistory near your location

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GeolocatedHistoric

ArchitectureSmartphone shows historic images ofbuildings nearby

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GeolocatedHistoric

ArchitectureSmartphone shows historic images ofbuildings nearby

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Augmented

RealityHistoric

ArchitectureSmartphone superimposes historicimages of buildings and associated

information on the live images of thebuildings.

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Augmented

RealityHistoric

ArchitectureSmartphone superimposes historicimages of buildings and associated

information on the live images of thebuildings.

James L. Gray Store,Adamsville, RI,postcard, 1920

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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.

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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.

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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... ...

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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

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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

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T H A N K S ! ...

l b @ b d