Category: Uncategorized

My digital public history project has been making progress! Some of the difficulties that I encountered last week have been resolved. The first of these issues was the script. Since last week, I have decided to limit unscripted conversations. Although it could be entertaining, it took away from the primary focus of the podcast and extended the length of the episode. The primary target time for a podcast episode is thirty minutes. This has been a huge challenge for me not only because of unscripted conversations but also because of the numerous details of Alice Roosevelt Longsworth’s story. It is difficult to pick which details are excluded from the conversation. This is an issue many in the field of history face, minimizing content without taking away from the overall narrative. I think many historians share the same discontent I feel when having to minimize details.

As of right now, I have not made progress on gaining access to certain primary sources. If this continues to persist, I think my only option is to include top-tier secondary sources. However, this could lead to an addition of unnecessary biases.

Another problem I am having is with the tool Audacity. I am not having any major problems with the software. However, I have been struggling with clearing all of the background noise. An easy solution for this problem is a change of location. Also, I believe that if I watch more tutorial videos concerning Audacity usage, this problem will be solved.

Lastly, I still have yet to create a name for the podcast and the episode. This problem is not close to a solution. While I am closer to picking a name, nothing has been set in stone. I have decided that I would like the episode titles to correlate to the overall title of the podcast.

My Digital Public History project is a podcast that discusses the lives of the children and young adults who lived within the White House. I came up with the idea for this project when I realized that as a society, we have constructed expectations for how the president and first lady should act, however, we have never created these expectations for their children. The first set of the podcast will be an investigation into the lives of Alice Roosevelt and Amy Carter. I choose these two girls to begin with because I believe we can learn from their experiences. Alice was the eldest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and Amy was the daughter of Jimmy Carter. These two daughters led incredibly unique and different lives. This project will examine how they were able to create their identities. To gain a full perspective on their lives, I will be asking a series of history-related questions; How did they adjust to life in the White House? , How did external/ societal pressures affect their behavior? How did they engage with White House staff?, and Were there new responsibilities or duties given to them once arriving at the White House?. I believe these questions will allow me to analyze the period in which they lived.

The digital technologies that will be used in this digital project will include podcast software such as audacity. I will be utilizing various audio and visual clips on YouTube that have been provided by certain archival groups. An example of one of these videos is First Lady Rosalynn Carter escorting her daughter Amy to her first day at her new school. I will admit that it has been difficult to find primary sources from Alice Roosevelt, as the National Archives keeps many of these documents and audio recordings under “request only”. However, I have found many digital images of the two, which has helped me learn how to characterize their potential moods, thoughts, and feelings. I believe that these digital images, videos, and recordings will help us uncover the reasons as to what caused their behavior.

My target audiences for this project include two groups, young adults and adults. I am hoping to target those who live in urban cities or suburban neighborhoods. To get more demographically specific, the primary age ranges of these groups are 16-24 and 30-45, have completed high school or some form of higher education, and belong to the middle class. However, I am hoping to still attract those who may not belong to any of these groups. I encourage those who have the following interests to listen to this podcast; U.S. history, those who enjoy breaking the rules every once in a while, life in the White House, and the lives and families of the presidents.

The reason I chose these specific questions, topics, and audiences were to learn what makes these children/ young adults different from the rest of the public when they were that age. I believe that many children and young adults contract mental health issues due to the societal pressures and expectations that are established. I wanted to explore this connection between historical figures and the rest of the public. As many of us idolize certain historic figures, it is important to remember that they are just regular people. During childhood and young adulthood is when we begin our journeys of self-discovery. I imagine that it must have been quite difficult for the children of the presidents to fully engage with life. Therefore, this project will serve as a testament to those who grew up under the watchful eye of the public and the Secret Service.

Name: Jessica Brown

Demographic: 17-year-old, female, middle class, high school, lives in Ohio

Descriptive Title: Jessica Brown, A typical high school student

End Goals:

Jessica wants to get an A on her history paper, but she needs to develop a topic first. She is embarrassed, as all of her friends have already turned in their papers. Jessica is hoping to find an interesting history topic without having to ask her friends for help.

Quote: “I want to follow my passions”

A Day in a Life Narrative:

Jessica Brown is like any ordinary high school student. She is a very active part of her community through her soccer team. She has organized many fundraisers including a car wash and a bake sale. Although soccer takes up a majority of her time, she does prioritize her friends and academic work. Jessica values the opinions of her friends and thinks very highly of them. However, this can lead Jessica to keep her feelings to herself. Although History has not been Jessica’s best subject, she does take interest in historical figures. Due to the fact that history is not Jessica’s best subject, she tends to neglect the work in that class. She is much more interested in her English class and the poetry of Seamus Heaney. However, with the History midterm looming, Jessica would like to write about an historical figure who is close to her age.

End Goals:

Jessica wants to get an A on her history paper, but she needs to develop a topic first. She is embarrassed, as all of her friends have already turned in their papers. Jessica is hoping to find an interesting history topic without having to ask her friends for help.

Name: Bobby Sherman

Demographic: 35, male, upper-middle-class, lives in Charleston, South Carolina, unemployed

Descriptive Title: Bobby Sherman, Career Crisis

Quote: “I want to follow my passions”

A Day in a Life Narrative:

Bobby Sherman has always had a comfortable life. His mother was a lawyer and his father worked at a large publishing company. Bobby has never needed to worry about money, which has allowed him to live his life frivolously. He recently proposed to his girlfriend and has begun moving into a new house together. To make this task go by faster, Bobby decided to quit his job at his father’s company to work on the house full time. This hard-manual labor has made Bobby realize that he never really enjoyed working at his father’s company. He reminisces on his old college days and begins to look toward subjects that inspire him. Bobby has an open mind and is willing to explore new fields of study.

End Goals:

Bobby is looking to find a new job in a subject he is passionate about. Although he has experience in the publishing world, he is looking for something new that will spark his interest.

 

My user research has allowed me to have a better understanding of those who might be impacted the most by my digital project. My ideal age demographic consisted of sixteen-year-olds to twenty-four-year-olds. The two people who I interviewed were twenty-one and twenty-two. They both were recent college graduates and have backgrounds in U.S. History. They appeared to have a good understanding of the project. It was enjoyable to discuss times and feelings of rebellion against your parents. This segment also illustrated that there is a shared moment in everyone’s life in which it is time to rebel. This point of my user research allowed me to have a better understanding of the ways in which listeners can relate to my project. Although these two people had a good understanding of the academic portion of my project, that does not mean everyone will. However, it has made me rethink the way I would like to talk about my project. I would like my project to be accessible and enjoyable for all.

My user researcher has shown me that my topic cannot be fulfilled solely through interviews. Although I was able to engage with those who had similar experiences, it was difficult to not delve into more about the presidential children. In order to make my project more focused on the history of presidential children, their story also needs to be told in depth. Although, it was very productive to address how unavoidable and external factors can play a large role in the person that we become. The interviews provided more depth to the topic, as first-hand experiences with mental health problems were discussed. This created a deeper human connection to the individuals we were discussing. In history, we tend to think of those who are in the history books as heroes, villains, and everything in between. However, we forget that they were also just ordinary people like the rest of us. This user research helped shed light on similarities and slight differences that we have with those in the history books.