There was no Stage five for my assigned partner.
Straub Stage 6
- This story map breaks down some of the most extreme cases of railroad towns. Both the booms and busts follow similar trends based on the lining of the rail lines. Learning about these many cities, we hear about their growth, the timeframes of their existence, and the demographics of these communities. This is supported by graphs, pictures,
- and maps to put together a story.
- I loved the way you slowly built the map of the area. By starting out with just the singular town, then adding a neighbor, and so on. Every city added a piece of the puzzle to complete the map. By the end of the presentation, we could look at the included map and have a full understanding of the different cities, railroads, and the surrounding area. I also appreciated all the historical photographs. I think these added a lot to your story. Seeing pictures of people specifically reminded me that this was telling the story of people’s homes and that there is more to the story other than just railroad cities. Finally, I am a big fan of graphs, so the population graphs really helped put these demographic changes into perspective.
- I would certainly suggest using more page headers to give an easier transition from town to town. Having that included in the drop-down bar at the top would certainly be beneficial rather than just limiting it to the “Booms and Busts” and the Works Cited. Perhaps doing the booms first and then juxtaposing it with busts, followed by common themes. This was slightly touched on in the conclusion, but I think highlighting these themes a little more at the start and end of your story map would go a long way to getting your point across.
Stage 6– Binder
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d09b1baa59e74f7a81e340321803ecc8
“The History of Hawaii’s Sugarcane” maps out the amount of land sugar cane plantations encompassed from the 1830s when sugar cane was first introduced to the islands until 1970 when the last plantation ceased production. The map provides a lot of background information about Hawaii’s sugar production, but it would have been good to put Hawaii into conversation with other sugar producers. Hawaii rose in importance for sugar production as Cuba (previously the largest sugar producer) was at war for independence and fell as beet sugar production grew in prominence.
This look at Hawaiian sugar production highlights how poorly workers were treated in the first section, while the maps illustrate how plantations pushed the boundaries set for them by the government. These two sections could have been tied together better by discussing other ways plantation owners violated government regulations with workers or by mapping more of the workers discussed in the text.
I really liked how Hawaii’s history as a US territory (Hawaii did not become a state until 1959) was interwoven with the rise of sugar production on the island. Incorporating these different elements helps to give a clearer picture of how sugar production on Hawaii was a piece of the US’s attempts to become an imperial power. The explanation for why sugar production in Hawaii fell could have been fleshed out more, but the map of the current land uses over former plantations helps to show how urbanization and tourism replaced the space for plantations.
The maps of the Koloa and Lihue plantations were really good to see how production changed over time. These specific examples gave a close look at the changes in the sugar production industry, although an explanation of why these two plantations would have been beneficial. The irrigation ditches map did not fit in the best. It could have been good to instead include a map showing all the sugar plantations throughout the islands in order to more widely contextualize sugar production. The final map of sugar production today would have been more effective with a key since the colors are not explained very clearly.
Overall, this map effectively describes the rise and fall of sugar production in Hawaii and shows how plantations pushed the boundaries set for them in order to maximize profits. The use of images to show the workers highlights the impact of Hawaii’s sugar production on individuals.
Stage 5 – Jeal
Below is an embedded final project and below that is a link to the project itself.
Parker Stage 6
Peer review of Jackson Fuller’s presentation: Suburbanization in the Denver-Metro Area
As someone who was an audience member of this presentation with no knowledge of the subject, I came out of the presentation feeling very informed and knowledgeable about the suburbanization of Denver.
I thought the part of most significance were the maps about the census tracts. Spanning from 1950 to 2020 we can see just how important suburbanization became to Colorado and Denver more specifically. On the 1950 map, there is hardly any data besides the areas between Lakewood and Arapahoe. Jumping to almost present-day in 2020, the data spans from Barr Lake to Pike National Forest. This would not be possible without Denver’s interstate system, and specifically, I-25.
As someone who likes to learn about American history, and American President’s history, I really liked the mention of Dwight Eisenhower’s National Interstate and Defense Highway Act. Although we have never had to use the interstate’s for military purposes (knock on wood) this was a great way to set the scene for how the interstate’s around Denver helped to inadvertently create suburbanization.
In the presentation, it talks about how I-25 today “Is one of the two major interstates that go directly into the heart of Denver.” The presentation also talks about how “I 25 has made an obvious difference as well, greatly expanding the range of the Denver Metro area north and south.” In looking at the expansion of Denver in 1970.
One critique I have of this presentation is how the census data is residents per square mile. It would be hard to think of a different way to measure population for such a small area without using a metric like this one, but it makes it harder to also compare the earlier years against the latter years.
Overall, I really enjoyed this presentation and thought it was great. I’m glad I learned something about another state’s interstate system and how that played a key role into the suburbanization of Denver. Great job!
Clawson Stage 5
Stage 5 Parker
Straub: Stage 5
Stage 4 Parker
Stage 4 – Jeal
Above I have my story map embedded as well as a link just in case.
