The project I chose utilizes “Using Palladio to Visualize Ads” for network analysis of Digital Humanities (DH) projects, specifically to visualize the paths of runaway slaves recorded from jailers’ notices between 1840-1842 in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. The data was extracted from Jefferson County (MS), Pulaski County (AR), and Bexar County (TX) respectively. Scholarly research on fugitive slaves suggests that slaves in the Lower Mississippi River Valley or Mississippi and Alabama tended to run south and west, potentially towards Texas and Mexico. While the exact routes of escape are unknown, connecting start locations to capture points provides insights into their intended destinations.
What (or who) are the nodes and what are the edges?
In the network analysis of runaway slave paths from 1840 to 1842, the nodes represent significant locations such as owners’ residences, where slaves initiated their escape, and county jails where they were captured. These nodes serve as pivotal points within the visualization, marking both the origins and endpoints of the slaves’ journeys. The edges within the network symbolize the potential routes or pathways that the slaves may have taken between these nodes, depicting the connections between start locations and capture points. For instance, if a slave fled from an owner’s home in Jefferson County, Mississippi, and was subsequently captured in Pulaski County, Arkansas, the edge would signify the likely route taken between these two locations, illustrating the trajectory of the escape. Together, nodes and edges form a network visualization that provides insights into the paths traversed by runaway slaves during this historical period.
What interactions does the project allow / How does this impact their effectiveness and/or your engagement?
The project offers users the opportunity to engage with maps illustrating the routes taken by runaway slaves during the 1840s, enabling analysis of escape pathways, owners’ residences, and county jails. Users can conduct cross-state comparisons and identify geographical trends by examining maps from different states. However, the lack of detailed information and interactive features in the maps diminishes their effectiveness and engagement potential. Presently, the maps appear plain, with grayscale coloring and nodes and edges lacking specific location names beyond the states’ names. Nevertheless, the project’s interactive capabilities allow users to delve into the data, fostering engagement, and enabling active analysis and interpretation of 19th-century American history.
