MAGIC and Trinity College receive $100,800 NEH Grant

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has jointly awarded the University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC and Trinity College a $100,800 grant which will enable the development of web-based interactive maps pertaining to schooling and housing in the Greater Hartford region. The digital maps that are developed through this collaboration will be featured in the forthcoming print/ebook "On The Line: How Schooling, Housing and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its Suburbs" written by Trinity faculty member Jack Dougherty.

The grant is one of 286 humanities projects that were recently funded by the NEH for a total of $16 million, and represents the only Digital Humanities Fellowship grant that was awarded during this cycle. The purpose of the NEH fellowships is to support collaboration between digital centers and individual scholars, providing both a stipend for the fellow and a portion of the center’s costs.

Through this collaboration, MAGIC and Trinity College will be developing a series of maps, datasets (in shapefile and KML formats), and Map Mash-ups to enable users to explore Hartford and the surrounding region with a geographic focus. The resources developed from this project will be freely accessible via the MAGIC website and will include:

• Dual-window linked maps that show past and present aerial views at the same time;
• Animated timeline maps that show change over time
• Interactive map simulations to engage broader audiences into viewing the past through someone else’s eyes

The following is a prototype of one of the map interfaces to be developed during this grant-funded project. These two maps illustrate the influence of 1960s interstate highway development on urban neighborhoods in Hartford and provide researchers the ability to view 1934 and 2008 aerial photography of the region side-by-side:



To learn more about Jack Dougherty’s project, visit: http://ontheline.trincoll.edu/.

Prior to applying for this grant, MAGIC and Trinity began to discuss collaborative project opportunities following a presentation by Benjamin Spaulding at the 2009 NEArc Spring Meeting. Shortly after this presentation, MAGIC visited Trinity College and within a few months, a series of grant applications were written thus formally establishing this collaboration. MAGIC welcomes other institutions and organizations to consider collaborating with us to help us expand free public access to Connecticut maps and geospatial data.

Special thanks to Jack Dougherty for making this opportunity happen, and the entire staff at MAGIC look forward to working with Trinity College on this project!