Archival Silence, Digital Humanities, and James Hemings

The History and Future of Data Visualization:Archival Silence, Digital Humanities, and James Hemings

University of AlabamaDigital Scholarship Center

November 7th, 2012

Lauren Klein, Ph.D.Georgia Institute of Technology

lauren.klein@lmc.gatech.edu

Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to William Evans.” February 22, 1801.

“You mentioned to me in conversation here that you sometimes saw my former servant James, & that he made his engagements such as to keep himself always free to come to me. Could I get the favor of you to send for him & tell him I shall be glad to receive him as soon as he can come to me?”

Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to William Evans.” February 22, 1801.

“You mentioned to me in conversation here that you sometimes saw my former servant James, & that he made his engagements such as to keep himself always free to come to me. Could I get the favor of you to send for him & tell him I shall be glad to receive him as soon as he can come to me?…

The truth is that I am so much embarrassed in composing a good houshold [sic] for myself, as in providing a good administration for my country.”

Copy press, ca. 1786. More information at: http://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/copying-press

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition

Michel-Rolphe Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995): 24.

“Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments: the moment of fact creation (the making of sources); the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives); the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives); and the moment of retrospective significance (the making of history) in the final instance.”

Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to William Evans.” February 22, 1801.

“You mentioned to me in conversation here that you sometimes saw my former servant James, & that he made his engagements such as to keep himself always free to come to me. Could I get the favor of you to send for him & tell him I shall be glad to receive him as soon as he can come to me?.”

Screencap of a name search for James Hemings in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to William Evans.” February 22, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to William Evans.” February 22, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Keyword search for “James Hemings,” The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Virginiafriends

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Virginiafriends

International correspondents

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Virginiafriends

Enslavedplantation staff

International correspondents

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Virginiafriends

Enslavedplantation staff

Freeplantation

staff

International correspondents

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Jefferson and his family

Politicalcorrespondents

Virginiafriends

Enslavedplantation staff

Freeplantation

staff

UnknownInternational correspondents

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Arc diagram of correspondents in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as noted in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition

Francis Say, “Letter to Thomas Jefferson.” February 23, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

William Evans, “Letter to Thomas Jefferson.” February 27, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

William Evans, “Letter to Thomas Jefferson.” November 5, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Arc diagram of people mentioned in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as mined from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Chord diagram of people mentioned in letters concerning James Hemings and his family, as mined from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.

Image credit: Wikipedia

William Playfair1759-1823

Johann Heinrich Lambert1728-1777

Image credit: Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

William Playfair, The Commercial and Political Atlas, 3rd edition. New York: Cambridge UP, 2005 [1801]: 11-2.

“Information, that is imperfectly acquired, is generally as imperfectly retained; and a man who has carefully investigated a printed table finds, when done, that he has only a very faint and partial idea of what he has read; and that like a figure imprinted on sand, is soon totally erased and defaced.

“The amount of mercantile transactions in money, and of profit or loss, are capable of being as easily represented in drawing, as any part of space, or as the face of a country; though, till now, it has not been attempted. Upon that principle these Charts were made; and, while they give a simple and distinct idea, they are as near perfect accuracy as is any way useful.

“On inspecting any one of these Charts attentively, a sufficiently distinct impression will be made, to remain unimpaired for a considerable time, and the idea which does remain will be simple and complete, at once including the duration and the amount.”

Image credit: Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Image credit: Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

“A Comparative View of the Quadrupeds of Europe and of America.” Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-5. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

“Vegetables.” Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-5. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

“Birds of Virginia.” Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-5. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

A page of Thomas Jefferson’s Farm Book, ca. 1774. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The History and Future of Data Visualization:Archival Silence, Digital Humanities, and James Hemings

University of AlabamaDigital Scholarship Center

November 7th, 2012

Lauren Klein, Ph.D.Georgia Institute of Technology

lauren.klein@lmc.gatech.edu