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October 29, 2005
Bay Street
The history of the Bahamas is told in many ways. Most commonly, it is the quaint tale of the events that lead to the creation of an island paradise, now the perfect destination for millions of tourists. The main foci are usually arrival of Columbus and the times of Pirates. This, however, is an incomplete tale that ignores the characters and events that have gone into shaping this nation-a nation, not just a tourist destination.
Bay Street 1800's
The project that I propose is an exploration of the history of those characters and events. The Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands and islets. Twenty-two of these have permanent settlements. The island of New Providence is the location of Nassau, the capital (and most populous) city of the Bahamas. Nassau is approximately 80 square miles and located on the north side of Nassau is Bay Street. Bay Street is and has been a main artery of commerce and culture in the Bahamas since as far back as the early 1800’s. With its tributaries of Market, George, Parliament and. Charlotte Streets, Bay Street has played-and continues to play-an integral part in the formation of the Bahamas and is the storehouse of much of the cultural memory.
Bay Street early 1900's
This project will fill an important void in digital scholarship. There is an excellent body of literature on the history of the Bahamas. However, no historical analysis of any complexity can be found in cyberspace. This project will fill be a step towards filling that void.
The primary audience of this site is secondary students in the Bahamas. To that end, it will have lesson plans with references to the primary texts used to teach these students. This site will also benefit other high school students of history as well. Whether these students are interested in the history of the Bahamas or how a small state played a part in regional and even global events. For even events that occur in Bay Street are not within a vacuum, context connects it to the United States, other islands West and Great Britain. The proximity with the Untied States allows participation in Civil War and Prohibition. Islands like Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Haiti have ties to Bahamas as well. And as a part of the British Commonwealth there is more than a causal association with Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth remains the official head of state and the British Privy Council is the court of last resort for Bahamian citizens. Of course, the periphery audience which this site may serve is the general public
Bay Street circa 1935
There are several aspects of this project that will make use of digital media. The first way is that it will present multiple narratives with different avenues for the viewer to access the text. It will provide a search of both images and texts that is only partially possible in a non-web medium. This project will allow the viewer to experience the narrative through image, sound (music and speeches) and movement (video). In addition, there will be gallery of images of historic Bahamas.
Posted by nmartina at October 29, 2005 04:12 PM
Comments
This sounds like you could do some very cool stuff with mapping software or with links embedded into historic street maps. Good luck!
Posted by: kurt at October 31, 2005 09:39 AM
now i just need to learn to use those "mapping software" and do that embedded link thing.
i am really still trying to figure out how to connect the concept with the reality of all that this medium has to offer.
Posted by: nona at October 31, 2005 11:43 AM