Connections

Within the next few weeks, we will talk to our contact at the Dutchess Land Conservancy about preservation. Ellen Henneberry is the Director of Development at the Dutchess Land Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the rural, historical land of Dutchess county. Talking to her will give us insight on preservation and what to look for when we’re doing research and taking photos of sites. We will discuss our work and how we can improve every week. We have also reached out to Yukie Ohta, an archivist and artist about preservation and conservation throughout New York history.

 

Timeline

When the project starts after break, we will travel upstate and begin our initial research on a specific area. When we are ready to explore further, we will travel to the site, take photos, and gather information. The next day, we will meet with an expert to talk about our findings and how we can improve. We will create a blog post based on this feedback that has the important information we collected. The next day, we will begin researching a site in New York City and drive down. That same day, we will attend an NYU lecture on New York history. We will then go to the site and repeat the process of taking photos and gathering information. Finally, we will create another blog post based on what we found and repeat the entire process the next day.

Monday (NYC – upstate New york):

Drive upstate from the city

Research on an upstate site

• Find old photos
• Research and chronicle history of the site and people involved
• Research and chronicle history of the area around the site

Tuesday (upstate)

Commute to the site

Photograph the site

Walk/drive around the area, visit local businesses

Wednesday (upstate)

Meet with Ellen

• Discuss recent site visits
• Learn about preservation

Create blog post

• Use photos of the site and research done beforehand
• Add additional findings after visit
• Add new knowledge on preservation, in context with the site

Thursday (upstate-NYC)

Begin research on a NYC neighborhood

Start looking for next week’s upstate site

Drive back to the city

Friday (NYC)

Research chosen neighborhood

• Find old photos to recreate
• Research and chronicle history of the neighborhood
• Research and chronicle history of the people and architecture of the neighborhood

Watch first weekly lecture

• Discuss and take notes on content

Saturday (NYC)

Commute to the neighborhood

Photograph the area and recreate chosen old photos

Walk around the area, visit local businesses

Sunday (NYC)

Create blog post

• Use photos of the neighborhood and research done beforehand

• Add additional findings after visit to the area
• Add details on preservation, in context with the neighborhood

Watch second weekly lecture

• Discuss and take notes on content

 

Research

For the research action, our primary form of research will be from the lectures we watch. These are about New York History and will supplement our understanding of the areas we are photographing. In addition to the lectures, which we will watch twice a week, we will also use books and websites for more focused research on the areas and neighborhoods that we visit. This research will allow us to analyze any preservation or lack of, in context with the history of the area itself. The research will happen both before and after the on site visit, and we are looking for some books that have some specific information about different areas. The lectures were a revision to our project because they will give us a consistent activity, and a more holistic view of New York history.