Magi
- Biographical Blog Post
- http://newjerseyhistory.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/dominic-magi-biographical/
- Digital archive topic
- My topic will be about the Van Allen House, an old Dutch house located in my hometown of Oakland. The house was visited by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. I plan to use the letter that says he visited there and other artifacts related to the time period in my digital achieve. My plan is to get in contact with the Oakland Historical Society to get their permission to take photos of the items in the Van Allen House. They will soon have their annual George Washington Birthday Celebration and I will ask if I can take photos of the event. I will also ask the local library to see if they have anything I can use. If I require more items I will ask the Society if they know anyone who may have items I can use. There is a book on Oakland I have that may lead me to some items.
- Digital Exhibit topic
- I plan to do my web exhibit on the Van Allen House in Oakland, New Jersey. I will briefly go over the history of the house starting from its construction to where it is today. In the exhibition I will use several artifacts, such as the George Washington letter which said he stayed there, as part of the project. I also want to tie the current situation of the house to a larger issue concerning historical sites. Who should be the owner(s) and the preservers of said sites?
- Blog post 1
- http://newjerseyhistory.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/the-advantages-and-drawbacks-of-google-news-archive/
- Blog post 2
- http://newjerseyhistory.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/discoveries-at-the-van-allen-house-kingsley-and-hoopers-contributions-to-new-jersey/
- EverNote Blog post
- http://newjerseyhistory.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/my-opinion-on-evernote-a-great-tool-for-academic-and-non-academic-work/
- EverNote shared folder
- Week 2 Notes. https://www.evernote.com/shard/s370/sh/f1b67fe8-6d9d-4dbd-8939-07f5f97ecb43/f02e31dc4eed671dc2d0aa79046c6a89
I have decided to make all my notes on the web version of Evernote. Sorry for the inconvenience. Here is the address to view all my notes on this version: https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#b=8cd87c92-195c-4eb2-bf78-384605d67436&st=p&n=88edcb75-68cd-47f4-975a-dbbb59c812b0
- Prohibition Website Review: http://wpudigitalhistory.wikidot.com/prohibition-website-reviews
: Web exhibit - [http://njdigitalhistory.org/NJDHA/] -add the correct URL
- Draft Page 1
- http://njdigitalhistory.org/NJDHA/exhibits/show/http---njdigitalhistory-orgnjd/early-years-of-the-van-allen-h
- Draft Page 2
- http://njdigitalhistory.org/NJDHA/exhibits/show/http---njdigitalhistory-orgnjd/early-years-of-the-van-allen-h/the-van-allen-house-as-the-vyg
- Draft Page 3
- http://njdigitalhistory.org/NJDHA/exhibits/show/http---njdigitalhistory-orgnjd/19th-century-curiosities
1. Van Allen House Exhibit Page Comments:
Before we look at the items a brief history of the Van Allen House is necessary . This statement is not necessary
The Van Allen House was built by Henry Van Allen (Hendrick Van Ale in Dutch), in the circa 1740s. You need to add more information on the construction of the building. Was is made of wood? Two floors? One floor? Gabled roof? If Dutch, the building could be constructed in a dutch style – describe it, tell about its significance. There are no pictures of the original building, but Roy Wright, President of the Oakland Historical Society made a sketch of what it would have looked like in 1750. (link to the Revonation article). The two exterior pictures of the house on the top left show the house as it stands today. This is not necessary here. I would say that there are no photographs of the house at the end of your narrative. In addition, you links do not work – so I am not sure what you are trying to convey here.
The house was modified by Edward Day Page, who brought the building and the surrounding area in the late 19th to early 20th century. (link to the Vygeberg Page). Do you have any biographical information on Mr. Page? The structure on the left is the original house while the structures to the right were added by Page.[1] Add more information to this. //Make modifications about the house a new paragraph. //
The third picture shows what the inside of a colonial house wall would look like. Near the entrance to the kitchen this visible section reveals that a colonial wall was made from a combination of clay, straw and rough plaster packed together with horse hair or pig bristle. Then plaster and paint was used to finish the wall. As stated above the house was purchased by Page, which was an important part of the house’s history because the house was incorporated into Page’s farming estate, the Vygeberg Farm Talk about Vygeberg Farm in the second paragraph. No need to repeat it here
Your title of the page indicates early history – I do not see any of that on this page other than touching briefly on the building’s early construction. This is fine. But then I maybe would alter the title of your page it illustrate you are talking about the Van Allen House’s architecture.
Layout looks good
As I mentioned in my above comment you only have two images on the page and your links in the text are broken.//
2. The Van Allen House as the Vygeberg Farm Exhibit Page Comments:
“‘Vygeberg” is Dutch, meaning “fig” (Vyge) and “hill, mountain” (berg)”.[1]
What’s the purpose of this statement. If there is one, make it. Otherwise this sentence is out of place here. I would place this in the narrative as you discuss why the Page family purchased the estate and called it Vygeberg.
This is the name of the farm estate that Edward Day Page formed in Oakland , which included the Van Allen House that he brought from William Mittueller in the late 1890s to early 1990s.[2] We mention Oakland – what was Oakland like during this time? Was it a farming community? Address it. All the pictures in this section show the Vygeberg Farm at this time, with the collection of five photos showing different parts of the area. Language is incorrect. Restructure. The top right photo shows the Stream House, where the nucleus of the entire operation was located on the first floor, after its construction in 1902. This is important!!! Why was it the nucleus of the entire operation – what was the operation. Please expand. [3] The center photo shows the Van Allen House after Page renovated it in 1904.
The 1911 post card also uses an image of the Vygeberg Farm as its header, and in the image the Van Allen House is on the far left. This post card was sent by Miss D. B. Tracy to her daughter, Helen. Entering into the 20th century the house would have a few more occupants until it became the museum it is known today. I may suggest moving this to the architectural page, however I am not sure how it fits here at the moment. I am sure there is a better spot for it? Once you add more information to your narrative this definitely should be mentioned at the end.
This is the place where biographical information should be conducted on Mr. Page and his family. I gather from the information you presented that the Vygeberg Farm was in the Page family for quite some time and it may be evident to trace a connection to the Van Allen’s – clearly both families were Dutch. In addition, I think your narrative is lacking here. It needs some work, but not much more. I would break this page down into Page family history and purchase of the estate – the whys, whats, whens and hows.
The last paragraph should include information on when the Page’s farm was not in use any longer, how did the property turn into a museum, who bought it? Was it ever not in use?
Layout looks good.
3. 19th Century Curiosities Exhibit Page Comments:
This section and its sub-section looks at items that appear to be mundane and ordinary but are nonetheless important. I would not say mundane or ordinary when describing artifacts. If someone is viewing the artifacts or doing research, they will not take the content seriously. This is true for the Wedding Photo of Mary Post Van Houten and Henry B. Demarest and the 40 Cal. Double Barreled Derringer. Both of these items don’t have much in common except that they were made in the 19th century, but they are unique in their own way. Not necessary
The first paragraph should discuss/summarize the collections in the museum as a whole, making the two photographs you picked the examples of what can be found in the museum.
The wedding photo shows Mary and Henry, in 1848 when they were married. Mary was born in the Van Allen House on June 2, 1829, and had four children with Henry. This photo was taken at Paterson, New Jersey and is one of the earliest examples of photography. This was made using the Daguerreotype process, which was developed in the 1830s by Frenchman Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre. This text is very important. This is the foundation to the Van Allen House story. You may want to add more information here and then link it to the Van Allen House history page.
The next item, the derringer, was found by Thomas McCaffrey on his bungalow on Bailey Ave, in Oakland, New Jersey. This is a pocket pistol with two barrels. and the name derringer is a generic name for these types of guns; The derringer name comes from the 19th century small pistol maker Henry Deringer.[1] This gun was hand-made with unique parts and never produced for the massses; meaning it was never mass-produced. The gun as two barrels but it can’t fire anything because the barrels have rusted.
So while these two items don’t have anything special about them they do add a little character to Oakland’s history. In that history can be made by the “little people”, not just the “big people.” The same can be said for the last two items in this exhibition.
This exhibit page needs some reworking. Narration is incorrect and should be adjusted as such. This page does not need to elaborate on the pieces – this you did an excellent job on. It is common practice today of smaller museums to not have every detail about an object on the web. It is often seen as a security issue, so the less you have about the object (i.e its condition, placement in the museum) the better.
Once again your layout is good and clear.
Your title does not make sense here. I suggest you change the title to reflect the collection you are talking about. In this case it could be ‘Nineteenth Century Genre Artifacts’….any thing relating to artifacts, collections, Van Allen objects, etc.
I sent you this in an email on a word document - it is much more clearer to understand there. Hope this helps.