Maritime life in Frenchman Bay in the late 19th century
This project explores the diaries of Freeland Bunker, a mariner, ship builder, entrepreneur, and early selectman of Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. Through his journals we get a glimpse into life in the 19th century in Frenchman Bay, witness the Statue of Liberty’s unveiling in New York Harbor, and sail with him to Italy where he is delivering a cargo of glass and spends a month after losing his finger in a winch during the delivery. Through his daily journals, we explore life and changed experiences in Frenchman Bay in the late 19th century. Possible projects students can explore include:
Project 1: Social Networks
Who was Freeland Bunker? How did his contact networks change over time? Using the records of who he sent and received letters from we will build a construction of Freeland’s social network and explore how this changed and shifted throughout his life.
What skills you can expect to learn and employ:
- Transcription and Coding of Freeland’s Journals.
- Research and work with the historical society to identify who the individuals were, what they did, and what their role was in Frenchmen Bay’s society?
- Use text analysis and historical records to understand the nature of their relationship with Freeland. Explore and visualize how Freeland’s correspondence changed over time.
- Create an interactive map with the location and background of these individuals and the population of these areas through time.
Project 2: Changing Weather
Freeland gave faithful accounts of the weather and wind conditions throughout his life. From these accounts we can begin to understand the environment and how it’s changed over time. How did weather conditions change during Freeland’s life? How do they compare to the weather we experience today and what are the ecological implications?
What skills you can expect to learn and employ:
- Transcription and Coding of Freeland’s Journals.
- Use text analysis to quantify and visualize changes in wind and weather patterns through time.
- Work with the national park to gather and compare weather findings to today’s records.
Project 3: Mapping Freeland’s Journey
Freeland was involved in many nautical activities throughout his life. These activities led him to travel great distances along the coast and as far as Italy. The goal of this project is to tell the story of Freeland’s journey through data visualizations and data animation capturing the path and also significance of these places in Frenchman Bay.
What skills you can expect to learn and employ:
- Transcription and coding of Freeland’s Journals.
- Research and work with the historical society to geocode the places that Freeland travelled.
- Visualize Freeland’s journeys through space and time and explore creative ways to document and show his activities along the way.
- Use text analysis to quantify and explore the activities Freeland was dedicated to? How did they change through space and time?
Resources
These resources are a starting place which you can add to:
Data
Data will be distributed to the team during class.
