The Valley of the Shadow
Encyclopedia
This page is about an American Civil war project. For other uses, see Valley of the Shadow (disambiguation)
The Valley of the Shadow is a digital history
project hosted by the University of Virginia
detailing the experiences of Confederate
soldiers from Augusta County
, Virginia
and Union
soldiers from Franklin County
, Pennsylvania
. William G. Thomas III and Edward L. Ayers, the creators of the project, have called it "an applied experiment in digital scholarship." The site contains scanned copies of four newspapers from each of the counties in addition to those of surrounding cities such as Richmond and New York: the Staunton Spectator (Staunton, Virginia
; Whig
), the Republican Vindicator (Staunton, Virginia; Democratic), the Franklin Repository and Transcript (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
; Republican), and the Valley Spirit (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Democratic). Elsa A. Nystrom and Justin A. Nystrom state about the site:
Valley of the Shadow (disambiguation)
The Valley of the Shadow may refer to:*an episode of The Twilight Zone*an American Civil War project called The Valley of the Shadow*'The Valley of the Shadow ', a short story by Rudyard Kipling in Soldiers Three...
The Valley of the Shadow is a digital history
Digital history
Digital history is the use of digital media and tools for historical practice, presentation, analysis, and research. It is a branch of the Digital Humanities and an outgrowth of Quantitative history, Cliometrics, and History and Computing...
project hosted by the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
detailing the experiences of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
soldiers from Augusta County
Augusta County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 65,615 people, 24,818 households, and 18,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 26,738 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
soldiers from Franklin County
Franklin County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. William G. Thomas III and Edward L. Ayers, the creators of the project, have called it "an applied experiment in digital scholarship." The site contains scanned copies of four newspapers from each of the counties in addition to those of surrounding cities such as Richmond and New York: the Staunton Spectator (Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
; Whig
Whig
-In the British Isles:* A faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the 17th-century Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the original Whigs....
), the Republican Vindicator (Staunton, Virginia; Democratic), the Franklin Repository and Transcript (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...
; Republican), and the Valley Spirit (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Democratic). Elsa A. Nystrom and Justin A. Nystrom state about the site:
...the digital article challenges the user to select their own
path through the material, following what most closely aligns with their specific interests –
“alternative readings” in the words of the authors. Initially, their use of the digital medium seems
fairly straightforward until one realizes just how much is there, and as an extension, how much
one might miss inadvertently.
Further Reading
- Alkalimat, Abdul, The African American Experience in Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Culture and History
- Serge Noiret: "La "nuova storiografia digitale" negli Stati Uniti, (1999-2004)." in Memoria e Ricerca, n.18, January-April 2005, pp.169-185, URL: http://www.fondazionecasadioriani.it/modules.php?name=MR&op=body&id=339.
- Serge Noiret: "Y a t-il une Histoire Numérique 2.0 ?” in Les historiens et l'informatique. Un métier à réinventer, edited by Jean-Philippe Genet and Andrea Zorzi, Rome: Ecole Française de Rome, 2011.