Project Description

Documentary Focus:

The focus of our project has been to document the lived experiences of those involved in significant conflicts. While the scope of the topic is broad, our goal has been to highlight snapshots of these wars to explore the importance of documenting these events. To this end, we have attempted to tie the historical events with a contemporary item to more closely link the viewer with the past events. Thus, our documentary focus is not just to present these materials to the viewer, but to convince them to contemplate and hopefully understand that while these events should be understood and respected, that they are nonetheless wars in which real people lived and suffered through.

Consideration of Archival Concepts and Practices: 

One of our most pressing concerns when designing our archive was to make sure that it was user friendly and accessible. In traditional archives, records are organized by original order. For our online archive, we arranged our records in a style that did not focus on original order, but to tell a narrative of remembrance in war. This way, we are not neutral parties presenting materials as some traditional archvies are, but serving a purpose to honor those who went through military conflicts. Additionally, we also considered legal and ethical contexts, as well as trauma based design when making our site. Since the concept of war can be traumatizing to some people that may come across our site, we made sure to put a content warning on the Welcome page. For legal contexts, we make sure that the provenance of our records are documented, as well as putting legal disclaimers in our site.

Criteria for Record Selection: 

Our record selection process generally started with researching the Bentley Historical Library Catalog. It was important that we include some institutional material, to highlight the importance of their service to the University of Michigan. However, as the scope of this project was further refined, it became apparent that we needed to collate records from a wider array of collections. Some of these records were identified through our own personal familiarity due to handling these materials during prior work. Additional records were identified using the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the Internet Archive to help further identify collections that could support our overall message. These institutions were selected due to the broad range and diversity of records they contain, with the hope that their material would provide more options than were currently available in the Bentley Historical Library.

When selecting materials, it was important that the records we identified and utilized helped construct an overall narrative. This was made more difficult due to the expansiveness of the events we are documenting. Thus, it was important that we attempt to build a narrative structure and find identify records that contribute to that goal. For example, while there are countless photographs of soldiers in archives, the story those pictures can tell by themselves is limited. However, by selecting materials that could be expanded to a larger moment within the event, we could tell a more compelling and focused story.

Target User Group: 

Our primary user group are individuals who have some interest in historical conflicts. These individuals may have some interest in history, but generally have a broad understanding of events without a nuanced understanding behind these events. This may include antiquarians, casual enthusiasts, and people with a tangential link to these events such as a relative. To cater to their needs, this archive has been designed to be visual stimulating and accessible, with a focus on visual documentation and limited text. While we have created significant metadata, the focus has been to tell a compelling story first that is broadly accessible. Moreover, the content has been arranged temporally (with pages for each conflict) rather than by collection because less-familiar users are often better prepared to follow and understand content linearly rather than by collection as is archivally appropriate.

Additionally, this site has been designed to support the needs of delvers who might want to conduct further research. Provenance for each item has been diligently recorded and citations are clearly listed. Moreover, leading questions help pose potential avenues for future research: while a layperson may only contend with a surface understanding spurned by these questions, the hope is that these questions spurn further research for those who might harbor dormant interest. Thus, this site can exist as a springboard that points to more nuanced and diverse collections that can satisfy their future research needs.

Perspectives: 

Our records primarily display a homogeneous perspective, which is that of a hetero-normative white male. While diversity is highlighted when possible (for example, Archie Hawkins is from the Sioux indigenous tribe and thus represents an important diversity perspective in our item records), often much of the accessible documentary record concerning these events were skewed when they were created. These unrecorded perspectives were often seen as unimportant to the overall narrative that glorified war and heroic actions. As a result, many silent voices are pervasive throughout our archive: woman, civilians, children, and minorities appear infrequently and their silence is deafening. This damages the narrative we can construct and limits reciprocity when attempting to bolster their volume. However, this issue only further supports our message concerning the importance of collecting and documenting these voices before they are lost, and should be a goal for further expansion of this project.