For my “How did they make that?” assignment I choose to look over “St. Louis History in Black and White: From Dred Scott to Ferguson” History is important to culture and region in recognizing where we come from and how we got to this point. This article stood out to me because this comes from STL. Public Radio and a collaboration with the University of Missouri. The goal of the project is to bring recognition to better understand racial inequality in the ST. Louis Region. The presentations wants to show how race affected peoples lives when it came to their Health ,education, and income. Using a slideshow/map the article neatly demonstrates different periods of time in the STL Region and how it affected the community. Spreading the word and sharing history especially in the black community is important for the STL Radio and they would like that all ages and types of people that have an interest in the subject to know where they can find the information. The project came to the conclusion that black and white people lived completely different lives in the early years of STL from the year 1865 to the 1970’s. it shows that Black people were more likely to experience poverty, no education, or job opportunity’s. Thought the project it shows a clear demonstration of the suffering of black people and how it is tied to history and different ideology’s that were pertained during those times. Using data Visualization maps and charts with a combination of storytelling it gives a look into the lives of black and white people for different points in history. The STL Radio showed off history acceptably well in there project, but the lack of video, and somewhat short presentations leave something to be desired. This weakness makes the page feel bland and dated. With some upgrades and promotion I believe that STL Radio can succeed in their mission and bring recognition to the area and the history of black people. Furthermore, this project promotes the lifestyle and inequality’s of St. Louis of the past. It demonstrates that deep rooted issues are still prevalent today. With this project it helps deepen understanding and makes the information more accessible.
Tag: How did they make that
How Did They Make That?
This project was built by the St. Louis Regional Data Alliance. It got help from key players like Daugherty Business Solutions, who played a crucial role assisting in data aggregation. Missouri Foundation for Health also helped to provide essential funding for this project. It took two years to develop the project. The initiative was built upon a previous effort that began roughly seven years prior. This project was made using DKAN Open Data Platform. DKAN is a powerful, community-driven open data platform that has been at the forefront of data accessibility and transparency for over a decade. It enables organizations and individual build open data portals in Drupal.
The goal of this project is to be a one stop shop. That is, a place where people can search for any public community data in St. Louis. People can find data on local government and nonprofit websites or upload information onto the RDX directly. The intended audience are local governments, community members, nonprofits, activists and academics.
One of the strengths is the layout. It is well organized and easy to navigate. It uses contrasting colors which makes it easy for people to read.
One of the weaknesses of this site is the inability to add data when you click on the “Add Data” button. It tells you to email them or fill out the google form, not every would want to go through the hassle of doing that. Another weakness is it doesn’t give you all the information needed on a particular topic. For example, when I tried to check for a list of officially elected leaders in the area, I didn’t get any meaningful result.
After making this project, the researcher must have learned about different sectors and areas in St. Louis. Also, may have learned about a new technological tool DKAN, a powerful open-source tools for publishing and cataloging datasets and their metadata. This can be seen in the way the home page was neatly organized and arranged for easy accessibility.
Reflecting on this site, I got to learn about a new technology DKAN which could be an interesting tool for creating contents that needs catalogs. I also think the Regional Data Exchange has potential, as it could be a site to easily search for relevant information.
The digital humanities project The History of Toxic Waste in St. Louis presents a chronological account of radioactive contamination across the St. Louis region, from its earliest slide, from 1942 during World War II to 2023 present time. Although the creator of the timeline is unknown, the project draws heavily on reporting from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, NPR, the EPA, and environmental advocacy organizations such as the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. The goal of the project is to document how nuclear weapons production during World War II led to decades of environmental contamination and to highlight the long-term impact on surrounding communities. By organizing these events chronologically, the timeline emphasizes how government decisions, corporate actions, and delayed remediation efforts contributed to ongoing health and environmental concerns.
The intended audience appears to be residents of the St. Louis region, students, and anyone interested in environmental justice. The project ultimately demonstrates that radioactive waste was repeatedly moved, buried, or inadequately contained, often with officials downplaying risks. From the contamination of Coldwater Creek to the closure of Jana Elementary School in 2022, the timeline suggests a pattern of insufficient oversight and delayed accountability. It also demonstrates how difficult the nuclear waste is to properly contain/get rid of.
Technologically, the project was created using TimelineJS, an open-source digital storytelling tool developed by the Northwestern University Knight Lab. TimelineJS allows creators to input dates, text, and media into a Google Sheet, which is then rendered into an interactive, scrollable timeline using embedded code. This method makes complex historical information accessible and visually engaging. I liked the use of TimelineJS for this project because it keeps it simple yet effective in displaying relevant imagery, dates, and information on each slide.
One major strength of the project is its clarity. Seeing events unfold chronologically makes the long-term consequences more powerful and easier to understand. A weakness, however, is that the slides are brief and sometimes repetitive, which can limit deeper analysis. I personally knew that this was happening in St. Louis because I researched it after seeing it on the news when there were underground fires from the nuclear waste. Overall, the project adds important nuance to our understanding of the St. Louis region. It reinforces how deeply World War II-era decisions still affect local communities today and highlights environmental issues that many residents may not fully realize are still ongoing.