Abstract


Mapping W.E.B. Du Bois's 1899 book, The Philadelphia Negro
Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education
Author(s): Thomas Pederson, Amy Hillier

In 1896, W.E.B. Du Bois conducted an extensive door-to-door survey of the black households in Philadelphia's Old Seventh Ward. His published study, The Philadelphia Negro, successfully recast "the Negro problem" that he was asked to study as the problems that blacks faced, rather than caused, in northern cities like Philadelphia. The study also showcased emerging social science methods, including ethnography and mapping. This project aims to recreate Du Bois' survey using historical U.S. census, health, housing, and crime data, photographs, and archival sources. Funded by the National Endowment for Humanities, the resulting GIS will be made available online for high school and college students. Students will be able to query a database of the 4,500 households in the Old Seventh Ward and create their own thematic maps. The project will also feature 3D modeling using 3D Analyst, Sketch-up, and Google Earth.

Thomas Pederson
University of Pennsylvania
City and Regional Planning
127 Meyerson Hall
210 South 34th Street
Philadelphia , PA 19104
US
Phone: 215-898-4720
E-mail: twped@design.upenn.edu

Amy Hillier
University of Pennsylvania
City and Regional Planning
210 South 34th Street
Philadelphia , PA 19104
US
Phone: 215-746-2341
E-mail: ahillier@design.upenn.edu