Ilse's+Whitman+Assignment+Student


 * Using this as a guide, create a pictorial tour of the neighborhood on any one map in the collection. Find images of the types of business and buildings that occupied a city block.**

I picked the First Ward Plate A, the southeast tip of Manhattan. On the map, I could see that there were mainly first class dwellings (I counted the number of different types of buildings in this Plate, see here for exact numbers) which have slate or metal roofs that are coped **(?)**. However, there were definitely more stores than dwellings, mostly first class but also a fair number of second and third class stores too (again, see here for exact numbers). The largest concentration of dwellings was on the west side, towards the water. Furthermore, the largest concentration of stores was in the south east corner, towards the water and “Plate B.” On the northern edge there was a mix of first/second class dwellings and first/second class stores. According to the reference guide these kind of businesses could be found in first, second and third class stores. In this Plate, any of these, with a slight majority of first class businesses, could be found. It seemed to be a mostly business-oriented neighborhood but not industrial-like with factories and empty lots. It seems there would be plenty of people living amongst the businesses as well as people coming to the neighborhood for business.

Unfortunately, I could not find any images of these business or the buildings that they were housed in. I googled as many search words as I could that I hoped would lead me to mid-nineteenth century New York City street views, buildings, businesses, and/or people. I also searched the NYPL Digital Collections and came up with zilch. I honestly ran out of motivation or fresh ideas on where to keep looking… Perhaps the assignment should direct the student more towards where to find these images.


 * Link your findings back to Whitman’s poem.**

Having found very little, I can only see how these maps and the images of the neighborhoods and its people would aid in giving a visual to lines such as

“….. of the ward and city I live in …..” (15) “By the city’s quadrangular houses….” (35)


 * Reflection** on doing the assignment

In doing this assignment, I came across three big questions: - How do I read these maps? - How or where do I find the images that the assignment calls for? - How do I link my findings to the poem?

I read the maps by counting the types of buildings and trying to see patterns and make some tentative conclusions from that information. But perhaps, I should have been looking at other details of these maps? Or comparing plates? As mentioned, I googled for images as well as searched the NYPL Digital Collection – with no results… And I actually didn’t spend to much time on trying to link my findings because I felt unguided and unstructured in doing this. It seemed I could go in any direction with this and so felt completely lost as to what to do. I love the maps and the idea of a pictorial tour. However the digital roads of this assignment seem untraveled and obscure. A more step-by-step, mapped out assignment would help I think.