Updates from “Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas”

Gergely Baics, Barnard College
Leah Meisterlin, Columbia University

Since the launch of our website in fall 2021, “Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas” has presented at each SSHA conference. This year again, we will bring to the conference the latest developments of our project, especially because we will have major updates. The website’s first version included the 1850, 1880, and 1910 geocoded censuses for Manhattan and Brooklyn. In September 2024, we will launch our updated website also including the 1940 census, and extending coverage to all five boroughs for all four census years. We will also considerably increase our number of "stories" in the website drawing on case-studies from team members and students, as well as present updates to website design and functionalities. Further, we hope that by the SSHA the data download functionality will be available for users. In the meantime, we continue exploring the possibility to include the 1820 and 1790 censuses, with the goal to present a more rounded picture of the Black experience in New York, including the period of slavery and emancipation. This goal, however, presents major methodological challenges, as the map sources, census data, and geocoding process are very different than for the later periods. As our current funding cycle expires in December 2024, expanding the Atlas backward in time would require additional funding sources. At the conference, we will discuss these various updates, including results, methods, challenges, and potential next steps beyond our current funding cycle.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 152. Urban Historical GIS: Social History