[Activity]
Considering Data as Archival Reproduction
“Left unattended, these devastations reproduce themselves in digital architecture, even when and where digital humanists believe they advocate for social justice.”
Jessica Marie Johnson, “Markup Bodies: Black [Life] Studies and Slavery [Death] Studies at the Digital Crossroads.” Social Text 36, no. 4 (December 1, 2018): 58.)
Instructions
Examine the record below (front and back are shown) in detail. Click on either image to download the record, zoom in/out, etc.
What is it? What does it say? Why was it created?
Use information from that record to locate the voyage it represents in the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.
You will need to identify the name of the vessel and the year of the voyage to do so. Once you have found it in the database, note that you can click on the Voyage ID to view more information about the voyage.
Discuss, as a group, the following questions:
What information, if any, is included on the record but not in the data?
What information, if any, is included in the data but isn’t found on this record?
What work do you think was involved in producing data from this record?
How are the record and the data similar? How are they different?
Do you think the data produced from this record constitutes “good mourning,” as outlined by Dr. Johnson? Why or why not?
