Project proposal for Fall 2023 Introduction to Public History Seminar.
Question:
The key question this project will explore is: How did social settlement, with particular focus on the work done in the 1900s immediately before the Great Migration in 1910, prepare northern cities, with particular focus on Chicago, for what was to come? The more specific topic in question is the involvement of Fannie Barrier Williams and the Frederick Douglass Center in Chicago and their importance to the preparations.
Abstract:
The overarching argument of this project is that Fannie Barrier Williams and her writings in support of the Frederick Douglass Center were instrumental in restarting the settlement movement after 15 years of exclusion of African Americans as a way to handle the influx of people from the US South to the North during the “First Great Migration.”
Narrative:
The materials for this project, at least in terms of the physical materials to put it together, will vary depending on if it is an indoor or outdoor exhibit. If it is to outdoor, materials will involve wood to construct a more sturdy backboard, with the addition of some form of roof, this can be made of painted plywood, to keep the rain off, with the additional requirements of additional screws, nails, more expensive processed lumber, additional tools with which to assemble the backboards, and depending on placement, lighting. Lighting in particular requires its own set of tools needed to cut the wood to install lights. Woodwork would also require a table saw optimally, or a handheld circular saw otherwise, to prepare. An indoor exhibit could also be made of the same materials with the added benefit that it could be used in other places at a later date to more adequately spread its message, though if this exhibit is only to be used once that may be a waste of money. Alternatively an indoor version could be made relatively cheaply, forgoing much of the carpentry for simple cardboard and glue, both materials that should be theoretically easily findable on a college campus and if not should be able to be bought far cheaper than the tools required to build what is essentially a trail bulletin board. The material, that is the content of the exhibit itself, will be spread across three boards, organized chronologically from left to right, telling the story of, on the first board, the first wind of the settlement movement and how it developed over the course of the 1890s, second would be the work FBW did and the development of the Frederick Douglass Center in the 1910s, third would be dedicated to the Great Migration and how the FDC helped with the influx of people brought by that. The bottom of each of these would also have a timeline of events to show the flow. The intended audience of this project would be anyone traversing the first floor of the LAB, or if it is to be outdoors the area by the front door, realistically these audiences are the same.
Overall, the audience is the SUNY Brockport student body. This project should matter to its audience as for the most part, nobody actually knows who Fannie Barrier Williams was or anything she did outside of being the first African American to graduate, and even that knowledge is not gained easily. This project will connect to this public by putting a face to the name that otherwise seems to be haphazardly tacked on to the end of the name of the LAB to fulfill a diversity quota more than to memorialize a notable individual and showing even one aspect of her life would go a long way in picking up the slack.
Workplan:
A workplan for this is relatively simple and can be done with a very low budget. The hardest part of doing this project would be the production of the content to put on the boards more than the actual construction of the boards, even under the assumption that the outdoor option, and thus the more complex option is chosen. Work could be divided into two crews, one crew dedicated to the making of the actual content to put on the boards, the work required for that being primarily academic, and another group dedicated to the construction of the backboards and the installation once both halves are finished, this could be reduced to a single group if needed though two would make it easier on everybody under the assumption that everyone involved, as could very well be the case, is a full time college student. Production could be done over the course of a couple weeks, at least as far as building is concerned, realistically a good weekend might even be enough to build these based on my own experience building similar things, though assuming rain days and delays in production multiple weekends could be allotted.
The work for the content could be done either at the same time or at any time during the week, there not needing to be any overlap until the content is put on the boards at least where time is concerned, measurements could be given via email or at the start of the production. The first weekend would be dedicated to designing the backboards, and if time allowed going out and buying the materials, otherwise the next weekend could be used. The following weekend, or weekends depending on how much is done in the first, would be dedicated to the construction, painting, and wiring of the backboards. Assuming that four weeks is enough time to produce the content, more time can be given if it proves to be necessary although a month to produce what is essentially three slides should be sufficient. If it is to be an indoor exhibit this could probably be knocked out in a week or so, albeit with a far less impressive result that, at least in my mind, fits more at an elementary school science fair than an exhibit.
Budget:
The budget for this project is relatively low, with most of the cost being in paint, exterior lights, and tools. Depending on what is available to the people who make the sets for the shows in the Tower of Fine Arts much of this cost could be removed entirely by simply borrowing their tools for the afternoon. The total, not including drills or saws comes to about 145 dollars, the addition of a dewalt drill and battery adds a further 99 dollars and a dewalt circular saw, that can use the battery from the drill, adds the same bringing the total to about 345 dollars. A drill bit set would add 20 dollars, assuming the drill does not come with them, and no volunteers can be asked to bring some from home, something that would decrease costs at every part of this budget, which should not be a preventative increase in budget. Labor could either be paid or volunteer. If people are paid, assuming 20 dollars an hour for 30 hours the cost would be an additional 2400, with 600 a pop for a 4 person team, which I think to be sufficient to complete this over 30 work hours each if not less. Alternatively volunteers could be found to do this for free, and or for the promise of pizza for their efforts, over the course of 3 weekends, assuming 14in pizzas are bought, labor costs would be about 60 dollars total. Alternatively I have both the necessary skills, tools, and materials, to probably be able to do the entirety of the building myself, outside of the installation anyway for which I would need another person just to carry the things.
Consultants:
I do not believe any consultants would need to be brought in on this project, though anyone with any experience with carpentry would be of use as well as people with artistic talent as unfortunately because of two consecutive summers of painting whatever I build black, it always being something with jack o lanterns sitting on top, and therefore not to be seen in itself, these backboards in my mind have also been painted similarly dull.
Concerns:
My biggest concern with this project is finding a good spot for it as the current spot is a bit vague and would need permission to be placed there, the alternative spot in the lobby would also require the moving of what is currently there, I am not sure what that thing actually is, never having read what it says in two and a half years, but it would need to move to allow flow to continue in the lobby. Finding volunteers may also be an issue.
