History In Stones: Mapping Cemeteries to Teach the History of Central Aroostook County by Dr. Kimberly Sebold

When

1 p.m., April 15, 2022

Abstract:  Dr. Sebold’s History in Stones project accomplishes two major goals that combines history and technology.   The first is to map the cemeteries of Central Aroostook County.  This mapping includes cleaning the stones, transcribing all the information on a stone, photographing it, and using a GPS device to collect a stone’s latitude and longitude.  All this information is then used to create a searchable cemetery map using ArcGIS Online’s Web Mapping Applications.   The second is to document the history of central Aroostook County by researching some of the people whose stones are in the mapped cemeteries.   These people are placed into their historical context to connect their lives to larger state, national and world events.  Their stories are told using another ArcGIS Online Web Application called StoryMaps.  The StoryMaps are interactive as they allow links to other websites, videos, and illustrations.  They can also incorporate interactive maps made in ArcGIS Online.  The presentation will discuss the project and the use of using ArcGIS Online to capture history. 

Bio: Dr. Kimberly Sebold is a Professor of History at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.  She has worked there for 22 years and has taught online methodology classes on local history.  Her passion for local history started in her Master’s Program at the University of Delaware where she researched the development of the chicken industry on the Delmarva Peninsula where she grew up.  And as boring as that sounds, a black market in chickens became the center of the story.  She continued researching and writing local history while working for the Historic American Buildings Survey on a project about salt marsh farming in Southern Jersey.  The salt marshes and local history led to a Ph.D. at the University of Maine at Orono and then on to a job at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.  Local history connects everyday people to larger events and makes history more relevant.  ArcGIS Online has now provided a way to map local history and present it in an engaging manner.