Headquartered at the Department of History at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, Georgia, the Savannah Images Project “centers around the collaborative development of an instructional model that utilizes active learning, collaboration between university and public school faculty, readily available instructional technology, and the [Savannah, Georgia] coastal region’s abundant cultural and community resources.”
Collection Principles. With a “primary aim . . . to involve teachers and students in the scholarly processes of historical study by encouraging them to investigate coastal Georgia’s remarkable cultural landscape, while simultaneously teaching them how to produce data bases of historical images and documents for the Internet,” the Savannah Images Project seeks to have “students to learn to think critically while they are acquiring a fuller understanding of the historical evolution of cultural processes, as demonstrated by their command of the academic skills related to ‘doing’ history in a technological age.” The homepage of the site lists the description of the project, staff, participants, data sites and a section entitled “What’s New.” There is no explicit statement of a collections development policy. Neither the list of staff nor the lists of participating organizations have links for further information or contact. Although the site indicates that the databases on the site are largely produced by Savannah teachers and students, there is generally no indication of such authorship or production in the data sites listed.
The data sites include a range of topics from people and places in Savannah’s history, with a variety of information provided in inconsistent style and format. For example, under “Living in Savannah” the image catalogue has no explanatory information, asserting that the students of the class presenting the image felt the images speak for themselves. In contrast is the section “Images of Oglethorpe” which provides background information, a time line and an image catalogue of engravings and other mediums from a private collection that cannot be reproduced without express permission of the private collector (but with no readily visible information for further contact). The “Fortresses of Savannah” show only one image with no title or caption indicating what the image is intended to represent. The “Women of the Irene Mound” data site contains an essay on the background of the WPA project, an image catalogue, and an oral history interview with one of the women excavators in the project, with clear indication that the collection belongs to the Coastal Georgia Archaeological Society and is housed at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah, and cannot be reproduced without express permission of the owners of the collection.
Under “What’s New” on the Web page there is a link to “Cityscape Images” which include 18 digital photographs of Savannah’s many city squares with explanatory notes about the Square, some of its history and other asserted facts. The same “page” appears under the data site entitled “Heritage Tourism: Savannah and the Low Country.” See, for example the Chippewa Square image and notations below.
Chippewa Square
Chippewa Square, named for a battle in the War of 1812, boasts Savannah's most distinguished piece of outdoor sculpture: Daniel Chester French's 1910 bronze figure of James Edward Oglethorpe and architect Henry Bacon's marble base. Oglethorpe wears the armor of a 1730s British general and stands amid palm fronds, symbolizing the colony of Georgia; the lions on the base hold the seals of the colony of Georgia, the state of Georgia, the city of Savannah and the heraldic device of the Oglethorpe family.This square provided the background for the bus stop scenes in the Paramount film "Forrest Gump." The bench that Forrest and his box of chocolates occupied is not in Chippewa Square. It was one of four copies made by Paramount Pictures; one of these copies was donated by Paramount to the Savannah History Museum, where it is exhibited.To the west, facing the square is the 1833 Greek Revival First Baptist Church, the oldest sanctuary in Savannah. Here General Sherman first permitted his Federal troops to worship with the lately Confederate citizens of Savannah.
Object Characteristics. Wide range depending on the subject. In the list of data sites, most include an image of a photograph in jpeg format, accompanied with an “essay” prepared by a named author (usually a professor), and in many cases where the image comes from a private collection, with usage strictly limited and only by permission of the private collector. In other cases, as in the data site for the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, the images that appear are news photos in jpeg, and selections for further information in gif format images that contain other information. The images of Oglethorpe include steel, wood and copper engravings, postcards, and photographic prints of mezzotint, all with information as to origin and size of the original. In the Cityscape Images, such as the Chippewa Square noted above, there is no reference to format or size of the photograph image.
Metadata. Varied and inconsistent. The photo images in Cityscape Images do not indicate the photographer. However, all of the images are accompanied by brief histories of the particular square or location. As noted above, the images of Oglethorpe do include information of origin and format of the original image. The “Living in Savannah” images purport to “speak for themselves” when information as to origin, location and who produced the image is sorely needed. Overall, the metadata appears to be a hodgepodge depending on the particular data site and most probably because of the varying genesis of the sites and their information.
Intended Audience. Secondary school students in Savannah, Georgia and students at Armstrong Atlantic State University. To a certain extent, the site is something of a marketing site for the History Department at Armstrong Atlantic State University, as in many cases it contains professors’ summaries in the essays and in one case even includes a college course summary. The data site entitled “Tour of Savannah” might be of interest to potential tourists to the city, but only a brief history of the city is included with no links for further information. Historians of Southern history would find some interesting information in the site, but there are almost no further links for follow up or to original sources.
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