NEIGHBORHOOD WALKING TOUR & MAP EXERCISEEach student will create a historical walking tour of a London neighborhood using Story Maps, an ArcGIS computer program. The tour will survey the ways in which that neighborhood has changed over the centuries and the most important historical events that took place there.
To begin the exercise, log in to Story Maps. Use the account you created during the information session in Watzek Library that was part of our program orientation last spring (or create a new account if you cannot access the old one). Click on "My Stories" followed by "Create Story" and then use the "Map Journal" function. Using Map Journal, you can begin to create your story map. Your narrative should explain the origins of your neighborhood’s name, describe the most important historical events that occurred there, list the most noteworthy residents and when they lived, trace the major demographic changes, and describe the most significant structural and environmental transformations that have characterized the area over time.
Your story map should be developed as a walking tour (i.e. along an actual route with specific beginning and end points). Your map should include at least five images, two excerpts from primary sources, and five narrative entries in your own writing (100-200 words each). Images may include old maps, illustrations, and photos—including your own. Excerpts from primary sources may include—but are not limited to—letters, diaries, passages from literature, government reports, Blitz accounts, newspapers, and magazines. All images and written sources must be properly cited.
In addition to historical mapping of the neighborhood in Story Maps, students must visit the various locations to plot out the route, survey the physical remnants of the local history, take photos, and identify the notable points along the way. You must select your neighborhood in consultation with the instructor (each student must choose a different area). See below for a list of some of London’s more distinctive neighborhoods.
The neighborhood walking tour and map exercise is due on November 19. The completed maps will be posted online.
Battersea: Victorian industrial area, landmark power plant
Bloomsbury: Early 20th-century literary and intellectual hub
Brixton: Afro-Caribbean and African immigrant area
Camden Town: Victorian industrial area, London’s canal system, alternative music scene
Chelsea: Bohemian center, hub of 1960s fashion, art, and music
City of London: Roman settlement, medieval London, modern financial center
Covent Garden: Music, theatre, books and printing; Neoclassical architecture
Docklands: shipbuilding and repair, postwar urban redevelopment
Ealing: British film industry
Greenwich: Naval and maritime history
Kensington: Diplomatic and royal residences, Victorian public buildings
Kew: Botanical gardens and national archives
Kilburn: Irish and Afro-Caribbean immigrant area
Knightsbridge: Luxury retail and hotel zone, foreign real estate investment
Lambeth: Medieval residential and commercial area, industrial center, war damage
Mayfair: Wealthy residential area and retail shops, foreign real estate investment
Mile End: Your local neighborhood!
Notting Hill: Afro-Caribbean immigrant area (famous carnival)
Paddington: Industrial rail development, historic hospital
Shepherd's Bush: Eastern European immigrant area
Soho: Social center; arts, leisure, music, theatre, and fashion
Southwark: Roman and medieval settlement, Shakespeare and Marlowe's London
St. Giles: Site of an infamous Victorian "rookery" (slum) chronicled by Dickens
The Strand: Riverfront area on the Thames between the City and Westminster
Westminster: Historic center of government, medieval abbey
Whitechapel: Working-class Victorian neighborhood, historic Jewish community, 1888 Ripper murders
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The abovementioned neighborhoods are only a partial selection of potential sites for this assignment. Other possibilities include Bayswater, Belgravia, Chalk Farm, Clapham, Clerkenwell, Earl's Court, Finsbury Park, Fitzrovia, Fulham, Golders Green, Hackney, Islington, Marylebone, Muswell Hill, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Holland Park, Primrose Hill, Putney, Regent’s Park, Shoreditch, Wapping, Walthamstow, and White City.
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