Below is an excerpt from an article featuring NULab Faculty Nicole Aljoe’s project, “Mapping Black London,” its research aims, and the role of digital technologies.
“What if you could use technology to uncover the past of a place you thought you knew? Researchers on Northeastern’s “Mapping Black London” project are doing just that. Their interdisciplinary work aims to map the presence and contributions of Black people throughout London, through both digital and physical exhibits.
The “Mapping Black London” website houses four current digital exhibits, with two focusing on the lives of important Black historical figures in the United Kingdom: abolitionist, writer and composer Ignatius Sancho and abolitionist and author Mary Prince.
The other two exhibits are more broad. “Arts in London” traces Black artists and performers during the 19th century, and “Unforgotten Lives”focuses on people’s baptisms, burials and marriage records, as well as where those events took place.
Though the exhibits range in content matter and time periods, mapping is a crucial tool for all of them. Northeastern professor of English and Africana Studies in Boston Nicole Aljoe, one of the co-principal investigators on the project, said the importance of a visual component is to help viewers understand the story.”
You can read the full article on The Huntington News here: “‘Mapping Black London’ reveals hidden history, reshapes understandings of Black people in London.”
