For this blog, I decided to look at the Clio Visualizing History project. I was drawn to the project specifically for the educational, and public history nature of the project.
The Clio Visualizing History project is a digital history project and non-profit organization dedicated to engaging students, educators, researchers, and the public with topics that explore and teach concepts of visual history. Clio aimed for innovation and creativity with their online exhibits to engage the public. I was interested to see the many different components and exhibits that went into Clio. The project currently has 5 online exhibits, 3 of which are focused on women and feminist history, and this is not including the additional 6 photography exhibits on the website. While not exclusively focussed on women’s history, the exhibits are particularly focused on education and engaging the public in important historical narratives.
The span of Clio is quite large, beginning in 1996 as a for-profit company creating projects for clients. In 2002, Clio switched to creating history education projects, and other digital sources such as websites, and interactive kiosks. Clio has been a player in digital history and research for over 25 years and has continued to provide interactive digital history projects. The design of the site itself I find quite intuitive, opening on the home page Clio provides a short blurb of a manifesto, followed by links and descriptions of the exhibits. The home page introduction to the photography exhibits sums up the goal of Clio and the importance of visual history stating that “images captured through a lens chape and alter perceptions of historical memory; they can both provide authentic insights and misleading notions of the past.” While looking through the exhibits it interested me to see the sheer amount of content put into a single project. The website is continually updated with new content and the dedication to multiple exhibits about visual history. Clio is run by a group of academics, dedicated to discussing visual history. While each member is distinguished and talented, I was interested to see that the majority of contributors to the digital project were female.
The exhibit Picturing the Past: Illustrated Histories and the American Imagination 1840-1900 included critical thinking questions for the public to ponder whilst exploring the exhibit. These questions were targeted to improve the historical thinking skills of viewers while informing them of the importance of visual history. Click! The Ongoing Feminist Revolution has a large variety of features that make up the exhibit the two I want to focus on the most are the collection of lesson plans for teachers, and the resource library attached to the exhibit. This exhibit specifically seems more designed for education than any other due to the inclusion of lesson plans. The lesson plans are designed in age-appropriate categories ranging from grade 3 to grade 12. Not only are they informative but they are free for teachers to use.
While this blog post was dedicated to exploring an academic digital history project, Clio is an important bridge that covers the gaps between an academic history project and a public history project. The digital exhibits are curated to promote historical questions and thinking in ways that are accessible for the public and students to understand while promoting visual history Digital history projects are an important pillar in public history, as they can make history more accessible to the public especially in recent years where access to physical museums is limited. In many ways, Clio is a museum that exists in the digital space. It is easy to navigate, free and informative, and representative of a digital history project for both academics and the public.