Mapping New York Literary History Project

Mapping New York Literary History is a digital project produced by Lehman College English majors under the direction of Professor Bret Maney. The project involves research and writing about New York locations that have a significant bearing on American literary history. Students have done some truly remarkable work, and we are excited to share it with you. For more information about the genesis of the project, click here.

To begin exploring Mapping New York Literary History, click on the map below:

More Information about the Project

In Mapping New York Literary History, student researchers explore New York sites that have a relationship with U.S. literary culture. They document these sites through notes, photographs, videos,  and interviews, and carry out library and Internet research. The result of their investigations is a series of multimodal essays posted online under their names, initials, or a  pseudonym.

The intention of the students and the instructor is that their work will become a permanent contribution to the digital documentation of our city’s and region’s literary history.

We decided to make the multimodal essays accessible through a mapping interface in Spring 2016. Clicking on individual points on the map above will take readers to the relevant essays about the New York sites and their literary past. You may also browse the full collection of essays by clicking here.

The goal of this project is fourfold: (1) to foster student engagement with local literary history and American studies, (2) to introduce students to writing for digital publics, (3) to enhance students’ digital literacies, and (4) to collaborate in the public humanities mission of sharing our disciplinary expertise with our neighbors on the web.

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