For my Digital History final project, I am going to create a
timeline of the life of Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette is a historical
figure that I have always had an interest in. I am fascinated by eighteenth
century French culture, politics, and fashion! Growing up I used to read a lot
of historical biographies, and seeing the chronological sequence of
events in a person's life allowed me to have a better understanding of the both
the person and the era in which they were alive. That is why I have chosen a digital
timeline. A timeline is both visually pleasing, and it makes it easier for the
reader to make connections between smaller events, and the wider topic or
historical era as a whole. This is a strategy commonly used by teachers in grade
school and high school. Asking students to create their own timelines, or
contributing to a timeline throughout the school year, helps students to
contextualize history. I would like to create a timeline that shows Marie
Antoinette as more than just a greedy Queen, and more than just a character.
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| A typical French Guillotine Image Courtesy of {http://www.brh.org.uk/site/articles/guillotine-knitting-terror/} |
Using a timeline helps historians to analyze their research
by forcing them to go back to basics. Literally looking at major events on a
chronological timeline can help historians make obvious connections which can
be overlooked when deep in the throes of primary source research. For example,
when reading a written page about events in a figure's life, one may speed read
right past the fact that many traumatic events happened in a two year time
span. Seeing multiple traumatic events pop up on a timeline so close together would
cause a historian to pause and further think about how enduring many traumatic
events in a short period of time may have a profound influence on a figure's
life. Sometimes visual representations
of historic events aid in the contextualization of those events better than
mere words ever can.
My intended audience for this project is the average Joe,
who happens to be interested in Marie Antoinette, French culture, or history in
general. Thinking as a public historian, I always aim to create accessible
historical writing and projects. My career aspiration is to be a museum
professional, and one of the pillars of museum interpretation and work is accessibility.
Museums typically create plaques and display case signs written in
easy-to-understand language, void of academic jargon or complicated
descriptions. I want to create a timeline that is very visually pleasing; with
paintings and images that aid in the understanding of the event being
described. Another benefit of using a digital timeline is that it is not only accessible
in regard to the language and images, but it is also easily shared and
displayed. Through public libraries and schools, many people have access to the
internet. A digital timeline would be available for free to many people. Within
public history, this is a big plus. I look forward to creating this timeline
about Marie Antoinette because I think it will show readers another side of
her. Seeing the major events in her life juxtaposed with the larger political
landscape of the time may change some opinions about her decisions and public
image. Overall, I think a timeline is a good choice for a biographical project.
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