Lunch @ Lepage: “Knowing Water,” StoryMaps and Science with Dr. Jesse Smith
Dr. Jesse Smith, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, spoke with a group of faculty and students over Zoom on Wednesday, September 28th for the first Lunch at Lepage of the school year. Dr. Smith recently oversaw the creation of an exhibit titled “Downstream,” which covers the history of water in the Delaware Valley using a history of science and technology as a vehicle to better understand the role of water and its importance to our local history.
The lunch started off with a presentation of the interesting contextual history of the exhibit materials used in the installation and the history of water in the Delaware Valley. This history can take a variety of approaches, but water quality was the overriding characteristic highlighted in the exhibit, which is built around the ways that local scientists, communities, and political actors came to understand water quality and its relationship to the community. Dr. Smith presented a historical chronology of water pollution awareness, but there were many possible exhibits that could have originated from the same materials.
To better understand why this exhibit became what it is today, Dr. Smith spoke on the collaborative and multidimensional process of creating an exhibit from origin to physical presentation. He gave the attendees an inside look on the writing and designing of layered historical narratives in “Downstream”. Design, collaboration, inclusivity, and visitor experience were important aspects of exhibit planning that an academically trained historian might not immediately recognize. The diagrams and documents Dr. Smith showed were so meticulous and detailed it was easy to see why the Downstream exhibit has been recognized by PA Museums and the American Association of State and Local History.
Dr. Smith went on to speak about the specific opportunities that were available for his work because of the 2021–2022 Turning Points Lepage Center Grant. This grant funding has let Dr. Smith explore and facilitate the ongoing creation of a digital history project in conjunction with the Downstream exhibit. Using ArcGIS Story Maps — an online tool to create engaging and interactive maps for a variety of uses — the “Knowing Water” project will create digital history resources that retell interesting and engaging historical narratives centered on water through important spatial and geographical elements. The use of ArcGIS Story maps creates new opportunities to produce more experiential and personal user experiences for the “Knowing Water” digital exhibit. The “visitor” of the online exhibit can choose more freely how they interact and in what order they engage with the exhibit, much like you could if you were actually visiting a traditional physical exhibit space.
Dr. Smith ended the lunch by answering a few questions on the process of exhibit creation and interesting historical moments from his research on the history of water. Water is all around us, and Dr. Smith’s exhibit and digital project make it clear how important understanding and engaging with the knowledge production around water quality can be for a community. You can learn more about the award-winning exhibit here. With a plethora of online resources and content, you can engage with some of the history and materials that Dr. Smith has integrated into the exhibit. If you are intrigued and desire a more immersive experience, I would recommend checking out the exhibit in person at the institute. It will be on display until July of 2023.
