Progress and Upcoming Work
Completed Work on the Salem Witchcraft GIS Project
- Test Digitizing of Upham Map (September 1999)
- Export of data to Macromedia Generator (October 1999)
- Creation of demos of legal activity in March 1692, and of
Putnam Family relationships (October 1999)
- Research on Control Points for Upham (November 1999)
- Registration of Upham Map (December 1999)
- Georeferenced Digitization of Upham Map (January 2000)
For more information on the completed work, see the Technical Documentation.
Upcoming Work on the Salem Witchcraft GIS Project
There are several aspects to this project on the immediate
horizon:
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Building the Database of Salem Witchcraft Participants
(Expected completion: July 2000)
- Over the course of the coming year Ben Ray will be working with
staff at the Institute for
Advanced Technology in the Humanities to develop the database
tracking the demography, kinship, and legal activity of the persons
playing a role in the Salem trials. This data will be matched with
this geographic data. This database will allow us to study the
demography, kinship patterns, and temporal patterns in the drama in
Salem.
Because data will be recorded at the level of the person, and our
GIS data is based on geographic features, there will be a
one-to-many relationship between the geographic data and this
demographic/temporal database.
-
Pereley/Freeman map: Researching Control Points (Expected
completion: February 2000)
- We have identified existing features on the Perley/Freeman map,
and are now working through our source data, and consulting with
other organizations, to develop a precise set of controls for
registration of this map. These control points will be added to
those developed for Upham to create an overall control coverage for
the region. Once the controls have been established, the
Pereley/Freeman map will be registered and rectified.
-
Building Related GIS layers: Other Historic Sites (Expected
completion: May 2000)
- We anticipate creating related layers of related historical
sites based on David C. Brown, A Guide to the Salem Witchcraft
Hysteria of 1692 and other sources. We also anticipate working
closely with Richard Trask at the Danvers Archival Center to
pinpoint other historic features not already visible on Upham's
map.
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