Development Log: Tiffany Cruz
Spring 2025
I am Tiffany Cruz, a first year PhD student in the English department at Northeastern University. I focus on people of color in 18th and 19th British literature and contemporary texts that adapt classic works, examining the enduring interest in historical novels, and the significance of centering people of color within these narratives. My research focuses on the constructions of genre and how they shape both classical and modern texts, particularly concerning race, while exploring how literature reflects and influences societal values and identities. My particular focus aligns with the projects that Reckonings works on as a way to center voices for those stories that are historically not amplified. The emphasis on community engagement coupled with making digital humanities tools accessible to everyone is something I have been engaging with through my experience working as a research assistant during the spring semester.
The project I took over was focused on The African American Master Artists in Residence Program (AAMARP). AAMARP is an artist-in-residence program dedicated to African-American artists in Boston. Founded in 1977 by Dana Chandler, who also served as its first director, AAMARP is focused on community engagement, justice, and representation of marginalized communities. Before having started at Reckonings I had not heard about AAMARP but through this semester I have been able to learn about this wonderful project and the ways it has created a lasting legacy in Boston. I had the pleasure of attending a lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts “John Wilson and Boston’s Black Arts Community” which was part of the Witnessing Humanity: John Wilson and Black Art in Boston exhibit. He was one of the many Black artists I learned about in connection to AAMARP.
One of the main tasks I focused on was utilizing this data to create a TimelineJS. This program allows for users to create an interactive timeline where one can input dates, images, and descriptions for each entry. At this stage in the research the previous research assistants at Reckonings had collected documents from the NU Library Archives and Special Collections that had been imputed in Zotero. I worked with the archival materials and collected them into the timeline showcasing materials from the early days of AAMARP to the 1990s. I had not previously used the software but it was one that I managed to quickly learn and utilize to display the documents.
When deciding on what to include in the timeline I kept a few things in mind. Firstly, I wanted to showcase key pieces of information that marked important events in AAMARP history. Secondly, I wanted to provide a range of documents from flyers, to event calendars, to awards. Finally, I wanted to showcase information that had been sitting in the archive in a way that was accessible to the public and also celebrated the work of the artists helping to document their history.
The other step after working on the timeline was creating an Omeka S. Omeka S is an online content management system which allows for users to input archival data that will be featured on an online website. After having gone through the documents from the archive to make the timeline I began to input that data into Omeka S. Using Dublin Core as my standard I input key pieces of metadata that allow for users to access important pieces of information on the document they are viewing. This includes things such as the image, date, description, creator, and where it can be found at the NU Library Archives and Special Collections. The Omeka S paired with the TimelineJS are two digital tools that help users be able to view this information and provides a place where this data can be stored.
While my time at Reckonings is coming to a close this semester as I move into a new role I am glad to have been a part of this project. As someone new to Boston, AAMARP’s legacy and importance in Boston has shown me a side of Boston’s history that needs to be told and captured for people to celebrate and learn about. I am excited to see how the project progresses!