{"id":1844941,"date":"2025-09-05T09:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1844941"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:08:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T13:08:51","slug":"the-big-map-of-kents-south-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/09\/the-big-map-of-kents-south-end\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Map of Kent\u2019s South End"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jennifer Mapes created a large corkboard map<\/a> to illustrate the history of Kent, Ohio\u2019s South End, a neighbourhood inhabited by railroad workers, immigrants, and African Americans moving north during the Great Migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I purposefully created this project as something that could be done cheaply, as a form of \u201canalog\u201d GIS, where students are asked to think spatially and consider how regional and national history played out in their own community. I am particularly interested in showing South End kids how the people who lived in their current homes contributed to Kent\u2019s past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The map is 60\u2033\u00d760\u2033 and includes 350 3D printed transparent houses representing 25 different house styles in Kent\u2019s South End. I\u2019ve wired the map to light up based on answers to questions about the history [of] each house\u2019s resident based on census records.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The map is currently on display at the Kent Free Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Big Map is up in the Kent Free Library! This is a project highlighting the history of our South End, a neighborhood of immigrants, Black southern migrants, and railroad workers. communitygeography.kent.edu\/index.php\/20…<\/p>— Jen Mapes (@mapesgeog.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-08-21T22:55:50.379Z<\/a><\/blockquote>