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| Greg Shine (left) and Brett Oppegaard at the DAHP awards ceremony. |
#fvmobile
Fort Vancouver Mobile - A video overview
Video highlights from the apps (20-minute version)
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Washington state DAHP award!
Another great honor was bestowed upon the Fort Vancouver Mobile project last night at the beautiful Artillery Barracks building in Vancouver, WA. The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) met to announce its annual State Historic Preservation Officer's Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation. The Fort Vancouver Mobile project was chosen as this year's model for Outstanding Achievement in the Media. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site's Chief Ranger Greg Shine and I accepted the award, on behalf of the research team, and to be included in this group of amazing history and preservation projects -- such as the extensive restorations of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle and the Murray Morgan Bridge in Tacoma -- was very inspiring. Congratulations to all of the SHPO award winners! ... My favorite comment of the night came from state Historic Preservation Officer Dr. Allyson Brooks, who talked about giving the app to a 16-year-old teen and asking her what she thought of it. The teen, at first ambivalent about the experiment, became engrossed, and later said the app was "freakin' awesome." She then asked Brooks when she could go to the fort and try it out. That encouraging comment really struck me as the ideal response we want to earn. So we'll keep working hard on making the app better and better this summer and for years to come. ...
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Washington State University New Faculty Seed Grant
Received the wonderful news this week that Washington State University has awarded me a prestigious New Faculty Seed Grant for $21,000 to continue my research on mobile place-based media at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. That means a lot more great research on this project is ahead in 2013-2014. Thank you, WSU! ...
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
At the National Archives, to accept the John Wesley Powell Prize
Just returned from Washington, D.C., where Greg Shine and I accepted the John Wesley Powell Prize from the Society for History in the Federal Government, for the FVM app team who worked on the Kanaka module (thank you all!). ... Here are a few pics from the presentation:
 |
| Greg Shine and Brett Oppegaard (L-R) accepting the award. |
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| Greg Shine, before the award ceremony. |
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| The National Archives seal, at the entry to the building. |
Fort Vancouver Mobile in the Federal History Journal
Archaeologist Doug Wilson recently published this account of research of the Hawaiians at Fort Vancouver in the winter 2012-2013 Federal History Journal (congrats, Doug!), and he was kind enough to mention the FVM app work we have done along those lines as well, including a photo:
Columbian follow-up about importing news to a site
While my research focus has been on place-based media, that does not mean I am only interested in media originating in a particular location. As part of the Kanaka module, for example, we have brought into the story pieces of information from afar that could help the user of the app get a better sense of the time period, including work by Poe, Dickens, and Thomas Nast, as well as historical accounts of Lincoln's assassination, the sinking of the Sultana, and reporting of the first "base ball" game. Here is the story Tom Vogt of The Columbian wrote about that effort:
Saturday, March 16, 2013
"Fort App-reciated" -- Columbian coverage of the Hartzog / Powell awards
A recap of the two recent FVM awards, the Hartzog Award, and the John Wesley Powell Prize, per The Columbian:
America's national parks have a lot of human stories to share. A Vancouver researcher is breaking new ground in telling them, which is why Brett Oppegaard is the National Park Service's 2012 volunteer of the year.
Learn more
Check out the blog about the project.
Oppegaard and Greg Shine, historian and chief ranger at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, also received the John Wesley Powell Prize for historical displays on behalf of the team that worked on the "Kanaka Village" project.
Did you know ?
• The Hartzog Award honors George Hartzog Jr., National Park Service director from 1964 to 1972, and his family. Annual awards are given in six categories: individual volunteer; youth volunteer; enduring service; volunteer group; youth volunteer group; and park volunteer program.
• The John Wesley Powell Prize, presented by the Society for History in the Federal Government, alternates annually in recognizing excellence in historic preservation and historical displays. It honors the ethnographer and explorer who completed the first known passage through the Grand Canyon in 1869.
Oppegaard, an assistant professor at Washington State University Vancouver, was selected from among 257,000 Park Service volunteers as the individual winner of the George and Helen Hartzog Award. He coordinates the mobile storytelling apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices that are the first of their kind in the Park Service.
The John Wesley Powell Prize recognizes the project's "Kanaka Village" module, which details a diverse community that worked at the Northwest headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's trading empire.
Back when the site west of the reconstructed stockade was being cleared of blackberries, its storytelling potential was obvious; so were the obstacles, Oppegaard said.
"It's two locked buildings in an open field," Oppegaard said during a recent visit to the fort site. "How can you tell the incredible history of the village without a ranger standing by all the time?"
With mobile apps, you can tell it with video portrayals done by historical re-enactors. There also are audio elements and interactive features. Images include maps, and paintings and drawings done by visitors 170 years ago. There are links to archived documents such as old newspapers and diaries.
The application was designed by WSUV's creative media and digital culture program, in partnership with the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The Kanaka workforce was represented by the Ke Kukui Foundation, a local Polynesian-Hawaiian cultural group, and Portland State University also provided support.
A national model
"We've used this as a national model," said Shine, who is a member of the Park Service's digital media training team.
It's a pioneering approach to sharing history, said Bob Sutton, the National Park Service's chief historian.
The Powell Prize committee made the selection based on the use of modern technology to engage the public at a historic site.
"I'm very, very deeply honored that our work has been so well received -- especially by this group of professional historians," Shine said after the announcement.
A few parks have hired media developers to produce fairly simple digital content, but those are essentially enhanced guidebooks.
The "Kanaka Project" is about storytelling. And with 398 units in the National Park Service, there are a lot of stories to tell.
While spectacular landscapes such as Yellowstone, Crater Lake and the Grand Canyon are often seen as the park system's crown jewels, "A lot of National Park Service sites are about people," Shine said.
And even sites where you're overwhelmed by natural grandeur can come with compelling human stories, Shine noted.
"Yosemite and Yellowstone had long connections with Native Americans, and with immigrants' journeys to the West," Shine said.
When Oppegaard received his award in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., park officials from across the country asked him how to develop the applications, he said.
5,000 hours into it
However, the former Columbian reporter won't be producing apps from Death Valley to Valley Forge. They're neither cheap nor easy. So far, Oppegaard has mined almost $70,000 in grants to fund the Fort Vancouver app. In the past four years, he's put about 5,000 hours into it, although much of the research was part of his doctoral dissertation.
And that doesn't include all the other volunteers, who combined to donate about 3,500 hours in 2012 alone … plus about 2,208 volunteer hours contributed last year by the students in the WSUV digital storytelling class co-taught by Shine and associate professor Dene Grigar.
Oppegaard also called in a lot of favors from friends and colleagues -- something he wouldn't do again, Oppegaard said.
But Oppegaard does hope to create an open-source program. It will be a toolkit, he said, that people across the country could use with images and videos representing their local histories.
"It mostly would have to be funded fully by grants, or other resources, to make it work at other sites.
"That said, we have built a framework here that makes applications at other sites much more efficient and less expensive than the original app was," Oppegaard said. "We have developed techniques and expertise in this project that no one else in the world has.
"Once the app has been built, very little is needed in maintenance," he said. "They very well could be at the site forever, or as long as they have some value to visitors."
Friday, March 15, 2013
WSU News coverage of the Powell Prize
The WSU News article on the Powell prize:
VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Fort Vancouver Mobile Project is one of two projects nationwide to receive this year's John Wesley Powell Prize for outstanding achievement in historical displays, awarded by the Society for History in the Federal Government.
Brett Oppegaard, fort volunteer and assistant professor at Washington State University Vancouver, and Greg Shine, chief ranger and historian for Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, received the award on behalf of the project team specifically for the "Kanaka" module of the application, which details the history of Hawaiian workers at the fur trading headquarters.
The award committee made the selection based on "the exemplary manner in which the mobile application seized the opportunity to utilize modern technology to engage the public at a historic site. With this project, the dual challenges of engaging a progressively digital-savvy and device-dependent on-site audience and attracting an equally technologically-connected virtual audience have been met in an innovative way that can serve as a model for other federal agencies to follow as they strive to connect people to place."
"To receive this award from such an eminent group of professional historians is a great honor and speaks volumes to the quality of historical research, analysis, writing and application that Greg and Brett have led with the Fort Vancouver Mobile Project," said Tracy Fortmann, fort superintendent. "Not only is this project breaking new ground in the field of digital media, this award shows that it is also an innovative, national model in the field of history."
The Fort Vancouver project is a collaboration between about 20 scholars, historians, new media practitioners and curators, with institutional support from WSU Vancouver and the National Park Service, as well as Texas Tech University and Portland State University.
The Powell prize commemorates the explorer and federal administrator whose work demonstrated early recognition of the importance of historic preservation and historical display.
"The Powell prize is one of the most important and prestigious awards given to federal government historians each year,” said Robert Sutton, chief historian of the National Park Service. "This is a huge honor.”
The other winner of this year’s prize is the "What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit at the National Archives.
The society for history was founded in 1979 in Washington, D.C., to advance the unique interests of federal historians and provide a body through which they could address common concerns, support shared interests and stimulate discussion.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
2012 tally of hours spent on the FVM project
Just received the annual report from Fort Vancouver's Chief Ranger Greg Shine, and his records show that the dozens of volunteers working on this FVM project in fiscal year 2012 amassed 7,687 hours over the 12 months. Wow! ... That includes 2,208 hours alone from the WSU Vancouver Digital Storytelling class that Shine co-taught with Dr. Dene Grigar. That is a very impressive total and demonstrates, again, how generous and extremely dedicated the FVM team has been on this project. Thank you so very much for an amazing 2012, FVMers!
John Wesley Powell Prize winner!
More great news for the Fort Vancouver Mobile project; we have been selected as a John Wesley Powell Prize winner for 2013.
Here is the press release from the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site:
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
For Immediate Release
=====================================
March 13, 2013
=====================================
Contact:
Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent
(360) 816-6205 or Tracy_Fortmann@nps.gov
Info: http://go.usa.gov/2XdP
Park Staff and Partners Receive National Award for Fort Vancouver Mobile Application
The Fort Vancouver Mobile Project has been chosen as one of two projects nationwide to receive this year's John Wesley Powell Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of historical displays, awarded by the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG).
Greg Shine, Chief Ranger and Historian for Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, and Dr. Brett Oppegaard, Volunteer-in-Parks and Assistant Professor at Washington State University Vancouver, received the award on behalf of the project team specifically for the "Kanaka" module of the application, which details the history of Hawaiian workers at this fur trading headquarters.
The Fort Vancouver Mobile Project is a collaboration between a core group of about 20 scholars, historians, new media practitioners, and curators, with institutional support from Washington State University - Vancouver and the National Park Service, as well as Texas Tech University and Portland State University.
Dr. Robert Sutton, the Chief Historian of the National Park Service, stated, "The Powell Prize is one of the most important and prestigious awards given to federal government historians each year. This is a huge honor for NPS volunteer Brett Oppegaard and Historian Greg Shine, for Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Tracy Fortmann, the Park Superintendent, and for all historians in the National Park Service. We are extremely proud of Greg Shine, Brett Oppegaard, and the entire project team."
The award committee made the selection based on "the exemplary manner in which the mobile application seized the opportunity to utilize modern technology to engage the public at a historic site. With this project, the dual challenges of engaging a progressively digital-savvy and device-dependent on-site audience and attracting an equally technologically-connected virtual audience have been met in an innovative way that can serve as a model for other federal agencies to follow as they strive to connect people to place."
"To receive this award from such an eminent group of professional historians is a great honor and speaks volumes to the quality of historical research, analysis, writing and application that Greg and Brett have led with the Fort Vancouver Mobile Project," said Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent. "Not only is this project breaking new ground in the field of digital media, this award shows that it is also an innovative, national model in the field of history."
Background:
The Powell Prize commemorates the explorer and federal administrator whose work demonstrated early recognition of the importance of historic preservation and historical display.
The John Wesley Powell Prize alternates annually in recognizing excellence in the fields of historic preservation and historical displays. The award for historic displays is given for any form of interpretive historical presentation including, but not limited to, museum exhibits, historical films, CDs/DVDs, websites, or multimedia displays.
The Society for History in the Federal Government brings together government professionals, academics, consultants, students, and citizens interested in understanding federal history work and the historical development of the federal government.
The Society was founded in 1979 in Washington, D.C., to advance the unique interests of federal historians and provide a body through which they could address common concerns, support shared interests, and stimulate discussion. Members were made up of a wide range of professionals who worked to produce both narrative historical work and public history projects.
-NPS-
For Immediate Release
=====================================
March 13, 2013
=====================================
Contact:
Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent
(360) 816-6205 or Tracy_Fortmann@nps.gov
Info: http://go.usa.gov/2XdP
Park Staff and Partners Receive National Award for Fort Vancouver Mobile Application
The Fort Vancouver Mobile Project has been chosen as one of two projects nationwide to receive this year's John Wesley Powell Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of historical displays, awarded by the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG).
Greg Shine, Chief Ranger and Historian for Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, and Dr. Brett Oppegaard, Volunteer-in-Parks and Assistant Professor at Washington State University Vancouver, received the award on behalf of the project team specifically for the "Kanaka" module of the application, which details the history of Hawaiian workers at this fur trading headquarters.
The Fort Vancouver Mobile Project is a collaboration between a core group of about 20 scholars, historians, new media practitioners, and curators, with institutional support from Washington State University - Vancouver and the National Park Service, as well as Texas Tech University and Portland State University.
Dr. Robert Sutton, the Chief Historian of the National Park Service, stated, "The Powell Prize is one of the most important and prestigious awards given to federal government historians each year. This is a huge honor for NPS volunteer Brett Oppegaard and Historian Greg Shine, for Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Tracy Fortmann, the Park Superintendent, and for all historians in the National Park Service. We are extremely proud of Greg Shine, Brett Oppegaard, and the entire project team."
The award committee made the selection based on "the exemplary manner in which the mobile application seized the opportunity to utilize modern technology to engage the public at a historic site. With this project, the dual challenges of engaging a progressively digital-savvy and device-dependent on-site audience and attracting an equally technologically-connected virtual audience have been met in an innovative way that can serve as a model for other federal agencies to follow as they strive to connect people to place."
"To receive this award from such an eminent group of professional historians is a great honor and speaks volumes to the quality of historical research, analysis, writing and application that Greg and Brett have led with the Fort Vancouver Mobile Project," said Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent. "Not only is this project breaking new ground in the field of digital media, this award shows that it is also an innovative, national model in the field of history."
Background:
The Powell Prize commemorates the explorer and federal administrator whose work demonstrated early recognition of the importance of historic preservation and historical display.
The John Wesley Powell Prize alternates annually in recognizing excellence in the fields of historic preservation and historical displays. The award for historic displays is given for any form of interpretive historical presentation including, but not limited to, museum exhibits, historical films, CDs/DVDs, websites, or multimedia displays.
The Society for History in the Federal Government brings together government professionals, academics, consultants, students, and citizens interested in understanding federal history work and the historical development of the federal government.
The Society was founded in 1979 in Washington, D.C., to advance the unique interests of federal historians and provide a body through which they could address common concerns, support shared interests, and stimulate discussion. Members were made up of a wide range of professionals who worked to produce both narrative historical work and public history projects.
-NPS-
Monday, March 11, 2013
Android development updates
Joe Oppegaard and the FVM apps development team have been working hard lately to broaden the accessibility of the FVM apps on the wide array of Android devices (phones and tablets) available in the market today. While the overall number of devices (and configurations) available is slippery, because of the speed at which those numbers change (more than 1 million Android devices are activated every day, around the world), it is significant to note that the FVM apps now are accessible and functional (although not necessarily perfectly designed) for 2,424 Android formats at this point, according to an accessibility report Joe recently ran. We will use that as a baseline for future Android development, hoping to bring in as many devices as possible.
More interesting Android developer information can be found here (about platform versions) and here (a broad overview of Android).
More interesting Android developer information can be found here (about platform versions) and here (a broad overview of Android).
A Villager's Tale - Animations
New work arriving regularly. Here are the animations that WSU Vancouver student Vern Blystone created, mentored by Dr. Dene Grigar, for the upcoming module titled "A Villager's Tale." These animations are combined with a still-image slide of an archaeological artifact, to create the effect that the artifact is being placed back into its original context, through the interaction by the user. Very cool idea by this student and the AVT team.
The thimble
The S-hook
The razor
The ink bottle
The dominoes
The thimble
The S-hook
The razor
The ink bottle
The dominoes
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
NPS version of the Hartzog news ...
Here is the National Park Service's site dedicated to the Hartzog Awards, which includes coverage of the 2012 event:
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Hartzog Award press release
After a National Park Foundation-sponsored whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C, and a variety of nearby locales, I'm back, and ready to share what I can about the national Hartzog Award I received on Feb. 21. ... I'll post more soon, but here is the press release:
.jpg) |
| National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and WSU Vancouver professor Brett Oppegaard. |
News Release from: WSU Vancouver
OPPEGAARD RECOGNIZED WITH NATIONAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Posted: February 22nd, 2013 9:04 AM
Photo/sound file: http://www.
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Brett Oppegaard, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University Vancouver, has been selected from among 257,000 National Park Service volunteers as the 2012 national individual recipient of the George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Oppegaard accepted the award at an event in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 21.
Last October, Oppegaard won the regional volunteer award for the Pacific West Region, which encompasses Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Hawaii. He was one of seven volunteers nationally to receive a regional award. The seven regional award winners were considered for the national Hartzog Award. The awards recognize the time, talent, innovation and work contributed to national parks through the Volunteers-In-Parks program.
"The National Park Service, at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, embraces community involvement in its educational and interpretive programs," said Tracy Fortmann, superintendent at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. "We are incredibly proud of Brett and this tremendous achievement--it is a powerful, poignant recognition of his outstanding work and an indirect tribute to the 700 volunteers who, like Brett, contribute their time and passion to this national park annually. It is so wonderful that of the more than a quarter of a million volunteers, Brett has been selected as the Hartzog recipient. We couldn't be more pleased or honored!"
Oppegaard is heading up a mobile storytelling project for the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, one of 398 units in the National Park Service. He has provided more than 5,000 hours of community service developing and producing mobile applications for iPhone, iPad and Android for the site. They are the first interactive applications of their kind anywhere in the National Park System.
"The Fort Vancouver Mobile project demonstrates how we all can prosper and improve our community when we work together on common goals for the greater good," Oppegaard said. "The National Park Service has been an exceptional partner. Its staff has been open, kind and generous. I hope, through this work, our community can see, in new ways, how our stories are interwoven and our lives are interconnected."
The Fort Vancouver mobile applications use geographic location technology in smart phones and tablets to engage with visitors on an interactive tour around the reconstructed buildings of the working class "Company Village" and other park grounds. Based on where the visitor is standing, the applications display interviews and costumed re-enactment videos, slides, maps and audio. The various elements depict the historic significance of each location and living conditions in the mid-1800s, while asking for the visitor to submit responses and media, such as photographs and videos, in return.
Oppegaard's contributions to the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site are part of the research he conducts as a WSU Vancouver faculty member. Some of his digital technology and culture students work alongside him. Brett's research focuses on the juxtaposition of digital and physical space, in which visitors gain knowledge and a deeper engagement with the physical site. Their experience is enhanced as layers of information are unveiled at opportune moments, via mobile technology, while they also get opportunities to participate in the story building.
"We are delighted to have the 2012 Hartzog Award winner on our campus," said Mel Netzhammer, chancellor at WSU Vancouver. "Brett's work is a shining example of WSU Vancouver's commitment to community engagement. His work will enlighten hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the site each year. In addition, his work positively impacts our students working on the project with him. Students who are engaged in their communities experience greater attention and depth of knowledge."
Oppegaard has received almost $70,000 in grant monies for the project from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of a Digital Start-Up Grant and a "We the People" initiative. The latter program was designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history, culture and democratic principles.
# # #
Contact Info: This press release was jointly issued by the National Park Service, at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, and Washington State University Vancouver.
Brenda Alling, Director, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@
Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 360-816-6205, tracy_fortmann@
Brett Oppegaard, Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, WSU Vancouver, 360-521-8150, brett_oppegaard@
OPPEGAARD RECOGNIZED WITH NATIONAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Posted: February 22nd, 2013 9:04 AM
Photo/sound file: http://www.
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Brett Oppegaard, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University Vancouver, has been selected from among 257,000 National Park Service volunteers as the 2012 national individual recipient of the George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Oppegaard accepted the award at an event in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 21.
Last October, Oppegaard won the regional volunteer award for the Pacific West Region, which encompasses Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Hawaii. He was one of seven volunteers nationally to receive a regional award. The seven regional award winners were considered for the national Hartzog Award. The awards recognize the time, talent, innovation and work contributed to national parks through the Volunteers-In-Parks program.
"The National Park Service, at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, embraces community involvement in its educational and interpretive programs," said Tracy Fortmann, superintendent at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. "We are incredibly proud of Brett and this tremendous achievement--it is a powerful, poignant recognition of his outstanding work and an indirect tribute to the 700 volunteers who, like Brett, contribute their time and passion to this national park annually. It is so wonderful that of the more than a quarter of a million volunteers, Brett has been selected as the Hartzog recipient. We couldn't be more pleased or honored!"
Oppegaard is heading up a mobile storytelling project for the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, one of 398 units in the National Park Service. He has provided more than 5,000 hours of community service developing and producing mobile applications for iPhone, iPad and Android for the site. They are the first interactive applications of their kind anywhere in the National Park System.
"The Fort Vancouver Mobile project demonstrates how we all can prosper and improve our community when we work together on common goals for the greater good," Oppegaard said. "The National Park Service has been an exceptional partner. Its staff has been open, kind and generous. I hope, through this work, our community can see, in new ways, how our stories are interwoven and our lives are interconnected."
The Fort Vancouver mobile applications use geographic location technology in smart phones and tablets to engage with visitors on an interactive tour around the reconstructed buildings of the working class "Company Village" and other park grounds. Based on where the visitor is standing, the applications display interviews and costumed re-enactment videos, slides, maps and audio. The various elements depict the historic significance of each location and living conditions in the mid-1800s, while asking for the visitor to submit responses and media, such as photographs and videos, in return.
Oppegaard's contributions to the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site are part of the research he conducts as a WSU Vancouver faculty member. Some of his digital technology and culture students work alongside him. Brett's research focuses on the juxtaposition of digital and physical space, in which visitors gain knowledge and a deeper engagement with the physical site. Their experience is enhanced as layers of information are unveiled at opportune moments, via mobile technology, while they also get opportunities to participate in the story building.
"We are delighted to have the 2012 Hartzog Award winner on our campus," said Mel Netzhammer, chancellor at WSU Vancouver. "Brett's work is a shining example of WSU Vancouver's commitment to community engagement. His work will enlighten hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the site each year. In addition, his work positively impacts our students working on the project with him. Students who are engaged in their communities experience greater attention and depth of knowledge."
Oppegaard has received almost $70,000 in grant monies for the project from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of a Digital Start-Up Grant and a "We the People" initiative. The latter program was designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history, culture and democratic principles.
# # #
Contact Info: This press release was jointly issued by the National Park Service, at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, and Washington State University Vancouver.
Brenda Alling, Director, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@
Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 360-816-6205, tracy_fortmann@
Brett Oppegaard, Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, WSU Vancouver, 360-521-8150, brett_oppegaard@
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Unveiling the music of Fort Vancouver Mobile
One of the biggest goals I have had, from the beginning of this project, was to explore the use of all types of media forms as delivered through mobile technologies, particularly in relation to the intersection of physical and digital space. As part of that goal, I have been intrigued by ideas about how music can transform the perception of a place. But before I could do deep research on such a phenomenon, I needed some great period music to put into the FVM apps, which then could be turned into research instruments for an examination of the music-place dynamic.
Thankfully, I met Richard Kriehn, a few months ago through the School of Music at Washington State University Pullman, and we worked out a partnership that also included the talents of Paul Ely Smith. Kriehn and Smith were able to research, practice and record period music from the mid-1800s that would be appropriate for embedding through mobile technologies at my primary research site, the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. That latter part still is in the works (will keep you posted), but I wanted to share the music now, so you can hear what we are working with. Annotations below were provided by Kriehn and Smith. ... Enjoy!
St. Anne’s Reel: The origin of this tune is sketchy, at best. Original title, Reel de Ste. Anne. Appears to be linked to Saint Anne’s Bay, located on the eastern side of Cape Breton Island. Was first recorded by Joseph Allard (1873-1947) in 1931. Allard was born in Maine, but moved to Quebec at an early age. (Canadian Encyclopedia/ The Virtual Gramophone-Canadian Historical Sound Recordings).
La Bastringue: An old and famous French-Canadian dance song/tune. Here is the best description I found on the web... La Bastringue is usually danced as the fifth or sixth part of a long Québec quadrille. The tune is a popular party song that tells a story of a young "Mademoiselle" who is asked to dance the "Bastringue" by a rather older "Monsieur," who then finds that he's just not up to the task. The dance is also known as Les Confitures (the fruit preserves). According to Francis Coleman, La Bastringue "is older than most of its counterparts. When danced by earlier French colonialists in America, it was almost a sedate dance, without the benefit of fast tapping loudly or the more raucus noises that are now customary." (http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/dances/labastri.htm).
Father Kelly's Jig: This is one of thousands of traditional Irish jigs, of uncertain origin. I chose it because it has the broken arpeggios typical of jigs found throughout the dance music repertoire of the British Isles popular in the early 19th century.
Money Musk: It is an old tune from Scotland. Here's a good description... The tune--or at least its first two strains--is a Scottish reel from the end of the eighteenth century. Francis O'Neill ("Irish Folk Music", p. 204) mentions a set, entitled "Sir Archibald Grant of Moniemusk's Reel," published ca. 1800, and it is in the Northumbrian small pipes collection "Peacocks Tunes" (ca. 1801), p. 2. It is a standard feature of nineteenth-century tunebooks; see for example Knauff, "Virginia Reels" (1839), vol. 1, #1 "Killie Krankie"; "Winner's Collection of Music for the Violin", p. 55 "Highland Fling"; "One Thousand Fiddle Tunes", p. 31 "Money Musk--Reel" and p. 128 "Money Musk--Strathspey." Twentieth-century sets show the tune to be well-established in Northern American tradition; see for example Linscott, "Folk Songs of Old New England", p. 98; Burchenal, "American Country-Dances, Volume I", p. 55; Ford, "Traditional Music of America", p. 52. (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/afcreed:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28afcreed+13705b17%29%29)
Fisher’s Hornpipe: Was first published in 1780 by J. Fishar of London. Labeled as “Hornpipe 1” in Sixteen Cotillons, Sixteen Minuets, 12 Allemandes and 12 Hornpipes.
En Roulant Ma Boule: Supposedly originated in the 15th century, En Roulant… is possibly the most popular French-Canadian folksong. Nicholas Garry, deputy governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, mentions the men singing variations of this tune in Nute’s The Voyageur (p129).
Soldier’s Joy: John Glen lists a Scottish publication of the tune in 1779. The tune appears in almost every large collection of fiddle tunes during the 19th and 20th centuries. For dancers, it was referred to as a “French-Four,” and was used for square dances, reels and group dances.
Quand J’etais chez mon pere: “Quand…” is noted in Nicholas Garry’s diary in September 6, 1821, according to Nute’s The Voyageur (pp122-123).
The Nameless Lassie: The song lyrics are credited to James Ballantine, a poet and a stained-glass artist (1806-1877) and the tune is credited to William Marshall, composer of Scottish fiddle music (1748-1833). In an 1887 publication of The Popular Songs of Scotland with their Appropriate Melodies, credit for the tune is given to Alexander MacKenzie (1819-1857).
Thankfully, I met Richard Kriehn, a few months ago through the School of Music at Washington State University Pullman, and we worked out a partnership that also included the talents of Paul Ely Smith. Kriehn and Smith were able to research, practice and record period music from the mid-1800s that would be appropriate for embedding through mobile technologies at my primary research site, the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. That latter part still is in the works (will keep you posted), but I wanted to share the music now, so you can hear what we are working with. Annotations below were provided by Kriehn and Smith. ... Enjoy!
St. Anne’s Reel: The origin of this tune is sketchy, at best. Original title, Reel de Ste. Anne. Appears to be linked to Saint Anne’s Bay, located on the eastern side of Cape Breton Island. Was first recorded by Joseph Allard (1873-1947) in 1931. Allard was born in Maine, but moved to Quebec at an early age. (Canadian Encyclopedia/ The Virtual Gramophone-Canadian Historical Sound Recordings).
La Bastringue: An old and famous French-Canadian dance song/tune. Here is the best description I found on the web... La Bastringue is usually danced as the fifth or sixth part of a long Québec quadrille. The tune is a popular party song that tells a story of a young "Mademoiselle" who is asked to dance the "Bastringue" by a rather older "Monsieur," who then finds that he's just not up to the task. The dance is also known as Les Confitures (the fruit preserves). According to Francis Coleman, La Bastringue "is older than most of its counterparts. When danced by earlier French colonialists in America, it was almost a sedate dance, without the benefit of fast tapping loudly or the more raucus noises that are now customary." (http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/dances/labastri.htm).
Father Kelly's Jig: This is one of thousands of traditional Irish jigs, of uncertain origin. I chose it because it has the broken arpeggios typical of jigs found throughout the dance music repertoire of the British Isles popular in the early 19th century.
Money Musk: It is an old tune from Scotland. Here's a good description... The tune--or at least its first two strains--is a Scottish reel from the end of the eighteenth century. Francis O'Neill ("Irish Folk Music", p. 204) mentions a set, entitled "Sir Archibald Grant of Moniemusk's Reel," published ca. 1800, and it is in the Northumbrian small pipes collection "Peacocks Tunes" (ca. 1801), p. 2. It is a standard feature of nineteenth-century tunebooks; see for example Knauff, "Virginia Reels" (1839), vol. 1, #1 "Killie Krankie"; "Winner's Collection of Music for the Violin", p. 55 "Highland Fling"; "One Thousand Fiddle Tunes", p. 31 "Money Musk--Reel" and p. 128 "Money Musk--Strathspey." Twentieth-century sets show the tune to be well-established in Northern American tradition; see for example Linscott, "Folk Songs of Old New England", p. 98; Burchenal, "American Country-Dances, Volume I", p. 55; Ford, "Traditional Music of America", p. 52. (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/afcreed:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28afcreed+13705b17%29%29)
Fisher’s Hornpipe: Was first published in 1780 by J. Fishar of London. Labeled as “Hornpipe 1” in Sixteen Cotillons, Sixteen Minuets, 12 Allemandes and 12 Hornpipes.
En Roulant Ma Boule: Supposedly originated in the 15th century, En Roulant… is possibly the most popular French-Canadian folksong. Nicholas Garry, deputy governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, mentions the men singing variations of this tune in Nute’s The Voyageur (p129).
Soldier’s Joy: John Glen lists a Scottish publication of the tune in 1779. The tune appears in almost every large collection of fiddle tunes during the 19th and 20th centuries. For dancers, it was referred to as a “French-Four,” and was used for square dances, reels and group dances.
Quand J’etais chez mon pere: “Quand…” is noted in Nicholas Garry’s diary in September 6, 1821, according to Nute’s The Voyageur (pp122-123).
The Nameless Lassie: The song lyrics are credited to James Ballantine, a poet and a stained-glass artist (1806-1877) and the tune is credited to William Marshall, composer of Scottish fiddle music (1748-1833). In an 1887 publication of The Popular Songs of Scotland with their Appropriate Melodies, credit for the tune is given to Alexander MacKenzie (1819-1857).
Rickett’s Hornpipe: Supposedly named for John Bill Ricketts, this
tune came from England to the US around 1792.
By the 1850s it was a very popular fiddle tune. Also known as “Aldrige Hornpipe.” (Ryan’s #124).
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