HOW HAS AFRICA CHANGED SINCE 1922?

THE PROCESS

First, I used Allmaps editor to find a historic map of Africa made in 1922. I played around with different historic maps, but my decision to incorporate the Africa map was because it had changed so much over the last century. The process of georeferencing the map was quite a process because only a handful of countries remained the same, and fewer countries have kept the same borders over time. I specifically color-coated the countries to represent the countries that had colonized the African countries. For example, all of the pink countries represent British territories and all of the blue countries represent the French territories. Then I used ArcGIS to sketch national borders and clean up the data by color-coding colonies and territories. I also highlighted country names and used multiple polygon layers to keep the map looking neat and readable.

I tried to keep the presentation minimal. I wanted to avoid overloading the page visually so users would stay focused on the comparison web app. For the map itself, I used contrasting colors so users can quickly identify countries and match them to their labels.

I gained a lot from completing this midterm project. Most importantly, I felt much more comfortable using ArcGIS the second time around, which made the workflow more efficient and helped me assemble everything with more clarity. This project also showed me what more advanced georeferencing and digital mapping work can accomplish. This kind of digital humanities approach can strengthen the study of history by making it easier to revisit historical sources and connect them to modern tools and audiences.

Even though the project took a lot of time and effort, especially the hours spent mapping and labeling a 1922 map of Africa across several versions, it was worth it to see the final product come together through my own work.