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Methodology

A New Approach to The Suffrage Postcard Project’s Methodology
by Alexander Cendrowski, Fall 2017

The Suffrage Postcard Project (SPP) is, like so many digital archives, a continuously ongoing project. While we continue to make headway and turn out fascinating research through the project and between our undergraduate RAs, grad students, and faculty heads, the SPP is continually updated and changed in order to attempt to live up to its Feminist Digital Humanities principles. This is further complicated because the SPP has a rolling masthead; each year (if not each semester), a new set of researchers embarks on the journey of learning the project's inner workings, wrestling with its methodology, and ultimately making changes towards the group's research interests.

The SPP.png

Evidence of this challenge was immediately visible to our group of researchers once we looked into the SPP's tagging system. While the methodology of intersectionality and the awareness of object-driven-tropes necessarily leads to dozens of tags for most postcards, it seemed to our researchers, at first, that there were redundant or irrelevant tags in the system. We set out with two substantial goals for the semester:

  1. To exert some quality control on the tag systems. Tags that existed but were never used would be noted and either applied or deleted; tags that appeared twice but with different spelling/syntax would be combined; and the general format of the tagging system (outlined in the Master List below for the previous system) would be made uniform.
  2. Create a living dictionary for our tagging system.

It was this second goal that we were the most hopeful for. We had the good fortune this semester of an entire RA team who were in the midst of taking Kristin Allukian's Feminist Digital Humanities class, and they were in agreement that one of the core elements of feminist digital archiving is transparency in methodology in purpose. The looseness of certain tags (for instance: "Abusive," "Absent wife," "AGE," just to look at the As) meant that searching by tag might not bring up postcards that a researcher was looking for. By developing a definition system that could be tied directly to the tags (see a sample below), we could hope to illucidate that process.

SPP definitions example.jpg

Pictured: A sample of the definitions spreadsheet we developed.

These two goals soon became (as you might have expected) intertwined. We realized that part of the function of the tagging system that we were struggling with was its very organization: Social Identity, Institutions, Markers, Text Only, and 19C and 20C terms were odd methods of categorization that didn't live up to many of the tags that had become inserted into the archive in subsequent years. So we developed a new system, built of five categories, with definitions clearly defined:

While it would be difficult to claim in any circumstance that a digital archives tagging system was perfect, our team was quite proud of what we were able to accomplish this semester in behind-the-scenes work. There were a multitude of "Aha" moments, such as when one of our researchers, Terikia Seals, discovered the purpose of a tag like "Rolling pin"; not only a symbol of domesticity, but frequently one represented in Anti-Suffrage postcards as a weapon utilized by fervent housewives (in the end-times that would be a period where women could vote). We leave the project hopeful that the groundwork we've laid this semester will be instrumental in pushing the project forward along its continuous journey of feminist digital archiving.

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 Introducing The Suffrage Postcard Project’s Methodology
by Michele True, Spring 2017

To create a searchable, easy-to-use, digital collection of suffrage postcards for research and teaching purposes, the Suffrage Postcard Project (SPP) RAs use feminist digital archiving methodology. Drs. Allukian and Stevenson directed us to “Feminism in the Age of Digital Archives: The Women Writers Project” (2010) by Jacqueline Wernimont and Julia Flanders, an article that constantly helps us think through and reflect on our approach to tagging and categorizing the postcards. In their article, the Wernimont and Flanders describe this as “scholarship [which] has demonstrated the myriad of issues raised by the unreflective or undertheorized production of modern archives, and it is important to keep those insights in mind as new technologies emerge” (3). In other words, our approach to the suffrage postcards uses digital tools to study the “unreflected” or “undertheorized” messages about masculinity as contained in the postcard images from a feminist perspective.

The first step in our process is uploading as many qualified images of suffrage postcards as we can locate into Omeka. Here we use Dublin Core Standards to tag and create metadata to optimize search effectiveness. This sounds simplistic in theory, but the SPP contributors have found that it is a highly nuanced and biased process. After uploading and describing the imagery on a postcard we begin to tag it with keywords. This is where we slow down and carefully analyze our choice of words and the impact it will have on the archive. Tagging is where the collaboration between research assistants becomes most valuable. For example, in many of the postcards women are portrayed as bitter, angry, and overbearing. Often, they are depicted with “manly” features or exaggerated overbites and large noses. In private settings, many of these women are wielding rolling pins as weapons; the Walter Wellman series, for instance, incorporates the rolling pin are as a fashion accessory complimenting “masculine” uniforms. In tagging one of the postcards that contain this imagery, our team discussed the role of the rolling pin. Was the rolling pin a symbol of femininity in reference to homemaking skills in 1909? What message is being sent through this imagery when the homemaking tool is transformed into a tool of violence? How did these nuanced images impact history and women’s literature through the ripple effect of stigmatization? After long, detail-oriented conversations, we reach a conclusion that a word is to be added to the Master List of Tags, which you can see below. After the word is added to the Master List of Tags, we then apply the newly-added word (tag) to applicable postcards in our quality control edits. By way of collaboration, discussion, and historical research, our multiple perspectives on each image come together produce a more robust, dynamic database.

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MASTER LIST FOR TAGS

Master Tags (general):Pro-suffrage/Anti-suffrage/Ambiguous-suffragePublic/Private    Handmade/Photograph/Print/Drawing

Master Tags (categories):

SOCIAL IDENTITY

INSTITUTIONS

MARKERS

TEXT ONLY

19C and 20C TERMS

Sex

Man

Everyman

Son

Uncle


Woman

Everywoman

Daughter

Aunt

Parenthood

Motherhood

Republican Motherhood

Selfish mother

Absent mother

Grandmother

Fatherhood

Abandoned father

Competent father

Loving father

Absent father

Grandfather

Domestic father

Domestic man

Marriage

Wife

Absent wife

Husband

Absent husband

Diminutive husband

Couple

Family

Traditional Family

With children

Without children

Religion

Emotions

Angry woman

Angry man etc.

Afraid

Domineering woman

Defeated

Abusive

Bewildered

Crying

Assertive

Resigned

Salvation

Suffering

Inferiority

Fatigued man

Fatigued woman

Coercion

Prejudice

Promise

Procrastination

Determined

Happy

Quizzical

Deceptive man

Sad man

Sad woman

Surprised man

Sexual harassment

Harassment

Suffrage Advertising

“Votes for Women” banner

“Votes for Women” placard

“Votes for Women” flag

Women’s rights decoration

Gender

True Woman

New Woman

Muscular Christianity

Gender/Sexuality

Heterosexual

Masculine

Feminine


Queer

Lesbian iconography

Masculinized woman

Feminized man


Reversed Gender Role

Traditional Gender Role

Household

Housework

Childcare

Furniture

Cradle

Bottle

Toy

Doll

Chair

Key

Postal Box

Stroller

Kitchen

Parlor

Newspaper

Cooking

Dining room

Lounge room

Bedroom

Garden

Washing

Real estate

Hearth

Clock

Broom

Rolling Pin

Iron

Bell

Activities

Nursing

Smoking

Walking

Stump speech

Audience

Bicycling

Parade

Rally

Resistance

Fight

Kissing

Arrest

Fight

Dancing

Alcohol

Bribery

Birthday

Civil disobedience

Picketing

Public speaking

Crowd

Voyeurism

Painting

Canvassing

Sleeping

Theft

Eating

Drinking

Inebriation

Shoe shining

Cards

Gambling

Sewing

Fight

Reading

Violence

Music

Marching band

Voting

History/Government

1776

US Government

US Constitution

Taxation

Legislation

US flag

British flag

Declaration of Independence

Wyoming

Colorado

Utah

Idaho

Ohio

Vermont

New York

States of the Union

Map

War

World War I

Leap Year

Slang

“Votes for Wimmen”

Non-human

Animals

Cat

Hen

Monkey

Puppy

Mouse

Owl

Stork

Donkey

Doll

Goose

Gander

Insect

Chick

Chicken

Cockerel

Plant

Flowers

 

Fashion

Fashionable

Unfashionable

“Votes for Women” sash

Bloomers

Costume

National costume

Cross-dressing

Umbrella

Shoes

Petticoat

Golfing Knickers

Golf Clubs

Hat

Hatpin

Handbag

Top Hat

Watch

Cane

Apron

Sword

Appearance

Goofy Teeth

Sharp Nose

Spectacles

Monocle

Bow

Bow Tie

Cigar

Cigarette

Pipe

Looking Glass (Mirror)

Jewelry

Suffrage Memorabilia

Pin

Holloway Brooch

 

Nationality

Immigrant

American

English

Irish

British

Ancient Greek

Courtship

Courting man

Courting woman

Courting adultized child

Valentine

Romance

Symbolism

Angel

Cherub

Wings

Nude

Liberty

Herald

Rights

Victory

Uncle Sam

Love

Equality

Inequality

Justice

Democracy 

Disenfranchisement

Corruption

Citizenship

Capitalism

Birthright

Health

Vaccination

Chains

Nation

Progress

Money

Militant

Weapon

Gun

Patriotism

Suffrage

Franchise

Burden

People

Duty

Newspaper

Opportunity

Escutcheon

Madonna

Virgin Mary

Superiority

Pedestal

Intelligence

Freedom

Power

Noble

Torch

Ballot Box

Scales

Sword

Iconography

International

Sweden banner

New Zealand

Australia

Norway

Finland

Globe

 

Age

Older man

Older woman

Younger man

Younger woman


Child

Infant

Child

Children

Teenager

Adultized child
Cupid

Profession

Police officer

Judge

Female politician

Male politician

Cabinet Minister

President

Prime Minister

Doctor

Captain

Robber

Sailor

Media

Nurse

Letter Carrier

Milk Man

Activist

Education

Suffrage

Temperance

Equal pay

Labor

White Slavery

Soldier


Women's Social and Political Union

WSPU

National American Woman Suffrage Association

NAWSA

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union

WCTU

International Woman Suffrage Alliance for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship


Statesmen/Stateswomen

Father of the nation

Mother of the nation

Republican Mother

Social reform forefather

Social reform foremother

Historical Figures

Susan B. Anthony

Abraham Lincoln

Lucretia Mott

George William Curtis

Wendell Phillips

Sojourner Truth

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Inez Milholland

Florence Nightingale

Emmeline Pankhurst

Christabel Pankhurst

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence

Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy

Rhoda Palmer

Motto

Quotation

Purple & Gold Suffrage Color Scheme

 

Race

African American

Chinese

Jewish

Holidays

Valentine’s Day

Christmas

Father Christmas

Easter

Food

Alcohol

Cake

Chocolate

Milk

   

Class

Class of voter

Non-working

Working man

Working woman

Working-class

Middle-class

Upper-middle class

Upper-class

Places

Bar

Factory

Fifth Avenue

New York City

Suffrage Headquarters

London

Newcastle-on-Tyne

Hyde Park

Palace Yard

Port/Ships

Courthouse

Big Ben

Washington D.C.

US Capitol

US Treasury

Bristol

Cartoon

Photograph

Handmade

Statue

Advertisement

   
 

Criminal

Prisoner

Robber