Digital Scholarship Lab Awarded National Digital History Prize

American Historical Association Recognizes American Panorama Mapping Project
October 21, 2019

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — The Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond has been awarded this year’s Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History from the American Historical Association for American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History.

The Rosenzweig Prize is given annually to honor and support work on an innovative and freely available new media project, and in particular for work that reflects thoughtful, critical, and rigorous engagement with technology and the practice of history. 

American Panorama includes eight data-rich, interactive mapping projects on topics such as immigration, federal urban policy, slavery, and electoral politics. It also includes the popular “Mapping Inequality,” a go-to resource for journalists, scholars, policymakers, and citizens interested in the history and legacy of redlining in American cities.

In 2016, American Panorama was named a tech innovator by The Chronicle of Higher Education, and “Mapping Inequality” was named one of the maps of the year by National Geographic.

“This project combines cutting-edge research with innovative interactive mapping techniques, and it’s designed to appeal to anyone with an interest in American history or a love of maps,” said Rob Nelson, director of the Digital Scholarship Lab. “Our goal from the beginning has been to make these maps accessible to anyone who may benefit — from teachers and scholars, to journalists, to the general public — and we are honored that this award recognizes that commitment.” 

Specific award recipients include the DSL’s leadership team: Nelson; Justin Madron, GIS project manager and analyst; Nathaniel Ayers, visualization and web designer, and Ed Ayers, president emeritus and Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities.

The team will accept the award at the American Historical annual meeting in January. 

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The American Panorama project is funded in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and completed in collaboration with scholars at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech.