Reflection # 1

Reflection # 1

During class what i have learned about being an historian is that there are many different perspectives to look upon when accessing New York’s rich history and culture. For example, today I saw the 1921 film Manhatta which shows the skyline, architecture, and inner working of Manhattan from citizens commuting to work on the ferry to traveling around the city. One of my first impressions of the movie I was surprised on how it promoted New York’s infrastructure and beauty despite of how overcrowded it looked. Also when watching Manhatta all I could think about is how polluted the city really is because of its abundance of factories.  This is crucial as this provided a stark contrast between how I looked at the movie and how people in 1921 saw it. As a result in class I learned about presentism which is a mode of literary or historical analysis where present day ideas and viewpoints are infused into depictions or interpretations of the past. Therefore, as a historian I learned that in order to truly understand the past I must look at it as if I was experiencing it myself in that time period.

While doing my New York Times assignment I learned that writing from my birthday. fifty and a hundred years ago were completely different. For instance, what the New York Times revealed to me about history on my birthday is that crime was a lot more prevalent. In response, I was shocked because compared to now New York City boasts about it’s record low crime rates. On the other hand I learned fifty years ago World War II was a central topic of discussion as 10,000 New Yorkers were in connection with the production of the atomic bomb. Moreover, in 1895 New York was in it’s developing stages in the sense that most transportation and industrial services were first being introduced. With that being said, I learned that throughout history writing is heavily influenced by social issues and current events. Some of my expectations for this history project include learning more deeply about New York City’s past, buildings, landmarks, institutions and in turn understand where our culture comes from. In my opinion, the biggest challenge in this project will definitely be trying to gather these pieces of information whether its an article or a documentary and figure out the significance of it towards making New York the great city that it is.