[Matthew K. Gold (he/him)]

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Will Fenton <fenton@fordham.edu>
Date: Mon, Mar 6, 2017 at 11:55 AM
Subject: Invitation to Digital Paxton Launch Events
To: William Fenton <fenton@fordham.edu>

Dear Friends and Supporters of Digital Paxton:

About a year ago, I set out to create Digital Paxton
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/index), an online archive
and critical edition of the Paxton pamphlet war. Thanks to the generosity
of collaborators at the Library Company of Philadelphia, Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical Society, Moravian Archives of
Bethlehem, Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections, and the McNeil
Center for Early American Studies, we’ve made a significant progress
towards both aims (progress I will outline below).

While there’s still much more work to do, I wanted to cordially invite you
two events that celebrate the project’s launch.

*Library Company Mini-Exhibition*

Library Company of Philadelphia | Wednesday, April 5, 2017 – Friday, May 5,
2017

“A New Looking-Glass for the 1764 Pamphlet War” will showcase two-dozen
exemplary manuscripts, broadsides, pamphlets, political cartoons residing
at the Library Company, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, American
Philosophical Society, and Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections.

*McNeil Center for Early American Studies Seminar*

Library Company of Philadelphia | 4:00 – 6:00 pm Friday, April 21, 2017

Sponsored by the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, this event will take the place of the MCEAS Friday seminar
and feature two Paxton talks followed by a light reception.

· “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Paxton Crisis and Moravian Archives,”
Scott Paul Gordon, Lehigh University

· “A New Looking-Glass for the 1764 Pamphlet War: The Digital Paxton,”
Will Fenton, Fordham University

*I would be honored if you could attend either or both events; however, if
your schedule or geography doesn’t permit, I would be grateful if you could
help spread the word.*

Given that we’re approaching the first anniversary of the project, I also
want to take a moment to highlight how Digital Paxton has matured as an
archive, critical edition, and education platform.

*Digital Paxton as an Archive*

Digital Paxton currently showcases approximately 1,600 open-source (CC
4.0), print-quality images of pamphlets, political cartoons, broadsides,
and manuscripts. While the majority of materials were contributed by the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Library Company of Philadelphia—both
of which generously funded summer interns to support the digitization
process—Digital Paxton has grown to accommodate various other archives,
including more than 200 pages of material from Haverford College Quaker &
Special Collections (Friendly Association Papers
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/friendly-association)), 60
pages from the American Philosophical Society (Edward Shippen MSS
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/aps)), and 15 pages from the
Moravian Archives of Bethlehem (Moravian records
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/german-translations)). In
the coming months, I hope to add additional materials from the Dauphin
County Historical Society (John Elder MSS) and Lancaster History (“Papers
related to Conestoga Massacre”).

*I encourage you to explore the archive using the index, formal paths, or
the keyword search.*

*Digital Paxton as a Critical Edition*

Digital Paxton supports a three-pronged critical apparatus: historical
overview essays (encompassed in the introductory path
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/introduction)); conceptual
keyword essays (“Keywords
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/keywords)”), and Wiki-style
contextual tags. At present, the website features my introduction
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/introduction) as well as
historical overviews from Kevin Kenny (“Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton
Riots
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/peaceable-kingdom-lost-the-paxton-riots)”),
Jack Brubaker (“The Aftermath of the Conestoga Massacre
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/the-aftermath-of-the-conestoga-massacre)”)
and Darvin L. Martin (“A History of Conestoga Indiantown
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/a-history-of-conestoga-indiantown)
”).

I’m honored to share four conceptual keyword essays: James P. Myers Jr.’s “
Anonymity (http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/anonymity),”
Nicole Eustace’s “Condolence
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/condolence),” Scott Paul
Gordon’s “Elites (http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/elites),”
and Judith Ridner’s “Material Culture
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/material-culture).” In the
coming weeks, I hope to add essays from Benjamin Bankhurst
(“Anti-Presbyterianism”), Edward White (“Backcountry”), and Angel-Luke
O’Donnell (“Back Matter”).

Finally, Scott Paul Gordon has led the charge in authoring contextual tags
for “Christian Indians
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/christian-indians),” “Edward
Shippen (http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/edward-shippen),”
and “Moravians (http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/moravians).”

*I invite additional keyword essays and tags. I intend to highlight
contributions at our launch on April 21.*

*Digital Paxton as a Teaching Platform*

I expect (or rather hope) that secondary and post-secondary educators will
use the site’s critical apparatus in the classroom; however, I have also
begun to solicit dedicated teaching resources (“Pedagogy
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/pedagogy)”). To that end,
educators at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have provided a
multi-part high school lesson plan
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/native-american-european-contact-in-the-colonial-period),
and Benjamin Bankhurst and Kyle Roberts, who are co-teaching an
undergraduate history course about the American Revolution, have shared a
Digital Paxton transcription assignment
(http://digitalpaxton.org/works/digital-paxton/transcription-assignment-exploring-the-digital-archive)
.

I am eager to add many more educational materials to the site, and I
contacted various university faculty and presented Digital Paxton at the
HSP Educational Advisory Board.

*If you have taught or know anyone who has taught the Paxton incident in a
high school or college classroom, I welcome assignment prompts, reading
suggestions, and lesson guides. Again, I plan to highlight those resources
on April 21.*

*Public Outreach*

While Digital Paxton will not formally launch until next month, the website
has already earned some attention. The project was awarded first prize in
the NYC DH Graduate Student Digital Project Awards
(http://nycdh.org/nycdh-graduate-student-digital-project-awards-2016/),
and *Philadelphia
Inquirer* featured the website in a recent op-ed
(http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20170129_When_pamphlets_were_media_of_choice.html)
.

I am eager to continue public outreach. In addition to presenting the
project at a GLAM Café and colloquia at the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania and the Library Company of Philadelphia, I will also be
writing an essay for *Common-place*, due this summer. Finally, I provide
nearly-daily related to the site (including #TranscriptionTuesday and
#FridayFindings) via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/digitalpaxton/),
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/digitalpaxton/), and Twitter
(https://twitter.com/digitalpaxton).

*If you have any suggestions about how I can better spread word, I welcome
your suggestions.*

Thank you for your advice, support, and contributions. I am so pleased with
how this project has grown over the past year, so much of which would have
been possible without your generosity. I hope to see you at the MCEAS
seminar!

Cheers,

Will

PS. Please do forward this email to anyone else who you feel might be
interested in the project or either of these launch events.

Will Fenton
Fellow, Connected Academics, Modern Language Association
Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Dissertation Fellow, Library Company
of Philadelphia
Doctoral Candidate and Teaching Associate, Department of English, Fordham
University
@williamfenton | willfenton.com | digitalpaxton.org

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