Victoria Hsiao

Victoria Hsiao

Professor Nancy Aries

IDC 3001H

3/7/15

Source Criteria

When I started this assignment one of the first things I considered was the academic validity and integrity of the sources I was viewing. During our workshop with Stephen Francoeur, we learned about identifying sources on a scale of scholarly to popular. I attempted to pick sources that focused more towards the “scholarly” end of the spectrum, although I did try to include some sources that were more popular in nature in order to add information that would appeal to a wider range of people. I tried to use well-known sites that were either well-known to be accurate (NYT), government websites (.gov websites) and sites that cited the sources they had used.

During the workshop we also discussed timeliness as a point to consider when choosing sources so I also made sure to look at the dates of all my sources and tried to choose sources that were relevant to the time period I was interested in. For sources that focused on current data I looked for publishing dates that did not go further back then 2010. For data on historical aspects of Hamilton Heights I tried to look for websites containing pictures or information on primary sources that dated back to various time periods throughout our neighborhood’s history (i.e the Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance, etc.)

In addition, I tried to use a wide variety of the types of sources by searching through the library database we learned about during class and doing my own research on the web. Finding a variety of media as my sources was important to me because during class we discussed the importance of using media to keep the viewers/readers engaged. I searched for Youtube videos, articles, primary documents, census data, charts, graphs, interactive sites and quick overviews. Lastly, I made sure that the sources I chose covered a wide range of information from historical data, to current events, historical census data and current data. I wanted to make sure that an extensive range of aspects of Hamilton Heights’ historical and current day neighborhood was covered in my sources.

Annotated Bibliography

Bortolot, Lana. "Harlem's Sugar Hill Stretches Its Borders." WSJ. The Wall Street Journal, 20 June 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323893504578555983579201860>.

I chose this article from the Wall Street Journal because it spreads light on the changing borders of a district and how the borders of neighborhoods can change over time. In the article there is a quote “Sugar Hill is a state of mind” meaning that the neighborhood boundaries are defined by what people make them out to be and often the neighborhood lines are blurred and subject to change often. It also gives insight to how the locals view their neighborhood. Many locals claim that their neighborhood is emphasizing passing down history rather than trying to be come more hipster or gentrified.

Davidson, Justin. "In Harlem, the Sugar Hill Complex Reimagines Affordable Housing As an Arty Fortress." New York Magazine. New York Magazine, 09 June 2014. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/06/sugar-hill-affordable-housing-as-arty-fortress.html>.

In this article Davidson gives a vast overview about the history behind Hamilton Heights and the Sugar Hill neighborhood, as well as its current state and predictions about the future of the neighborhood. Not only does it give economic illustrations of the area, but it also goes into the evolving culture of the neighborhood relating to such topics as architecture and the arts and music scene. The general tone of the article was that although the neighborhood has experienced ups and downs during its rich history, the general outlook for the historic neighborhood is positive.

"Hamilton Heights Historic District." Trust for Architectural Easements. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

This website contains links to pdfs that contain original reports from 1974 relating to the boundaries of the neighborhood, the architecture, detailed descriptions of the streets and major landmarks. This source contains pdfs of primary documents, making it a valuable and accurate source as to the history of the neighborhood. It also contains a pdf from 1884 about the district boundary extensions. While the documents are long and tedious to read, they contain valuable and extremely detailed information that will be useful in tracing the history of the neighborhood.

"Hamilton Heights Neighborhood in New York, New York (NY), 10031, 10032, 10039 Detailed Profile." Http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Hamilton-Heights-New-York-NY.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.

This website shows important data pertaining to the neighborhood such as its boundaries, general demographics and other important information represented in the form of easy to read graphs and charts. Some interesting information it provides is the length of streets, the population of people in poverty, the education levels of the population, marriage status of the residents, crime rate, rent prices etc. It also compares the data from Hamilton Heights to New York City as a whole, which is extremely helpful for comparison purposes.

"Harlem & the Heights Historical Society." Harlem & the Heights Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

I chose this particular website because it gives a good overview of the history of the neighborhood and is a good starting off point for further research. For instance, it mentions how the district was named after Alexander Hamilton, which sparked my interest in researching the significance of Alexander Hamilton in the neighborhood’s history.

Harlem, New York City - Video Tour of Hamilton Heights, Manhattan. New York Habitat, 7 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCS0vGyYo0o>.

I decided to incorporate a Youtube video as a source because in class we emphasized the importance of using multimedia in our projects. New York Habitat, an organization that I have volunteered for in the past, and that I know to be a reputable and well-known source, created this particular video, I was excited to be able to use one of their resources. This Youtube video gives a brief tour of the area and highlights many of the beautiful and intriguing aspects, historical sites and striking buildings throughout the neighborhood. It also gives images of City college and inside look at the apartments in the area. Similarly to the previous source, it gives a great starting off point for further research into the area’s rich culture, with a more contemporary spin, but with a more contemporary element.

Jackson, Nancy Beth. "LIVING IN/Sugar Hill; Reclaiming a Place Where the Music Once Played." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 June 2004. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/realestate/living-in-sugar-hill-reclaiming-a-place-where-the-music-once-played.html>.

This NYT article gives a general overview as to how the neighborhood came about, its cultural history and the general feel of the area currently. The purpose of the article seems to be for people looking to buy property in the area because towards the end of the article, there is some real estate advice about the apartments in the area relating to pricing, architecture and the housing market in the area.

"Memories of Sugar Hill." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/22/nyregion/sugarhill.html?_r=0>.

This particular resource is an interactive page focused on capturing the history and personal historical accounts of the neighborhood. The page is organized in such away that you can click pictures on the bottom of the page that link you two the picture, interview, or video. There is an obvious focus on people who lived in the area that were well-known or famous such as Ralph Ellison and Duke Ellington. This source greatly exemplifies the area’s rich musical history.

"SUGAR HILL, Manhattan | | Forgotten New YorkForgotten New York." Forgotten New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://forgotten-ny.com/2013/02/sugar-hill-manhattan/>.

This last source goes into extreme detail as to the area’s many historical attractions and architecture. The page is filled with detailed pictures of buildings, signs, businesses, artwork, etc. with helpful descriptions underneath each picture. The pictures are organized by street so it is easy for the viewer to explore the area in depth street by street and really get to know the area through the pictures and descriptions. There is also a nice mixture of historical pictures and modern-day pictures as well as pictures comparing the modern day neighborhood with the historical version.