The proposed project will explore the impact of the construction of the New York World’s Fair of 1939 on the greater New York metropolitan area’s natural environment.
Department: History
Supervised by: Mara Oliva
Remembered as one of the most mesmerising cultural events of the twenty century, the New York World’s Fair opened its door on 30 April, 1939. The site chosen for the Fair was the Corona Dumps in Queens. Immortalised as a “valley of ashes” in F.S. Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel the Great Gatsby, the area was a heavily polluted marshland and one of the worst breeding grounds for mosquitos. Yet its location, so close to the centre of the city, transport links and extension, made it the ideal place to host what was supposed to be the greatest show of the century. The site also offered an opportunity to experiment in environmental engineering and city building. City developers were especially interested in creating new real estate projects through coastland filling. In less than four years, the foul-smelling swamp was transformed into what Architectural Records described as the eighth wonder of the modern world which included a meadow, two lakes and a diverted Flushing river. How did the construction of the Fair transform the natural world? Using the New York World’s Fair of 1939 archival records (available for free online via the NYPL website), this project will explore how human intervention shaped environmental changes in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Week 1: Induction; Intensive period of secondary reading (the work of other historians); training in how to build a database provided by PI Week 2: Design of database; archival research and enter data in the database Weeks 3/4: Continue archival research and enter data in the database Week 5: Continue Archival research and enter data in the database; drafting report Week 6: Complete database. Complete report. Develop comms. plan for disseminating findings.
Communication skills to liaise and disseminate project findings • Familiarity with the discipline of history to analyse primary and secondary sources • Written skills to write up project findings • An interest in US history and environmental history • An interest in digital humanities • Knowledge of Excel.
Communications skills: Liaising with staff, presenting the project's findings, and engaging with social media • Skills of archival research: analysing primary sources and familiarity with the secondary research undertaken by other historians • Written skills: writing up findings for project outputs • Skills in Digital Humanities: designing a database• Time management: working to project schedule
University of Reading, Whiteknights Campus
full time - some flexible
Monday 19 June 2023 - Friday 28 July 2023
The deadline to apply for this opportunity is Friday 21st April 2023. Students should submit their CV and Cover Letter directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email). Successful candidates will be invited for an interview.