“Koreatowns in North Texas”
The proposed “Koreatowns in North Texas” project will convey the importance of preserving an unrecognized part of American history. Currently, there is no website that allows the audience to access information about the history of Asian Americans in Texas. Multiple Asian American communities in Texas continue to prosper, and they contribute to the socio-economic development of the surrounding communities. Unfortunately, the history of the Asian American communities goes on undocumented by the Dallas County and the Dallas Historical Society. The proposed project will help inform people about an important part of the Dallas cultural and socio-economic history in order to bring awareness to a diverse community. It will emphasize the significance of immigration and the sustainability of urban and suburban development in diverse communities. The project will begin with the Korean American communities of Dallas County. There are two Koreatowns in North Texas: Koreatown Dallas and Koreatown Carrrollton. Each Koreatown is different, but both of them play a significant role in their community.
The proposed “Koreatowns in North Texas” project will ask the audience history questions pertaining to what they know about the history of Korean American communities and their connection to the two Koreatowns in North Texas. Here is a sample of the following history questions: What do you know about Korean American history in North Texas? What historical information about Koreatown Dallas or Koreatown Carrollton would you like to learn? How often do you visit Koreatown Dallas and/or Koreatown Carrollton? Describe your personal connection to one or both of the Koreatowns. What do you think makes Koreatown Dallas and/or Koreatown Carrollton interesting? Describe your earliest memory of Koreatown Dallas and/or Koreatown Carrollton. Describe your fondest memory of Koreatown Dallas and/or Koreatown Carrollton. What do you think stands out the most in Koreatown Dallas and/or Koreatown Carrollton? (e.g. the architecture, the cafes, the building signs, etc.). Some of the statements were revised from questions to non-questions to encourage the audience to provide more information.
Also, the project’s website will include a collection of digital images, short descriptions/narratives to connect with the audience, and information about important people who have contributed to the sustainability and development of the communities. Another component will be added for audience participation; they will be able to add their images and narratives that are related to the development of the Korean American communities. Their contributions will help build a historical collection online. Also, it will include digital maps to show the locations and spatial components in order to depict community integration and neighborhood gentrification.
In order to inform, persuade, and engage the audience, the website will implement digital tools. Omeka, an open source web publishing platform, will be used to feature the images as items. After the metadata is added for each item, the items will be organized into Collections or Exhibits. A Geolocation plugin will be added for mapping the locations of the items. Another plugin, Juxtapose will be used to show a side-by-side map comparison of both Koreatowns. Also, it will be used to show a map comparison of Koreatown Dallas in 1980s or 1990s versus now. An additional plugin, Commenting, will be added for the audience to add their comments. A Zoom It plugin will be added to allow the audience to zoom into the image and view it from different angles. Eventually, a social media plugin will be added.
For the target audiences, there are four different personas. Persona 1 includes the 1.5 and 2nd generation Korean Americans. They visit the Koreatowns with family and friends. Some of them have contributed to the building or development of Koreatown Dallas or Koreatown Carrollton. Persona 2 includes an audience who is non-Korean American but is familiar with Korean culture and history from different levels, and they visit the Koreatowns. Persona 3 will be the audience who does not know anything about Korean culture and history, and they do not know that Koreatowns exists in North Texas. Persona 4 is the audience that is comprised of first generation Korean Americans who moved to North Texas during the late 1970s to 1990s and they have contributed directly to the development of Koreatown Dallas, or they have very strong personal connections to it.
