{"id":15431,"date":"2015-01-23T01:57:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T07:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=15431"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:20:43","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:20:43","slug":"digital-humanities-lab-launches-first-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/digital-humanities-lab-launches-first-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Humanities Lab launches first exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hedy_j1\"
The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre\u2019s costume department created dresses from Hedy\u2019s designs for the exhibit at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee. Photo by Dan Zaitz.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dressmaker Hedy Strnad vanished during the Holocaust, leaving behind only a wisp of memory and a packet of beautiful designs.<\/p>\n

Now, people worldwide will be able to learn her story, thanks to collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\"Hedy_j4\"
William Tchakirides, Ann Hanlon and Rachel Baum, pictured here at the Digital Humanities Lab, worked on the digital version of the exhibit, using Omeka, an open source content management tool. Photo by Kenny Yoo<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The story of Strnad\u2019s life \u2014 and death \u2014 is captured in the first online exhibit from 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Digital Humanities Lab. \u201cStitching the Holocaust: The Story of Hedwig Strnad,\u201d can be seen at http:\/\/liblamp.uwm.edu\/omeka\/A\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The digital exhibit is based on the one on display through March 1 at the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee. It began with the discovery of a letter Strnad\u2019s husband, Paul, wrote from Czechoslovakia to his cousin, Alvin Strnad, in Milwaukee in 1939.<\/p>\n

Life had become increasingly difficult for Jewish families in Czechoslovakia since the Nazi takeover in 1938. When Paul Strnad sought his cousin\u2019s help in getting an affidavit to support of the family\u2019s application for a permit to emigrate to America, he enclosed some of his wife\u2019s dress designs to demonstrate her tailoring skills and show the family would be self-supporting in the United States.<\/p>\n

The permit request was turned down, and the Strnads died in concentration camps. In 1997, the Strnad family in Milwaukee found an envelope bearing the Nazi seal while cleaning out their mother\u2019s basement. The family donated the letter and designs to the Jewish Historical Society, and they were given to the Jewish Museum Milwaukee when it opened in 2008.<\/p>\n

The original Jewish Museum exhibit began the process of reconstructing the story of the Strnads\u2019 lives \u2014 and deaths. The digital exhibit, done in partnership with 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Digital Humanities Lab<\/a>, Cultures and Communities Program<\/a> and Libraries, builds on that work.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we find out more about the Strnads, we can update the exhibit,\u201d said Ann Hanlon, head of Digital Collections and Initiatives at 51ÁÔÆæ Library. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to worry about moving things around in a room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hedy_j3\"
Paul and Hedy Strnad in Czechoslovakia. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The physical exhibit will travel to other museums this year, but putting the story online so people around the world could view it as well was a perfect first project for the Digital Humanities Lab, said Rachel Baum, adjunct assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Hebrew Studies. She helped develop the original exhibit and saw that combining history with digital technology was the next step in telling the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think this is a fabulous extension of our changing exhibit,\u201d added Ellie Gettinger, education director of the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee. \u201cIt\u2019s gone from being in one place to something you can find anywhere. You had to be in Milwaukee to see the original exhibit and the dresses, but now you can see the story wherever you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The digital version also allows visitors to look more closely at artifacts, including letters from Paul Strnad (two more have been found), said William Tchakirides, a doctoral student in history who was the project lead. Or they can view the sketches and photos of the resulting dresses created by the Milwaukee Repertory\u2019s costume department. Visitors also can listen as Hedy Strnad\u2019s now elderly niece, Brigitte Rohaczek, talks about the fun-loving aunt who ran her own dress shop and made doll clothes for her.<\/p>\n

\"Hedy_j2\"
Each of the dresses created from the designs carried Hedy’s label. Photo by Dan Zaitz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The digital exhibit explains how the researchers, who started without knowing Hedy Strnad\u2019s first name, stitched together the pieces of her life and placed it in the context of what was happening in Central Europe and the Jewish community before and during the Holocaust. For example, Tyler Grasse, an intern with the Jewish Museum, tracked down Rohaczek and interviewed her during a trip to Germany.<\/p>\n

English students Ben Johnson and Allain Daigle created the video of the interview with Rohaczek, while English doctoral student EJ Basa created the story map and Bill Wood, coordinator of the Museum Studies program contributed. Faculty and students from history, English, and museum studies, the library staff and others all worked on the digital version.<\/p>\n

History involves a lot of \u201cbig data,\u201d that can be hard for people to process, Baum said.<\/p>\n

With Hedy Strnad, \u201cI think we all really got drawn into the story. We wanted to make it come to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of talking about the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, this is the story of one woman, about whom almost nothing was known, who didn\u2019t exist before in cultural memory. Now she is being cared for.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The poster for the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee exhibit includes one of Hedy\u2019s designs. One of the goals of the Nazis was to eliminate all memory of their victims, but her story is now becoming known, thanks to the efforts of 51ÁÔÆæ and the Museum. Artwork courtesy of the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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