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Project Administrators
Current Project Staff
Past Project Staff
Advisors, Consultants, and Participating
Institutions
Project Administrators
Robin B. Williams, Savannah College of Art and Design
Project Director and Coordinator of Historical
Research
Williams is Chairman and founder of the Architectural History
Department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. His
graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania focused on
the architectural and urban history of the modern period (18th-20th
centuries) in America and Europe. He has been analyzing the
transformation of cities during the modern period for over
a decade, with his dissertation on Rome, Italy (Rome as
State Image: The Architecture and Urbanism of the Royal Italian
Government, 1993), and for the past five years, that of
Savannah. In fall 2000, he served as guest co-curator for
"Jewels in the Crown: The Architecture of the Savannah
Plan,” a photographic exhibition at the AIA Gallery in Washington,
DC. Williams was appointed to the Georgia National Register
Review Board in fall 1999 and served as its Chairman for 2001-2002.
As Project Director, he guides the scope and orientation of
the project and more specifically oversees all historical
research and the incorporation of historical content.
Greg Johnson, Savannah College of Art and Design
Production Director and Coordinator of Technical
Development
Johnson is a Professor of Computer Art at the Savannah College
of Art and Design, where he developed and headed up the Game
Development program. With a background in graphic design,
he focused his Master's degree work on computer animation
and 3-D modeling. More recently, a pair of professional internships
with major production companies (EdEFX and Dreamworks Interactive)
augmented his technical expertise. He is proficient in a
number of 3-D modeling programs and computer languages, most
importantly that of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language,
the 3-D language of the Internet), and has extensive computer
programming experience. Johnson coordinates the overall technical
development of the project, involving all of the website programming
and management of the various components involved. He also
directly supervises the production of all of the 3-D computer
models, the development of the graphic interface design, and
the carrying out of data input.
Léon Robichaud, Université de Sherbrooke
Database Supervisor
Robichaud is coordinator of the Master's program in History
and Multimedia at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec,
Canada. Robichaud holds a Master's Degree in history from
McGill University. He has worked with multimedia content
since 1991, more specifically in the modeling and representation
of historical urban environments. His experience involves
extensive research on the property, buildings and people of
Old Montréal, integrating time-based relational database structures
with geographic information systems or three-dimensional models,
and creating search engines for the world wide web. Having
participated in projects within museum and academic settings
and as a consultant, he is familiar with the various processes
related to research, data-entry, and multimedia development.
Experienced on different platforms, he has specialized in
open-source solutions for the past four years. As Database
Supervisor, Robichaud is responsible for designing, maintaining
and optimizing a database model that conforms to current practices
while being adapted to the needs of the Virtual Historic Savannah
Project.
Christopher Hendricks, Armstrong Atlantic State University
Social History Content Assistant Supervisor
Associate Professor of History at Armstrong Atlantic State
University in Savannah, he is an authority on the history
of the south especially during the 18th and 19th centuries
with a keen interest in urban history. Receiving his Ph.D.
from the College of William and Mary, he focused his dissertation
on “Town Development in the Colonial Backwater of Virginia
and North Carolina”. He also has considerable experience
as a historical consultant for research and historic preservation
projects. He has served as a consultant for the Virtual Historic
Savannah Project since summer 2000.
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Current Project
Staff
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From left to right: Robin Williams,
Greg Johnson, Robyn Wilsbach, Brian Jolley, Renée
Hutter, Darin Ostrom, Betsy Pate, Abhijit Athalye, Carrie
Jones, Jesse Kretschmer, Michael Wagler and Léon
Robichaud. |
Abhijit Athalye, a graduate student in Architectural
History, has served since fall 2002 as the principal research
assistant on the project. He has conducted a thorough survey
of building footprints of all buildings throughout the whole
district, correcting errors in the GIS source footprint data
used as a starting point for modeling. He has also assisted
with the processing of slide and digital photographs of buildings,
compiling a master image table of data, including the recording
of specific data about each image. In 2003, he compiled a
master list of lost buildings, working from building inventories
and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. Since January 2004, he has
compiled pre-1897 addresses for relevant existing buildings,
expanded address ranges and secondary addresses for all existing
buildings; he has also compiled the main physical characteristics
for existing buildings, and assisted in compiling the architects’
data.
In summer 2005, he conducted a systematic survey of the Bldg
permits at the Savannah City Hall archives. He is currently
working on expanding the lost buildings master list in terms
of assigning pre-1897 addresses, building modifications and
archival images.
Marisa Gomez, an undergraduate student in
Architectural History, is assisting with the processing of
people data from city directories since summer 2005.
Carrie Jones, a graduate student in Visual
Effects, has assisted since fall 2003 with redesigning the
html-based web pages.
Angelina Long, a graduate student in Public
History at Armstrong Atlantic State University, has served
as a research intern during spring semester 2004, compiling
people data from the 1920 U.S. Census.
Darin Ostrom, an undergraduate in Architecture
at SCAD, has assisted with the modelling of buildings since
October 2001, taking over as the principal 3D modeller for
the project in fall 2002; he has also assisted with compiling
survey data on buildings and with data verification and formatting
of digital photographs.
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Past Project
Staff
Kevin Adams, a graduate student in Architectural
History, has assisted since March 2004 with the compiling
of building function data and the processing of people data
from city directories.
Duck Ki Ahn, an undergraduate student in
Computer Art, created detailed models of buildings outside
the Jasper Ward prototype from April 2001 to March 2003.
Rebecca Andersen, a graduate student in
Architectural History, served as the principal research assistant
from September 2000 to December 2001, carrying out most of
the primary research on City Directories and the census data
for 1900, compiling a complete list of occupants in Jasper
Ward in ten-year intervals. She compiled and entered data
on owners and occupants in Jasper Ward, as well as carrying
out research on lost buildings in Jasper Ward. She compiled
a preliminary building-by-building survey of half of Savannah’s
historic district.
David Begley, a graduate student in Graphic
Design, reformatted photographs from summer 2003 to winter
2004.
Marc Belanger, while a graduate student
in Architectural History, worked on the project from October
2000 to May 2002. He compiled a preliminary building-by-building
survey of half of Savannah’s historic district. He organized
the documentary information needed for creating detailed models
of buildings in Jasper Ward, as well as researching lost buildings
and the Jasper Monument in Jasper Ward.
Won Young Byon, a graduate student in Computer
Art, served as the principal computer modeller on the project
from February 1999 to December 2001. Most of the detailed models
of buildings in the Jasper Ward prototype are his work.
Emily Cozen, while an undergraduate student
in Computer Art, served as the principal modeller of buildings
from fall 1998 to fall 1999. She also designed the graphic
interface of the project used from winter 1999 to winter 2001.
Jim Gaczkowski, a graduate student in Computer
Art, created a second generation of low-resolution models
of all buildings within the downtown district during 2002.
Lucie Ghioto, a graduate student in Architectural
History, has worked on since spring 2002, correlating legal
lot information to buildings throughout the downtown district;
assisting with the checking and recounting of information
on the master list of existing buildings; sorting photographic
slides of buildings and shooting new digital photographs of
buildings; and assembling data from Sanborn Fire Insurance
maps.
Jason Harlow, a graduate student in Computer
Art, built the first set of low-resolution computer models
of buildings throughout the historic district outside of Jasper
Ward.
William Hart, a graduate student in Architectural
History, worked on the project from fall 1998 to fall 1999.
He performed a wide range of important tasks early in the
development of the project, including compiling bibliographic
sources and finding historical images. He also carried out
a systematic research of buildings in Percival Ward in an
older part of Savannah’s historic district to determine the
availability of information on earlier buildings.
Haley Harter, a graduate student in Architectural
History, has worked on the project since March 2004, processing
people data from city directories.
Erica Howard, a graduate student in Architectural
History, surveyed the Hartridge collection inventory of the
Georgia Historical Society in winter 2005.
Renée Hutter, a graduate student
in Architectural History, has assisted since fall 2003 with
the processing of people data from city directories. Beginning
in March 2004, she has been taking pictures of some buildings,
reformatting and resizing digital photographs. She also worked
on the building permits and tax digests at the Georgia Historical
Society.
Sonchia Jilek, a graduate student in Architectural
History, worked on the project during summer 2003, surveying
the Wilson and Cordray-Foltz photograph collections of Georgia
Historical Society, compiling an inventory of all images relating
to downtown Savannah.
Brian Jollie, a graduate student in Photography
at SCAD, served as the principal architectural photographer
for the project from April 2003 to June 2004, taking digital
photographs of approximately 1500 buildings.
Carmie Jones, a graduate student in Architectural
History, began work on the project in January 2004, surveying
the GHS and Girard photograph collections of Georgia Historical
Society, compiling an inventory of all images relating to
downtown Savannah.
Jesse Kretschmer, an undergraduate in Interactive
Design and Game Development at SCAD, managed the VRML building
model files using perl scripts and MySQL from summer 2003
till May 2004.
Brian Kronenberg, while an undergraduate
in Photography, took slides of approximately 700 buildings
in downtown Savannah from March to June 2001, as the first
part of a comprehensive photo-documentation of all standing
buildings in the area covered by the project.
Patricia Kuhn, while an undergraduate student
in Architectural History, worked on the project during winter
and spring 2000. She carried out a systematic research on
the history of pavement in Jasper Ward based on records published
in annual Mayoral Reports.
Donna Lindsey,
an undergraduate student in Historic Preservation, assisted
with the project from July 2002 to February 2003, checking
and recounting information on the master list of existing
buildings, sorting photographic slides of buildings and shooting
new digital photographs of buildings.
Katheryn Osgood,
a graduate student in Photography, served as the principal
architectural photographer for the project from fall 2004
to spring 2005.
Betsy Pate,
a graduate student in Architectural History, has since fall
2002 served as the principal research assistant focused on
the compiling of people data from city directories, involving
OCR-scanning data from the directories and organizing and
distributing exported information to other assistants for
processing, as well as processing some data herself. She has
also assisted with the compiling of pre-1897 building addresses
and the changes to existing buildings. She has surveyed the
Gamble collection at the Bull Street Library, Savannah.
Arthea Benita Perry,
a graduate student in Computer Art, carried out the preliminary
research compiling the complete list of occupants in Jasper
Ward in ten-year intervals during summer 2000.
Kathryn Rowe, a graduate student in Historic
Preservation, compiled data on property owners in Jasper Ward
during fall 2001.
Julia Banta Schwarz,
a graduate student in Historic Preservation, compiled data
on property owners in Jasper Ward during fall 2001.
Dara Vance, a graduate student in Fashion,
compiled information on the history of fashion in Savannah
as part of her master’s thesis work.
Michael Wagler, an undergraduate student
in Historic Preservation assisted with the processing of people
data from city directories, fall 2003 to May 2004.
Caroline Warner, an undergraduate in Architectural
History, worked on the project from May 2001 to March 2003
as one of the principal research assistants. She assisted
with the preliminary building-by-building survey of Savannah’s
historic district by compiling the street addresses and approximate
dates for all properties; she compiled and entered data on
the complete set of over 800 street segments for the whole
district. She also synthesized data on most existing buildings
in Jasper Ward, as well as sample biographical data on prominent
people from that ward, in preparation for data entry. From
summer 2002-spring 2003, she assisted with the checking and
recounting of information on the master list of existing buildings,
sorting and scanning of photographic slides of buildings and
compiling of people data from city directories.
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Other SCAD students who have made valuable contributions
to this project include the following, listed in alphabetical
order:
Kevin Adams – processing data on people from city directories
Teddy Gongaware – graphic interface and project logo
design
Mary Hagan – computer modelling of buildings
Jaime Izuriata – surveying of street and sidewalk measurements
in Jasper Ward
Elaine Jones – computer modelling of buildings
Steven Kody – computer modelling of buildings
Daniel Koster – photography of buildings in Jasper Ward
Megan Masana – preliminary research on buildings in
Jasper Ward
Stephanie Mitchell – preliminary research on bibliographic
sources on Savannah
Lauren Nason – preliminary research on buildings in
Monterey Ward
Shylah Smithey – data entry on building lots
Alex Shopov – computer modelling of buildings
Jill Spears - web site design
Suthee Theerachulkae – computer modelling of buildings
Vessela Valtcheva – preliminary research on newspaper
sources
Christoph Weiss – slide scanning
Harriet Wijgul – preliminary research on bibliographic
sources on Savannah
Robyn Wilsbach – processing data on people from city
directories
Jason Wilson – computer modelling of buildings
Dave Zaleski – building footprint assessment survey
in Davis Ward
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Further Acknowledgements
David Beddingfield, professor of Graphic
Design at SCAD, for assisting in supervising the graduate
field internships focusing on this project performed by his
students Teddy Gongaware and Hugo .
Graham Clark, former Chairman of Computer
Art at SCAD, whose interest in the project concept and willingness
to establish a collaboration between his department and Architectural
History, was essential to the beginning of the project in
1997.
David Gobel and E.G. Daves Rossell, professors
of Architectural History at SCAD, for their on-going assistance
with the coordination of student in-class research on Savannah
buildings.
Lawrence Shum, former professor of Architecture
at SCAD, for directing the efforts of model building by Architecture
students in 1998.
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Advisors, Consultants,
and Participating Institutions
ADVISORY BOARD 2002-2004
- Susan E. Dick, Director of Library and Archives, The Georgia
Historical Society
- Dr. Harrison Eiteljorg II, Director, Center for the Study
of Architecture, Bryn Mawr
- T. Jerry Lominack, AIA, practicing architect in Savannah;
president of local AIA chapter
- Beth Reiter, Preservation Officer, Metropolitan Planning
Commission, City of Savannah
- Dr. Crandall Shifflett, Project Director of “Virtual
Jamestown” and Professor of History, Virginia Polytechnical
and State University
- Dr. John Michael Vlach, Professor, Folklife / American
Studies Program, George Washington University
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS 2002-2004
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- Armstrong Atlantic State University
- Université de Sherbrooke
- Georgia Historical Society
- Historic Savannah Foundation
- Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum
CONSULTANTS 2000-2001
- Harrison Eiteljorg, II – Director, Center for the Study
of Architecture [at Bryn Mawr College] and Director, the
Archaeological Data Archive Project – data preservation;
database design
- Christopher Hendricks, Associate Professor, Department
of History, Armstrong Atlantic State University – southern
history
- Léon Robichaud, Coordinator, History and Multimedia Master’s
Programme, Université de Sherbrooke – database design and
management
- Howard Robinson, Assistant Professor, Department of History,
Armstrong Atlantic State University – African-American history
in the South
- Crandall Shifflett, Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institution
and State University, and Director of “Virtual Jamestown”
– project design and management; southern history
- John Michael Vlach, Professor, Department of American
Studies, George Washington University – vernacular architecture
and folklife
ADVISORS 2000-2001
- Stan Deaton, Georgia Historical Society
Hugh Golson, history teacher, Savannah Arts Academy; member,
Historic Savannah Board of Review
- Kay Gunkel, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Savannah
Jerry Lominack, AIA, Lominack and Associates
- Beth Reiter, Preservation Officer, City of Savannah
- Roger Smith, Georgia Historical Society (formerly at
Massie Heritage Interpretation Center)
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS 2000-2001
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- Beach Institute African American Cultural Center
- Georgia Historical Society
- Historic Savannah Foundation
- Massie Heritage Interpretation Center
- Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum
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