Charles W. Cushman Travel Heatmap

Introduction

Charles W. Cushman, an amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, traveled extensively between 1938 and 1968, capturing everyday life across the United States and beyond using Kodachrome color slides. This project visualizes the locations where Charles W. Cushman took photographs through an animated heatmap loop. The map shows the countries where he took photographs, highlighting the places he visited most. By making the heatmap interactive, users can easily explore his travel patterns and gain insight into his photographic journey.

Sources

The data comes from the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection, which contains metadata for over 14,000 photographs. The dataset includes country names, dates, and more. I cleaned the data in Excel, ensuring it had all the necessary information for this project. I also counted how many times each country appeared in the dataset and also added latitude and longitude coordinates to make mapping possible.

Process

I used Excel to clean and organize the data, focusing on country names, dates, and photo counts. Since the original dataset did not include the total number of photographs per country, I used an Excel formula to count duplicates automatically. I also added latitude and longitude based on country names, as these coordinates were needed for the heatmap. After preparing the dataset, I uploaded it to Flourish and created a heatmap where larger points represent a higher number of photographs. This method makes it easy to see which locations Cushman photographed the most.

Presentation

The heatmap is embedded in this WordPress site for easy access. I chose WordPress because I am comfortable with its features and find it easy to use. I used flourish for the visualization because of its clean design and interactive elements. The map also features an animated timeline illustrating the expansion of his travels over time, starting from the U.S. The website layout is simple, ensuring that the focus remains on the map and making it easy for users to navigate.

Significance

This project transforms historical photographic data into a visual representation that helps us understand Cushman’s travels. By mapping his photographs, we can see patterns in where he chose to document, offering insight into his interests and the places he found significant. The heatmap allows users to explore his work in an engaging way, rather than just reading through a list of locations. This project also demonstrates the importance of digital humanities, where historical archives are made more accessible through modern tools.