An AR-Aided View of Black History

UMD, Montgomery County Recreate Life at Historic African American Cabin

Visitors pointing their phones at the unassuming log cabin tucked along a wooded road in Olney, Md., may see a 19th-century wash basin still wet with laundry just outside the back door, chickens roaming around a wooden coop or a neighboring log cabin just yards away.

But when they lower their phones, all that remains is an empty yard and a deeper understanding of this property’s complicated past.

Through augmented reality (AR), a technology that overlays live scenes with computer-generated imagery, visitors to this African American heritage site in Montgomery County can now envision the livelihoods of Black families who lived in Oakley Cabin after the Civil War. Developed by the University of Maryland in collaboration with Montgomery County’s parks and technology departments, the project of digital recreations is believed to be the first AR experience created for an African American historic site in Maryland.

“This really important period of American history and the Black experience is underrepresented in academic research, in public sites and interpretation,” said Stefan Woehlke ANTH M.A. ’13, Ph.D. ’21, a postdoctoral associate in UMD’s Historic Preservation Program. “It was really important to me to work on a site where the county government is putting resources into and sharing this period of history through these digital tools.”

Photo of Montgomery County's Oakley Cabin is by Maggie Haslam

Published on Tue, Jun 25, 2024 - 10:46AM