Animating Place and Memory: Digital Collections as Catalysts for Community and Learning

Nestled on the University of Kentucky campus, the Mathews House and Garden is a living testament to the power of place, memory, and digital storytelling. Only taking up less than an acre of ground, the garden is home to more than 350 biodiverse plant species and fauna. While an extraordinary gift to the university, the site has suffered from administrative neglect and threats of demolition in recent years. As one generation retires from active stewardship, the site needed new ways to engage stakeholders to defend and cultivate the living space for the future. Combining extensive archival materials with digital humanities technology–as well as actively engaging students, faculty, and administrators in the space for a lively garden party–offers a compelling case study in how we used multiple modalities to creatively forge connections across generations and disciplines to preserve history of place. Our project explores the creative reuse of digital and analog archival materials, oral histories, and digital tools to bring the Mathews House and Garden’s rich past into dialogue with contemporary audiences, with the goals of inspiring greater connection and use that will enable its survival for future generations to enjoy. Through the collaborative efforts of a biology faculty member, two graduate student in MLIS programs, digital humanities librarian, and an archivist, we buttressed traditional archival practices by integrating analog and digital archives representing 100 years of the house and garden with digital platforms such as Timeline JS and WordPress to create a vibrant digital humanities project that highlights biodiversity and the historical connections of the Mathews family to the UK campus. The project was born out of the singular needs of the garden and the biology faculty member retiring; however, it coincided with the pedagogical need for a robust project that would enable students to learn valuable skills for their future career in archives. The website features embedded oral history interviews, historical photographs, a dynamic timeline, and curated digital exhibits that invite users to explore the garden’s evolution—from its origins with Clarence and Henrietta Mathews to its present-day stewardship by university faculty and community advocates. Because the project is so focused on the biodiversity of the garden, seasonal examples of what to find in the garden encourage multiple visits throughout the year, furthering engagement and attachment. As we moved through website production we wanted to foreground the sense of place the garden occupies, so we invited campus to a spring garden party complete with tea, cakes, and an entertaining, multi-sensory tour from the biology professor who maintained the garden for the past 25 years. Ultimately, the Mathews House and Garden project demonstrates how digital preservation can become a catalyst for community engagement, environmental stewardship, historic preservation, and intergenerational learning. By foregrounding creative practices and dynamic interpretation, the project offers a replicable model for activating archives as living spaces–and living spaces as archives–that inspire connection across generations and disciplines.