A Sunrise Senior College Presentation
The lecture begins at 4:20
(Setup and Introduction: 0:00 to 4:20)
A look at the history of the land and people in the seven towns that comprise the Dennys River watershed – “Mapping the Dennys River over 9,000 Years.” Join Drs. Tora Johnson Ph.D., James Oberly Ph.D., and Colin Windhorst Ph.D., along with UM@M graduate Patricia Tilton, in this lively 90-minute presentation on the historical findings on the people, their lives, and the land in the seven towns located along the Dennys River. They share their insights, observations and encouragement for communities interested in preserving and documenting their own history. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Historical Association, this two-year project was done with the help of students from the University of Maine at Machias. During the presentation, you will learn details on the decision-making process that was selected and used in the research and development of this report, the mapping technology selected, and the lessons learned for anyone attempting to undertake a project of his scope.
Instructors: Colin Windhorst holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Maine-Orono and is the the Program Director for the Dennys River Historical Society, and as such was the Project Manager for the Mapping the Dennys River over 9000 years. Tora Johnson holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Maine-Orono and is the director of the GIS Service Laboratory at UM@M. She and her students did field and laboratory work on the project in 2022-23. James Oberly holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Rochester and served as a consultant to the project on the population history of the seven towns in the Dennys River watershed. Patricia Tilton is a database professional and holds a B.S. in Environmental Geographic Information Science. She oversaw myriad technical aspects of the project.
This was a hybrid presentation put on by the Sunrise Senior College in Machias