The digital history project that I chose to cover for this post is titled, Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives. It is a project dedicated to archiving and educating on the history of the gulag and the harsh conditions that existed within its walls. The time period covered in the span of the existence of the gulag, which existed during the Soviet Union. Throughout the site and exhibits within, there is a strong focus on emphasizing the inhumane and cruel conditions of the gulag, using language such as “the brutal assault on human dignity” to communicate their information.
The audience for this site is likely mainly historians of various kinds. Students such as this class, grad students who have a focus on Russian studies of this era, or even public historians doing research for exhibits of their own. The site was created by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, located at George Mason University in Virginia. The project had multiple sources of funding, including the National Endowment for Humanities, Title VIII, The U.S. State Department, The Kennan Institute and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.
Taking a look at the project’s bibliography, the sources used to create this archive vary from historical novels (both fiction and non fiction), memories, and some films. Many of them are originally Russian, translated to English. Some of the technologies they use include videos, pictures, interactive tab systems, and there is also a video/audio tour of a restored gulag, with transcriptions in both English and Russian.
“Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives,” Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, accessed September 22, 2025
Leave a Reply