#historicalmarkers — Public Fediverse posts

I’ve been continuing this work of tagging photos of historical markers in #WikimediaCommons and 8 months in, we’ve just tagged over 4000 photos with our #Lua-powered template.

I did some analysis and I’m a bit surprised that the rate of tagging has been pretty consistent at ~500 photos per month! 📈👍️ I thought there would be diminishing returns by now, but maybe there are a few hundred more photos left to tag.

#Wikimedia #OpenData #HistoricalMarkers #Philippines

My latest article for Inquirer.net, the digital arm of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, is now up! 🎉

https://technology.inquirer.net/147036/digitally-mapping-the-philippines-historical-markers

Here I talk about using technology to make a digital map and database of the #Philippines’ national historical markers using #Wikidata and #WikimediaCommons.

#history #HistoricalMarkers #tootSEA #TechINQ

I have finished editing an additional 50 photos, meaning I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 550 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers of the #Philippines 🇵🇭! 🎉

You can browse through all 550 in #WikimediaCommons: https://w.wiki/H$RC

And if you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Previous post: https://en.osm.town/@seav/116136396984757004

RE: https://en.osm.town/@seav/115676050157631533

This #Lua module I created nearly four months ago is now used in just over 2000 historical marker photos in #WikimediaCommons! 🎉 This makes the photos hopefully a bit more useful.

List of photos: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:NHCP_marker_depicts_inscription&namespace=6&limit=500

#Wikimedia #OpenData #HistoricalMarkers #Philippines

I have finished editing an additional 50 photos, meaning I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 500 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers of the #Philippines 🇵🇭! 🎉

You can browse through all 500 in #WikimediaCommons: https://w.wiki/H$RC

And if you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Previous post: https://en.osm.town/@seav/115452299371618892

In #Wikimedia land, I created my first #Lua module in #WikimediaCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Module:NHCP_marker_depicts_inscription

This module does all the heavy lifting for enhancing file pages of photos of #HistoricalMarkers of the #Philippines 🇵🇭 with #Wikidata items. It provides a way to point to the Wikidata item about the marker and to show the actual text inscribed in the marker. This is all done by just adding the {{NHCP marker depicts inscription}} template. 🧵 1/3

#OpenData #LinkedOpenData

It took me longer than expected but I have finished editing an additional 50 photos meaning I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 450 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers of the #Philippines 🇵🇭! 🎉 I hope to complete 500 by the end of 2025.

You can browse through all 450 in #WikimediaCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Perspective_corrections_by_Eugene_Alvin_Villar

And if you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

State of Delaware: Explore the Archives’ New Interactive Historical Markers Map. “The Delaware Public Archives is excited to announce the launch of an enhanced State of Delaware Historical Markers Map, now available on our website. … With just a few clicks, users can explore all the state’s official historical markers, discover detailed information about each site, and easily navigate to […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/16/state-of-delaware-explore-the-archives-new-interactive-historical-markers-map/

I rarely leave my neighborhood these days, so when the opportunity came last weekend to visit a town about 80 km from my home, I took a little detour to visit and take photos of the town’s only national historical marker.

(Those who have been following me long enough know that documenting historical markers in #Wikidata and #WikimediaCommons is one of my niche interests.)

https://wikidata.org/wiki/Q52144727

#history #HistoricalMarkers

Troy University: Wiregrass Archives launches interactive map for Alabama historical markers. “The Wiregrass Archives at Troy University-Dothan recently completed the Alabama Historical Marker Digital Enhancement Project, a grant-funded project that created a public-facing digital map for historical markers across the state. A partnership between the Alabama Historical Association Marker […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/06/02/troy-university-wiregrass-archives-launches-interactive-map-for-alabama-historical-markers/

Finally done processing an additional 50 photos meaning I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 400 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers of the #Philippines 🇵🇭! 🎉 I hope to complete 500 by the year’s end.

You can browse through all 400 in #WikimediaCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Perspective_corrections_by_Eugene_Alvin_Villar

And if you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Anyway, I have a backlog of around 140 photos with more on the way: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:TODO_-_Needs_perspective_correction

New-to-me, from The Dispatch (Mississippi): Historian captures state’s past, one marker at a time. “Every Saturday for two years, William ‘Brother’ Rogers hopped in the car, often with one or both of his sons, and set out across Mississippi, searching for history cast in metal. By 2016, Rogers had photographed every historic marker he knew of in all of Mississippi’s 82 counties…. Rogers […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/04/28/the-dispatch-mississippi-historian-captures-states-past-one-marker-at-a-time/

#AlbanyNY served up about 47 #historicalmarkers in 1886 to celebrate the city charter's bicentennial. Shocking/not shocking that only one never made it to its intended destination – the one honoring Black citizens.

The full story is here:

https://hoxsie.org/2020/10/01/what-happened-to-the-burdett-coutts-marker/

#BlackHistoryMonth #AlbanyHistory #BlackHistory #Albany #UpstateNY #UpstateNewYork

3) The other larger project we'll do in Intro to Public History involves #HistoricalMarkers.

Students will learn a bit about historical markers, where they come from, some of the discussion about their uses and abuses, etc. Then, they'll study historical markers in our specific region and consider them in terms of historical representation and narrative.

With that background, they'll be invited to either revise a group of current markers or to create a new set of historical markers around a particular event or theme in local history.

If all goes well, they'll do some sort of digital tour to bring their markers to life.

This is inspired, in part, by Delia Fernandez-Jones' Latinx Historical Markers project, which you can learn more about here:

https://deliafernandezjones.com/latinx-historical-markers

#Histodons #PublicHistory #Teaching #AcademicMastodon

Today is Rizal Day, a public holiday in the #Philippines 🇵🇭 honoring the martyrdom of national hero #JoséRizal. Rizal was executed on 30 December 1896 after being charged for sedition and rebellion against the Spanish colonial government.

As a simple token, here is a photo I took in 2017 of a historical marker installed by the Philippines’ national historical agency in Berlin at the site where Rizal stayed while writing his first novel, Noli Me Tangere.

#HistoricalMarkers #history #tootSEA

#30DayMapChallenge 🗺️ Day 2️⃣5️⃣: Heat

I’ve never done a heat map before so here I have 2 maps showing the same data where one is a heat map and the other is a hexbin.

The data are the locations of the #HistoricalMarkers from the National Historical Commission of the #Philippines 🇵🇭 as stored in #Wikidata. This is one of my ongoing projects: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Philippine_historical_markers

🧵 1/2

Not intending this to be a regular thing, but it took me another three months to process an additional 50 photos. I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 350 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers! 🎉

You can explore all 350 photos in this #WikimediaCommons category: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Perspective_corrections_by_Eugene_Alvin_Villar

If you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://www.vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Anyway, I still have a backlog of 150+ photos with more on the way: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:TODO_-_Needs_perspective_correction

Sinamahan ko ang kaibigan ko sa Angono, Rizal, at hindi ko mapapalampas na bisitahin at kunan ng letrato ang tanging panandang pangkasaysayan ng Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas sa Angono na para kay Botong Francisco, isang Pambansang Alagad ng Sining.

#HistoricalMarkers #history #BotongFrancisco #Angono #RizalProvince #Philippines

Ok, it took me almost three months to process an additional 50 photos but I have now completed doing perspective corrections on 300 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers! 🎉

You can explore all 300 photos in this Commons category page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Perspective_corrections_by_Eugene_Alvin_Villar

If you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://www.vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Anyway, I still have a backlog of 130+ photos with more on the way: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:TODO_-_Needs_perspective_correction

I’ve finished doing perspective corrections on 250 photos of NHCP #HistoricalMarkers! 🎉 I have been doing this sort of photo editing on and off since 2017 and this is in support of the historical markers @wikidata /Commons project I and a few others are working on (e.g., my Panandâ mobile app).

You can explore all 250 photos in this Commons category page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Perspective_corrections_by_Eugene_Alvin_Villar

If you’re curious how I am doing this, a slightly outdated process is on my blog: https://www.vaes9.com/posts/perspective_correction

Just came across this #HistoricalMarker website, which seems like a cool thing to exist.
https://www.hmdb.org/
#TagZone #History #ReadThePlaque #HistoricalMarkers #Database

For three years, I've been running down the stories behind a series of bronze tablets the city of #Albany NY created in 1886 for the bicentennial of its 1686 city charter. I finally got to the last one, No. 47, showing the site of the old state Capitol building.

https://hoxsie.org/2024/01/29/albany-bicentennial-tablet-no-47-old-capitol/

#LocalHistory #histodons #AlbanyNY #HistoricalMarkers #HistoricalMarker

We have a new historical marker!

The unveiling of the “Arrival of the Pan Am China Clipper in the Philippines” historical marker earlier today at the Manila Yacht Club makes this the first time we officially have an aviation-related historical marker from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines! (Surprisingly, Philippine Airlines still doesn’t have its own historical marker yet.)

📷 Andre Ryan Maceda

#aviation #avgeek #history #HistoricalMarkers #PanAm #ChinaClipper

Albany Bicentennial Tablet 46 – a #marker honoring "Jewish Congregations," which I suppose was originally placed on this structure when it was Temple Beth Emeth. Haven't found the marker, but I did try to give a capsule history of the major #Jewish congregations in #Albany, including Albany's role in reform Judaism as the home of Rabbi Isaac Wise.

https://hoxsie.org/2024/01/17/albany-bicentennial-tablet-no-46-jewish-congregations/

#AlbanyNY #AlbanyHistory #LocalHistory #histodons #historicalmarker #historicalmarkers #historicmarker #historicmarkers

We're in the bonus round – the #Albany Bicentennial Markers that somehow were not recorded by the Bicentennial Committee in 1886. This one marks Madison Avenue and makes note of one of its former names, but doesn't provide more than that. Hoxsie will at least tell you who Lydius was.

Follow the link:
https://hoxsie.org/2023/12/05/albany-bicentennial-tablet-no-43-madison-avenue/

#LocalHistory #Histodons #AlbanyHistory #AlbanyNY #historicalmarker #historicalmarkers #historicmarker #historicmarkers

#30DayMapChallenge 🗺️ Day 1️⃣4️⃣: #Europe 🌍

For today’s theme, here are the locations with photos of all known and extant #HistoricalMarkers (aka commemorative plaques) found in Europe that were created by the National Historical Commission of the #Philippines (#NHCP). It turns out that these are all related to our national hero José Rizal since he traveled extensively in Europe.

(I was fortunate enough to visit the 2 markers in Germany and would love to visit the rest!)

#JoseRizal

1/3

I often write about the #LocalHistory of #AlbanyNY – I've been focused on telling the stories of a series of #markers put up during the city's charter #bicentennial.
The latest entry tells some stories of one of #Albany's shortest streets, Norton Street, where #AaronBurr once practiced law.

https://hoxsie.org/2023/07/10/albany-bicentennial-tablet-no-39-norton-street/

#history #HistoricalMarker #HistoricalMarkers #histodons

Today is the 107th birthday of Horacio de la Costa, a noted historian and the first Filipino to become the head of the #Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in the #Philippines.

And because I love looking at and documenting #HistoricalMarkers, here is a photo I took of one of the national markers commemorating him that was unveiled at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2017.

Wikipedia bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_de_la_Costa

#history