Our focus was on the Saltwater Underground Railroad, a coastal waterway traveled by the formally enslaved people escaping Southern slave states into British-controlled Bahamas. It is considered an underrepresented cultural landscape with many heritage sites that are currently undocumented.

1. Utilize machine learning methods to analyze data sets within archival databases (e.g., historic records, geological data, etc.) to see what patterns in text and classification thereof can point to potential sites that have been overlooked or undervalued.

2. Assess the site's true vulnerability by adding the layer of climate risk to the modeling of varying climate impact scenarios to determine site prioritization led by community stakeholders, government organizations, archaeologists, and additional policy advisement.

Spring & Summer 2023

• IDSC Grant Awarded

• Identified key gaps in reviewing existing literature in the applications of machine learning in the cultural heritage discipline

Fall 2023

• Established preliminary partnership with the Florida Department of Historical Resources to identify the types of heritage data that are stored and currently being utilized at the state level within the Florida Master Site File (FMSF)

• Compiled and sorted preliminary datasets for preliminary training of topic modeling

Spring of 2024

• Performed topic modeling on data sets and developed life cycle methodology of heritage data analysis including ethical data governance planning

• Project completed and report out on key challenges and takeaways