铁路的城市

仅仅因为某人在某个地区出生和长大，并不能保证他们了解当地的历史. 为阿尔图纳的人准备的, 马蹄形曲线 may just be where the tourists go, not a Nazi target in World War II. The Mishler Theatre might only be where the local community theatre performs, not a must-stop on the vaudeville circuit for national acts. And certainly, 阿尔图纳 never played a role in the Underground Railroad.

但是它做到了. At one point or another in its history, 阿尔图纳 was all of those things. 现在，更多的人将了解这些事件，因为十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校的一群通信专业的学生制作了一部纪录片, History of the 宾西法尼亚 Railroad in 阿尔图纳, which was shown on WPSU on 11月4日.

这部纪录片, produced by students in 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校’s communications program, 周六在wpsu电视台播出, 11月4日, 2023.

“The History of the 宾西法尼亚 Railroad in 阿尔图纳,” produced by students enrolled in COMM 490A, 探索了宾夕法尼亚中部工业的起源，并解释了阿尔图纳地区的铁路如何成为国家工业发展的主要因素, commercial and cultural development. 它还详细介绍了19世纪早期宾夕法尼亚州铁路建设的起源，同时探索了20世纪交通挑战的复杂性. 这部纪录片最后对当今铁路工业的重要性进行了调查.

The video was produced in COMM 490A, a senior-level capstone course. Student contributors are Kolby Cowher, 迈克尔Filardi, 萨曼莎Mohney, 还有布列塔尼·施罗德, all communications majors at 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校.

这部纪录片由特洛伊McCarty制作，由Jewel Weyandt监督进行历史研究. The project was narrated by 艾萨克Swanson. 除了, 马克·弗雷德里克, a local documentary producer and 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 graduate, served as executive producer and mentor on the project.

Credit: 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 COMM 490A Students, Fall 2023

在鲍勃·特朗普教授的COMM 490A课上，学生们正在为他们的毕业毕业项目绞尽脑汁，这时珠儿·韦扬特有了一个主意. “起初我想的是鬼魂和马蹄形曲线下的隧道，”她说. But Trumpbour encouraged the students to go larger “and focus on the railroad. Everyone in the class thought that was a good idea.”

研究 started with a simple field trip—the 铁路工人纪念博物馆离校园只有十分钟的路程. There the students were introduced to the history of the railroad in 阿尔图纳. During that visit, Weyandt met local historian 马克·弗雷德里克. “I brought a paper and a pen and Mr. Frederick and I sat down and worked out the subjects. 我们坐在那里聊了一会儿，然后我拿出了一个草稿，”Weyandt解释道.

From there it was a matter of dividing up the subjects to be tackled, researching the history of each subject, filming the interviews with local historians, writing a script for the narration, putting video together with the words, 和编辑, 编辑, 编辑—all in just fourteen weeks. Students involved included Weyandt, 特洛伊McCarty, 艾萨克Swanson, 山姆Mohney, Kolby Cowher, 布列塔尼施罗德, 还有迈克尔Filardi.

McCarty took the lead in 编辑. “I put together all the clips,” he says. “I worked with others to get the b-roll together.“给外行人, a “b-roll” is all those pictures that move a story along or, 正如他所说, “to give viewer a little more insight on what we’re talking about. 我们可以把它缝合到纪录片中，不仅描述它，而且展示它, 例如, 马蹄形曲线.”

最初, 这段视频本来应该只有15分钟——展示这座城市是如何从铁路中受益的——但这个小组很快意识到，这段视频太短了. “我们得到的所有信息是，如果我们做15分钟，它会感觉不稳定，并且有很多跳跃,麦卡蒂说. So they worked on fifteen minutes at a time. “We would meet in a group at the library and go over the entire film, making sure we had the right cues in the right spot. 我们想确保我们在同一页上-什么对电影最好，什么对观众最好.”

Swanson served as narrator and edited some as well. “I felt really honored to be voted to be the voiceover,” he says. “It was a big group effort for putting it together. I helped coordinate interviews with some of my project-mates.” Although a script was written, he still suggested changes. “I made some edits when it came to things on the voiceover. 甚至在制作过程中，我也提出了一些建议，让它听起来更“体面”.’”

学生们在做研究的同时可以自由地追求自己的兴趣. “I researched the hotels,” Weyandt says. “我觉得人们过去在那里避暑是很酷的，而且市中心过去是多么的豪华.”

施罗德对阿尔图纳有了新的看法，她在研究中发现“乔治·伯恩斯在自传的标题中提到了阿尔图纳”! 我觉得很酷，这样一个高调的名人(当时)知道我们的小镇，并经常光顾它. I feel like in a small way it helped bring the documentary to life, 因为我们总是听说，在铁路鼎盛时期，阿尔图纳是一个繁华的城市. It really helped put that time period into perspective for me.”

莫尼喜欢接受采访:“和来自这个地区的不同的人谈论他们对铁路的渊博知识，真是太棒了. 总的来说，这是一个有趣但具有挑战性的项目，我很自豪地说我参与了其中.”

该项目的受访者包括来自美国国家公园管理局的护林员Elizabeth Shope Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site; Jared Frederick, 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校的历史助理教授和热心的历史学家, 关于历史马蹄形曲线 as well as on World War II; Harriett Gaston, academic advisor at 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 and community historian, 谁来管理 Blair County African American History site, on the Underground Railroad; Jared Frederick on sports in 阿尔图纳; and John Trumpbour, a labor historian at Harvard University, 关于铁路工人的罢工. 视频的结尾是对布莱恩·施莱克教练的采访 rail transportation engineering program at 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校, the only one of its kind in the country.

接受采访的历史学家对学生们在学习和教育方面的努力表示赞赏. “这是一个良好的开端，可以让新来者和年轻的布莱尔县居民了解，也可以提醒布莱尔县的老年居民，宾夕法尼亚铁路对阿尔图纳及其他地区的历史和人民的影响,加斯顿指出.

Credit goes to the students, says 马克·弗雷德里克. “I advised the students on what topics to research, they did the rest. 他们在这个项目上付出了难以置信的努力，最终结果不言自明.”

While the students were the ones to make the final decisions on the project, 他们也毫不犹豫地承认他们从教师那里得到的支持. Even before he came to 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 McCarty, 前海军陆战队员, was researching what major he might choose. “I checked out the comms field and I saw PR and journalism. I had some skills that transferred to comms; it’s what I wanted to pursue. 我和医生谈过了. Kevin Moist(十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校的通讯项目主管)，他向我证实了这就是我想做的.” Moist continues to be a mentor for McCarty. “I always have him to help me out. When there’s things in my writing, he helps me get there. 他帮了很大的忙.”

尽管这个项目涉及大量的工作，斯旺森说，“我110%喜欢它. 很自由.” He also appreciated the faculty input. “Dr. Bob [Trumpbour] has always supported us. He’s given us some really good advice.”

反思她的经历, 韦扬特希望其他学生知道这一点:“我从没想过我会在大学里做这样的事情. 其他大学生需要知道，如果他们愿意，他们可以做这样的事情——他们可以做一些有趣的事情.”