Greening a PostIndustrial City: Applying keyword extractor methods to monitor a fast-changing environmental narrative
Worcester, Massachusetts (population just under 200,000) is the second largest city after Boston in Massachusetts, USA. It was important in the American industrial revolution; factories dominated its landscape until the mid-20th century when the city slid physically, and mentally, into post-industrial decline.
At first glance, Worcester might present an all-too-familiar global story of gentrification, the loss of city identity and community, but does even a small survey of the historic record of local public discourse confirm this view? Or does a more complicated local story surface?
To answer these questions, literary geographer Sarah Luria teams up with computer scientist Ricardo Campos, developer of the keyword extractor YAKE! to discover if it can create a helpful survey or image of stories told about a neighborhood over time. We believe this interdisciplinary work can play a crucial role by showing how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can track this fast-developing story of urban revitalization and environmental cleanup.
From our survey we curated a small corpus of 26 English-language texts that described the Canal District/Green Island over time. A majority of the texts are from 2018-2019, but examples from 1862, 1917, the 1980s and 1990s provide some historic range. The corpus includes descriptions of the Canal District before the industrial revolution altered it dramatically, the building of its canal and railroad, the peak of its industrialization and identity as an Irish working class neighborhood, its post-industrial decline, and its stages of revitalization. While a majority of texts come from the local major newspaper The Worcester Telegram Gazette, the corpus includes articles from New York Times, Boston Globe, and National Public Radio; also included are Worcester-born poet Mary Fell’s 1984 poem The Prophecy and historian Roy Rosenzweig’s acclaimed history of Worcester’s working class Eight Hours for What We Will (1985). A description of each one is given below.
Below we give some details of each text (sorted by date).
Filename: 1 - 1862_Lincoln, from History of Worcester (archive.org) landscape description
Source: William Lincoln, from History of Worcester Lincoln, William. History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 : with various notices relating to the history of Worcester County. Worcester: M.D. Phillips & Co., 1862.
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest1836linc/page/n6
Publication Date: 1862
Description: Worcester’s landscape before the industrial revolution.
Tokens: 256
Filename: 2 - 1879_Abijah Perkins Marvin, History of Worcester (archive.org), railroad descriptionn
Source: Abijah Perikins Marvin, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, embracing a comprehensive history of the country from its first settlement to the present time. Boston; Jewett & Co, 1879, pp. 82-83.
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest03marv/page/82
Publication Date: 1879
Description: A description of the beginning of the Blackstone canal and the Worcester railroad.
Tokens: 638
Filename: 3 - 1917_Washburn, Industrial History of Worcester (archive.org) re canal
Source: Charles G. Washburn, Industrial Worcester. Worcester: The Davis Press, 1917, p. 23.
URL: https://archive.org/details/industrialworces00wash/page/n6
Publication Date: 1917
Description: Description of the creation of the Blackstone canal and its importance
Tokens: 199
Filename: 4 - 1917_Washburn, Industrial History of Worcester (archive.org) re entrepreneurial spirit of city
Source: Charles G. Washburn, Industrial Worcester. Worcester: The Davis Press, 1917, p. 31.
URL: https://archive.org/details/industrialworces00wash/page/60
Publication Date: 1917
Description: The introduction of steam-power to Worcester industries.
Tokens: 72
Filename: 5 - 1917_Washburn, Industrial History, re importance of steam power
Source: Charles G. Washburn, Industrial Worcester. Worcester: The Davis Press, 1917, p. 300.
URL: https://archive.org/details/industrialworces00wash/page/60
Publication Date: 1917
Description: Entrepreneurial spirit of city.
Tokens: 150
Filename: 6 - 1983-25-9_Worcester Shedding Smokestack Image (New York Times)
Source: “Worcester Shedding Smokestack Image,” New York Times. Sept. 25, 1983.
Publication Date: 1983-25-9
Description:
Tokens: 911
Filename: 7 - 1984_Mary Fell, The Prophecy (Poem)
Source: Mary Fell, “The Prophecy”, from the Persistence of Memory. 1984.
URL: http://capa.conncoll.edu/fell.persistence.html
Publication Date: 1984
Description: Poem collection about Worcester.
Tokens: 328
Filename: 8 - 1985_Roy Rosenzweig, Eight Hours For What We Will (history of recreation for industrial labor)
Source: Roy Rosenzweig, Eight Hours For What We Will. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1985.
Publication Date: 1985
Description: A history of recreation for Worcester’s industrial labor force.
Tokens: 287
Filename: 9 - 1989-10-12_A New Look for an Old Area (New York Times) (Lafayette Place/Green Island)
Source: “Worcester, Mass.: A New Focus for an Old Area,” New York Times.
Publication Date: 1989-10-12
Description: The building of new senior affordable housing in Green Island.
Tokens: 450
Filename: 10 - 1997-11-18_Bureau urges liability relief for brownfields, WTG
Source: Bronislaus B. Kush, “Bureau urges liability relief for brownfields,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 1997-11-18
Description:
Tokens: 585
Filename: 11 - 1998-16-7_Green Island Businesses Say City Help Is Killing Them, WTG
Source: Bronislaus B. Kush, “Green Island Businesses Say City Help Is Killing Them,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 1998-16-7
Description:
Tokens: 597
Filename: 12 - 1999-12-1_Vacant Industrial Sites of No Use to Neighborhood, WTG
Source: Winston W. Wiley, “Vacant Industrial Sites of No Use to Neighborhood,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 1999-12-01
Description:
Tokens: 436
Filename: 13 - 2000-29-6_Green Island Revitalization Plan Dropped, WTG
Source: Lisa Eckelbecker, “Green Island Revitalization Plan Dropped,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2000-29-6
Description:
Tokens: 446
Filename: 14 - 2007-25-9_Canal District Shapes Up: Old Buildings, New Life on Green Street, WTG
Source: Shaun Sutner, “Canal District Shapes Up: Old Buildings, New Life on Green Street,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2007-25-09
Description:
Tokens: 645
Filename: 15 - 2011-23-8_Life in Green Island: We have Hope. In City Times (local alternative newspaper)
Source: Maureen Schwab, “Life in Green Island: We have Hope,” In City Times (local alternative newspaper).
Publication Date: 2011-23-08
Description:
Tokens: 1149
Filename: 16 - 2018-8-17_WooSox Ball Park Has Long History. Boston Globe
Source: Tim Logan, “New Home for WooSox Has Long History,” Boston Globe.
Publication Date: 2018-8-17
Description:
Tokens: 632
Filename: 17 - 2018-10-11_Time to Talk About Gentrification in Worcester, Worcester Mag.
Source: Bill Shaner, “It’s Time to Talk About Gentrification in Worcester,” Worcester Magazine.
Publication Date: 2018-10-11
Description:
Tokens: 4165
Filename: 18 - 2018-10-23_Worcester: The New “It Town.” National Public Radio
Source: Aaron Schachter, “Worcester: The New‘It’ Town.” National Public Radio: WGBH.
Publication Date :2018-10-23
Description:
Tokens: 1184
Filename: 19 - 2018_Worcester, A City Reclaimed. Vitality Magazine
Source: Bernard Whitmore, “A Mayor, A Manager, A City Reclaimed.” Vitality Magazine.
Publication Date: 2018-11
Description:
Tokens: 2077
Filename: 20 - 2019-2-27_Worcester Organizers Hear from Nashville, Buffalo on Tips for WooSox CBA Push, Worcester Mag.
Source: Bill Shaner, Worcester Organizers Hear from Nashville, Buffalo on Tips for WooSox CBA Push,” Worcester Magazine.
Publication Date: 2019-02-27
Description:
Tokens: 540
Filename: 21_2019-4-10_A Totally Cool Place to Live. MassLive?
Source: Aviva Luttrell, “A Totally Cool Place to Live,” MassLive.com.
Publication Date: 2019-04-10
Description:
Tokens: 497
Filename: 22 - 2019-6-1_New Shine for Old Building: Former Walker Shoe Factory to be Converted into Studios. WTG
Source: Scott O’Connell, “New Shine for Old Building: Former Walker Shoe Factory to be Converted into Studios,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2019-06-01
Description:
Tokens: 468
Filename: 23 - 2019-6-20_Construction, WooSox, and Regulation are Killing Canal District Dreams. Worcester Business Journal
Source: Renee Diaz, “Construction, WooSox, and Regulation are Killing Canal District Dreams,” Worcester Business Journal.
Publication Date: 2019-06-20
Description:
Tokens: 739
Filename: 24 - 2019-6-24_Worcester Gets Brownfield Funds. WTG
Source: “Worcester Gets Brownfield Funds,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2019-06-24
Description:
Tokens: 517
Filename: 25 - 2019-6-24_Worcester Pledges $3M to Green Island. WTG
Source: Kim Ring, “Worcester Pledges $3M to Green Island,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2019-06-24
Description:
Tokens: 490
Filename: 26 - 2019-7-6_An Away Game for Businesses; Property Owners Near Ballpark Site Make Way for Development. WTG
Source: “An Away Game for Businesses; Property Owners Near Ballpark Site Make Way for Development,” Worcester Telegram Gazette.
Publication Date: 2019-07-06
Description:
Tokens: 1322