4Culture Heritage Mapping Project

Contents: About the Project | Project Goals | Data Sources | Technical Development | Acknowledgments | Tech

About the Project

The 4Culture Heritage Mapping Project is a digital initiative that visualizes cultural organizations that care for publicly accessible collections of King County’s heritage and material culture. 4Culture is King County’s cultural services agency which provides funding and support for the cultural work that makes King County vibrant. 4Culture’s Heritage Department was chartered to support, advocate for and preserve the heritage of the region, which includes its local history, ethnic history, Native cultures, folklore and intangible cultural heritage, and historic and archaeological resources.

This project makes visible both institutional and community-based practices of cultural preservation across the region.

Project Goals

This multi-year research project aims to assist 4Culture staff with visualizing:

• The location of known heritage collections
• Subject areas and community histories preserved in known heritage collections
• King County’s community-based collections that use community-driven approaches to perpetuating history, memory, and identity
• Collections “deserts,” a geographic area that has no known repository preserving the history and/or communities of the area
• The work of organizations historically underrepresented in the heritage field

Characteristics of included projects

The map will include collections that applied for Heritage Collections Care funding meaning they:

1. Are held in the public trust by nonprofits with 501(c)3 status.
2. Contain historical and cultural materials relevant to King County’s past - this includes materials that align with any of the heritage categories.
3. Collections materials are accessible to the public through public interpretation, frequent real time or online display, or by appointment.

Time permitting or in future intern rounds, the map could also include projects that applied for Heritage Projects funding that fall within the Society for American Archivist’s definition of community archive:

1. Documentation of a group of people that share common interests, and social, cultural and historical heritage,
2. Usually created by members of the group being documented, and
3. Maintained outside of traditional archive. With a focus on projects created by and for underrepresented communities, maintained outside traditional institutions, and centered on community control and cultural self-determination.

Data Sources

Content on this site is drawn from:

• Application materials submitted to 4Culture grant programs such as Heritage Projects and Collections Care
• Internal assessments and survey reports
• Publicly available organizational information
• Insights from community and program partners

The project displays organization-level information only and follows 4Culture’s data governance policy regarding sensitive or demographic data.

Technical Development

This site is built using CollectionBuilder-GH, an open-source tool developed by the University of Idaho Library and powered by GitHub Pages. Technical development and customization for this site are supported by the University of Washington. The platform prioritizes open access, sustainability, and minimal computing principles.

Acknowledgments

This project was developed as part of the FOCAS (Fostering Community Archives at Scale) program at the University of Washington.

• Intern: Luming Zhang (University of Washington)
• Student Advisor: Paul Jason Perez (University of Washington)
• Faculty Advisor: Marika Cifor (University of Washington)
• 4Culture Heritage Department Staff: Chieko Phillips and Natasha Varner

We also thank the broader 4Culture Heritage Department for their guidance, trust, and generosity in sharing their work, the FOCAS program for making this collaboration possible, and the many cultural organizations and individuals across King County whose heritage work, commitment, and care have informed this resource.