Only a handful of people take the time to read the plaque of a statue or sculpture, to learn the full story or significance to their town.
And that’s something David Trowbridge hopes to change.
This 38-year-old is ready to revolutionize the way people see the world around them with his new app “Clio.”
This application, which can be downloaded to any smartphone for free, helps people discover history with just a tap on a screen.
You can also access the app at www.theclio.com.
Once the app is downloaded, users can type in a city, zip code or search within a certain mile radius to search for a historical site, museum or landmark.
Each entry is categorized by tags like “political and diplomatic history,” “art and art museums” or “military history” to help filter results.
Entries also include a brief history written by museum professionals, scholars, local history experts and grad students. Anyone who creates a login can post content and create their own entry on Clio, but the entries must first be approved by administrators for accuracy.
Entries sometimes contain links to other websites like Wikipedia or Amazon and pictures from the past. The address to each spot is listed at the top of each entry and, when tapped, can provide directions to the location.
“Basically Clio is like Yelp,” Trowbridge said.
Yelp is a popular smartphone application that allows users to review hotels, restaurants and other businesses
“I sort of had the idea when using Yelp and thought ‘Why not make something for history and culture?’” he said.
Just like Yelp, Clio allows users to review historical sites.
Trowbridge is currently the associate professor for the department of history and the director for African and African American studies at Marshall University, but once worked for the University of Kansas.
It was during this time, nearly 10 years ago, when he was teaching at the university that he got the initial idea for this unique app.
Trowbridge wanted his students to experience history for themselves in a fun, hands-on way. So after teaching a lesson, he asked his students to visit places throughout town that were related to African American history.
He said students were excited to close their books for a while and get out of the classroom.
Instead of just reading about an event, they were able to see the place for themselves and learn from a different point of view, which helped students feel a connection and made it easier to learn.
“They really got excited about those things. It’s rare for a student to love an assignment,” Trowbridge said. “You can learn about Gettysburg, but there’s a specialty about going to the places ... If you know that story you’re going to enjoy it a lot more.”
The only problem was that students sometimes had a hard time finding the exact location of the historical site.
Trowbridge was always trying to figure out a way to incorporate GPS technology and that’s where he got the idea for Clio, which takes users’ present locations and guides them to historic sites.
He began to think of all the unmarked historic sites not only in big cities, but also in people’s own towns that remained unnoticed to the public eye.
He said each town — no matter how big or how small — has a backstory.
The idea for the app began to snowball from there.
“Ultimately I want people to start thinking about local history as well. Connect your sense of the past with your sense of place,” Trowbridge said.
He almost named the app “Highways to History” or “This Place Matters,” but said apps with shorter names generally tend to be more popular.
So he named the app after the ancient Greek muse of history.
“Clio just seemed natural,” he said.
The app was released to the public in July but is now quickly gaining attention, and new entries are added daily.
©2014 the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.)
