How to use the Voting Viva Voce website

This website explores the lives of the residents of two nineteenth century American cities: Alexandria, Virginia in 1860 and Newport, Kentucky in 1870. Alexandria was a commercial city based on slave labor; Newport was an industrial city based on immigrant labor. The website allows the user to search for individuals, for social groups, and for businesses; the results of searches are displayed on a map of the city showing the residences of individuals and the location of businesses. The information displayed includes demographic details (age, sex, race) as well as occupation, wealth, religious membership, relationship to slavery (in the case of Alexandria), and, most surprisingly, for both cities, the names of the candidates individuals voted for in elections.

• Want to explore slavery in a commercial city? Search Alexandria during the 1850s
• Want to explore immigrant labour in an industrial city? Search Newport during the 1870s
• Learn about Public Voting, by voice or ticket
• Looking for someone? Search for Individuals in Alexandria and Newport

About the Project

The project was created by Professor Don DeBats who is a political historian based at Flinders University in Australia and the University of Virginia in the United States.