Timeline

To build our interactive timelines, we first read through Haldore Hanson’s book Human Endeavor and identified key events he personally experienced or described during his travels in wartime China. For the personal timeline, we wrote our own summaries of each event and selected accompanying photographs from Carleton’s digital Hanson Collection. For the major historical events timeline, we organized entries by their documented start dates, consulted secondary historical sources for accurate descriptions, and located public-domain images through online archival searches. We titled each event with a clear headline to mirror the style of news reporting during the 1930s.

Both timelines were constructed using the basic TimelineJS template. Its clean black-and-white design complements the monochrome photographs in the Hanson Collection. By presenting each entry with a headline reminiscent of old newspaper formatting, we aim to evoke the urgency and gravity of wartime reporting for contemporary audiences.

StoryMap

To create the StoryMap, we draw on Hanson’s photographs from the Carleton Digital Archives, the documentation he published in Humane Endeavour: The Story of the China War, and the specific locations identified from his book, all presented through ArcGIS StoryMaps’ interactive storytelling tools. The content is organised into a clear sequence, beginning with a mapped overview of his travel route and followed by photo-based sections for each major stop. Using features, such as guided tours within StoryMap, we pair visuals with concise text to highlight his experiences and his documentation of the lives of Chinese people during the war.