Released last spring, but re-launching this fall with marketing to coincide with the new school year, the iPad application Bauvais –Amoureux House: the Story of Pelagie, caught the attention of a group of students in Ste. Genevieve, MO.
The young people, who were already mounting a school and social-media driven anti-bullying campaign, found the app’s subject, the life of Pelagie Amoreux, eye-opening.
The app, made for the Bauvais-Amoreux historic house in Ste. Genevieve, was the brainchild of Don Strand, who learned just a few years ago that he is Pelagie’s great-great-great grandson.
Strand was eager to not only share her story, but also to explore larger, sometimes lost themes – such as the important role played by African-American women in US history and the long shadow cast by slavery in America.
He envisioned an iPad-enhanced experience that could speak to individuals, to visiting groups and to classrooms. To accommodate these different scenarios, Acoustiguide designed it to allow multiple ways to access the content. Users can explore Pelagie’s journey from slave, to mother, to freed woman chronologically, using a timeline feature that also provides historical context. The visitor can also explore thematic sections, for example, looking at the cases Pelagie brought before the court to protest the ways she was mistreated. The narrative modules have a documentary film feel and include provocative questions and interactive responses to facilitate discussion.
**Acoustiguide will be presenting the application as a case study at MCN in November.
