Voyant tools helps analyze the WPA narratives for the prominent words by states and interviewees. These tools can then complement the textual analysis of words from Voyant into graphs and mapping. Kepler.gl shows specific places of people in time and space. Timelines and the interviewees can be easily cross referenced between all three software platforms. Using these three tools, the researcher can evaluate hypothesis about the narratives, like topic specific research or keywords from the narratives. For example, war stood out in the voyant tools, but was found to be spelled that way for the word, “were.” In the kepler.gl software, topics and words were not as prominent. It is a mapping tool that can be layered with multiple types of information. For the project practice of WPA slave narratives in Alabama, the user is able to see distances of travel from enslaved to where people had settled. The user can further make different maps of where the interviews occurred, nodes of how large a topic was or interactions. Visually the maps allow popup information and can be as detailed or limited as needed for clearer map visuals. The software tool, Palladio, is a different type of mapping tool yet is a complement to kepler.gl. Both can function as traditional maps of people moving over time, but both take analysis further than just movement. In Palladio, network graphs can be illustrated from the data from the WPA narratives. Specific topics can be linked to either the interviewer, or by type of slave, or by gender. While for this specific database, the networks at times did not reveal any larger patterns compared to voyant and reading the text, it adds a visual element for learners without reading and analyzing the entire interviews in Alabama. All three have their limitations but together, the interviews can show linkages, and distinct history about the enslaved, and the history of the narratives.
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