About

How do we do history in the age of computation and big data?

History has been likened to a vast tapestry, with every person and every place connected in patterns that unfold over time. We only begin to make out the meaning when we see how it is woven together into a larger whole. A loose thread or a tear in the fabric can change the picture or even cause it to unravel, making it impossible to recover past lessons.

Now, the amount of information is becoming overwhelming, and more and more is lost or destroyed, while the most crucial parts are kept secret and out of view. In the past, archivists carefully curated key documents, photos, and artifacts. But they can no longer cope with the exponential growth of information, much of it classified.

The mission of History Lab is to use data science to recover and repair the fabric of the past. We are beginning with declassified documents, which include some of the earliest examples of electronic records. By bringing together fragmented collections in a common database, we can use natural language processing and machine learning tools to explore them. The ultimate goal is to develop history as a data science so that citizens can keep government accountable in the age of big data.

Learn more about us below.