Speech systems research at Texas Instruments

An assessment of automatic speech processing technology is presented. Fundamental problems in the development and the deployment of automatic speech processing systems are defined and a technology forecast for speech systems is presented

Slavery and dogs in the Antebellum South

Sniffing the Past is pleased to present its second guest contribution. David Doddington sheds light on the history of dogs and slavery, drawing heavily primary source material

Historic Preservation as Social Justice: Analyzing Historic Charleston Foundation\u27s Elliottborough Neighborhood Impact Initiative

While scholars debate the causes of gentrification and some question if it exists, the revitalization of inner-city neighborhoods more often than not results in the displacement of many of its residents. Failure to engage the unintended consequences of gentrification are world-wide. Some policy-makers embraced gentrification as a panacea for all their city\u27s problems. The displacement of the urban poor and lower-middle class weakens not only their bonds with generations of community but also the character of the neighborhood which attracted the gentrifiers in the first place. Grassroots organizations have attempted anti-displacement efforts by in many places, but there have been few studies of their effects. In the late 1990s, Historic Charleston Foundation, an organization with a long record of accomplishment in neighborhood-wide regeneration efforts, joined forces with Calvary Episcopal Church\u27s Community Housing Development Organization in an effort to rehabilitate blighted properties in the Elliottborough neighborhood while mitigating displacement. This paper analyzes the program from a demographic, financial, and social perspective utilizing archival records and oral histories to explore the positive and negative outcomes. These outcomes inform recommendations for future projects which seek to preserve the architectural fabric of a community while providing equitable access to the resulting environment for present and future residents

“Old fellows”: Age, identity, and community in slave communities of the Antebellum South

The last few decades have seen scholars successfully challenge the idea that enslaved men in the U.S. South were emasculated by slavery, proving that despite their oppression, enslaved men could craft a gendered sense of self. Much work on the topic has focused on public demonstrations of strength and virility, on resistance, or on men’s activities as husbands and fathers, providers and protectors. However, at times, this work has treated manhood and male identity as static, and has not considered change over the course of a lifespan. As enslaved men grew older, the performances expected of them and the possibilities afforded them could shift, and this shift was not inevitably perceived of as positive or accepted without strife. While much existing work on conditions of life for elderly enslaved people has stressed the solidarity and assistance other members of the community extended to them, support was not always offered, nor was it always desired. In this article, I explore perceptions of change contemporaries associated with age and consider how this impacted on the lives of enslaved men in slave communities of the antebellum U.S. South