This is an attempt to protect an African American cemetery and house in Charlottesville, VA threatened by a proposed transportation project. It is an example of a recent National Register determination of eligibility for a site that originally had its integrity challenged. The National Register traditionally recognizes a property’s integrity through seven aspects or qualities: location,…
“In a recent article in Architect magazine tied to the destruction of Prentice Hospital in Chicago—another travesty—my Design Observer colleague Alexandra Lange suggested the modern preservation movement was in need of a Penn Station Moment; the destruction of a monument so beloved that it would galvanize a movement to prevent future travesties. The Astrodome is…
“At her kitchen table she pulls out an old map from the Navarro County Historical Society and traces her finger from one town name to the next, including several old black communities. “These communities don’t exist no more,” she says. “Babylon, no more. Bethel, no more. Round Prairie’s about gone. Porter’s Bluff, it’s gone.” From…
Excerpts from Original, Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, & Rescued in 1853: Electronic Edition. Solomon Northup (b. 1808) I came across this interesting roundtable discussion in the NY Times An Essentially American Narrative A Discussion of Steve McQueen’s Film ‘12 Years a…
I am not always happy with the “outsider” label, but it is outside in the sense that it is more pure than most of the art we digest. But all of these artists are prophets.
That should never have happened. The destruction of Macy’s (formerly known as Foley’s), is a stab in this antiquarian’s heart. Not just because I like old things and am sentimental. I own all of that and try to make some use of that disposition. Lot of articles go on and on about fond memories of…
Fort Bend County’s little known African American history is in danger of being forgotten. Especially as it relates to struggles around voting rights in areas like Stafford and Fifth Street. The west end of the County commemorates the Terry V. Adams, which ended whites only primaries in Texas. See ceremony below: Terry v. Adams Marker…
Much of my research involves not only detecting the nature of planning and the role of memory in African American landscape development and preservation, but the historiography of planning. More specifically, I highlight the ontology, meanings, methods, and principles that informed early African American planning and advocate for its inclusion in current conceptualizations of planning…