Placemaking through Storytelling: Remembering Sacred Spaces

In an Alabama town there is a bottom-up movement to communicate under-represented, African-American history through a series of “sacred sites” in the landscape. This underrepresented history includes former slaves engaged in early city development, Black land owners, redlining practices, and racial injustice. History education presently does not have the capacity to fully discuss these truths, and there is a movement to make them apparent in our cities. Rosenwald Schools, lynching sites, cemeteries, and formerly segregated schools are considered sacred due to their significance in the African- American and simply, American experience. In The Power of Place Dolores Hayden argues that we are fascinated with the past when touring historic sites but miss opportunities to translate this to our neighborhoods imbued with place-making potential. She states, “If Americans were to find their own social history preserved in the public landscapes of their own neighborhoods and cities, then connection to the past might be different” (Hayden, 46). This connection to place and history exists for local African-American families and has potential to engage a collective city. While some histories are painful, all should be evident for united progress. As stated by a Community Remembrance Project member, “There can be no reconciliation and healing without remembering the past” (2021).

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.21.15

Volume Editors
Rico Quirindongo & Georgeen Theodore

ISBN
978-1-944214-39-5