2019 Reports

Historical Narrative, Spatial Power, And Social Justice: The Role of Memory in Shaping the Urban Landscape of Montgomery, Alabama

Avrami, Erica C.; Raynolds, William; Bayers, Whitney; Berry, Madeline; Borja, Kevin; Chen, Yu; Entrikin, Madeline; Fan, Xianqi; Jiang, Yaxin; O'Grady, Timothy; Warner, Kenneth; Yang, Kun; Zhao, Runpeng

Montgomery claims to be the most “historically marked” city in America due to its profusion of interpretative signage, monuments and historical structures. Its history is undoubtedly rich, though it has been contested from the beginning: the Muscogee (Creek) Nation were forcibly removed from the land during the Trail of Tears. It developed as a hub of slave trading, and became the first capital of the Confederacy, as well as an epicenter of the Civil Rights Movement. A Fall 2018 studio of Columbia graduate students in historic preservation and urban planning embarked on a study of how these often divergent narratives have been made tangible through interventions within the urban landscape. In the context of a city-wide master planning process currently underway, the students propose pathways to highlight the role of narrative in future decision-making about the built environment. The studio was undertaken with the support of World Monuments Fund and in collaboration with the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium.