This week in my oral history class, I shared with students some oral histories collected in 2007/8 with survivors of the 1918 Flu pandemic. It’s often said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes, and in this case, the resonances with our own pandemic era were very pointed for me and my students. Descriptions… Continue reading Pandemic Rhymes: Oral history and the 1918 Flu pandemic
Category: heritage
DeKalb County’s Houseworth family: Three generations of Black history
Last summer I wrote about the “Black Side of Town” in Avondale, inspired by Carl Houseworth, an African American laborer who lived in Avondale in the 1930s-1950s, and for whom the “Carl’s Corner” gateway is named. As I wrote before, Carl was part of an extended family of Houseworths who lived in and around Ingleside… Continue reading DeKalb County’s Houseworth family: Three generations of Black history
To be or not to be Mayberry
This is fourth in a series about the history of Avondale Estates, GA Ask people what the image of Avondale Estates is and you will get a lot of talk about a “tight-knit” community, rooted in old-fashioned traditions and local institutions that embody the shared values of family, community, and a sense of place. The… Continue reading To be or not to be Mayberry
“The Black Side of Town”: Challenging Avondale’s White-only Narrative
This is third in a series of posts about the history of Avondale Estates. Avondale Estates was restricted to white-only residents (or at least homeowners) for much of its 20th century history. And today the city is still almost 80% white.[1] Much of the recent diversification of Avondale’s population has come since 1998, as a… Continue reading “The Black Side of Town”: Challenging Avondale’s White-only Narrative
“The Right Kind of Neighbors”: Race and the Origins of Avondale Estates
This is second in a series of posts about the history of Avondale Estates, Georgia. In my last post I mentioned that racism and white supremacy were baked into Avondale Estates’ identity at its origin. This was both a function of the founder and his times. Avondale Estates was founded in the mid 1920s by… Continue reading “The Right Kind of Neighbors”: Race and the Origins of Avondale Estates
America’s Chinatowns Are Disappearing | Smart News
According to this article, Chinatown's are being squeezed. This is an old story; people have been predicting the demise of Philadelphia's Chinatown since at least the 1920s. It is true that gentrification is an issue, and that new immigration from China and elsewhere is down. investment from China is up. If Philadelphia's Chinatown is dying,… Continue reading America’s Chinatowns Are Disappearing | Smart News
Ask A Slave: A Comedy Web Series
Here’s an interesting public history take. Actress and comedian Azie Mira Dungey used to work as a historical reenactor at Mount Vernon. This new comedy series is based on the questions her character fielded from tourists to the site. I think it's a unique way to highlight some of the issues such "living history" raises, as… Continue reading Ask A Slave: A Comedy Web Series
The Memories Museum of Dr. Mohammed al-Khatib
In the midst of one of the many cramped and crowded alleyways of Beirut’s Shatila refugee camp, close to qa’at al-sha’ab, or the people’s hall, is a brown metal door leading to a ground-floor apartment and the relatively unknown museum of 66-year-old Mohammed al-Khatib, who collected 1,000 personal objects from Palestinians who fled the 1947-48 ethnic cleansing… Continue reading The Memories Museum of Dr. Mohammed al-Khatib
Murals Reclaiming Space in Philadelphia’s Chinatown
Murals are a powerful mode of communication in urban spaces, a vivid way of conveying important values and narratives in an immediate and visual way. And because they are located in and part of the existing urban landscape, they have a lot to say about place as well. grounded in the community, they create, reinforce… Continue reading Murals Reclaiming Space in Philadelphia’s Chinatown
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