Forgetting and Remembering "Poverty Row": A Case Study of the Pullman National Monument

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

President Obama established the Pullman National Monument in 2015. Within months, private developers advanced plans to redevelop the site known historically as “Poverty Row” as the “Pullman Artspace Lofts.” This significant but often excluded site is associated with the difficult history of some of the poorest, mostly immigrant, workers who participated in the Pullman Strike of 1894. After a three-year struggle, the developers prevailed; no concession was made requiring them to commemorate or interpret the history of “Poverty Row.” However, publicity about the conflict encouraged visitor engagement with the site and helped recover the history of the other tenement block houses of Fulton Street, all of which have been destroyed. What cultural and economic forces led to the destruction of these tenements in the past? What forces encouraged the drive to reconceive and rebrand this cultural landscape in the present? How does struggle itself inspire public participation and community involvement?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 260