Detroit vs. Slow Archaeology: Blight Removal and its Obstacles to Local and Community-based Practices

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Slow Archaeology + Fast Capitalism: Hard Lessons and Future Strategies from Urban Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2014 one-third of Detroit’s 380,000 parcels were designated as blight. On these vacated lots 40,000 neglected, decaying buildings were slated for demolition. The Detroit Land Bank's demolition campaign, partly financed by federal Hardest Hit Funds, has had disproportionate adverse impacts on historic and archaeological resources, especially those associated with the city’s working class and African-American residents. This presentation exposes how federal policies towards blight removal are undermining preservation efforts, “slow” collaborative and community-based archaeology projects, and the CRM industry. We use the case study of the Halleck Street Log Cabin to highlight some of the limits and obstacles to an intended community-involved archaeology and preservation project. We then discuss the activist outcomes of the project. We approach the topic of slow archaeology from our respective professional positions in academia and CRM with the purpose of identifying points of intersection and divergence between our practices in the city.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Slow Archaeology + Fast Capitalism: Hard Lessons and Future Strategies from Urban Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 138