Civil Rights Heritage Preservation and the Malcolm X House: Archaeology in the Service of a Grassroots Movement

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Congress: Multivocal Conversations Furthering the World Archaeological Congress Agenda" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

An unassuming 800-square-foot home in working-class Inkster, Michigan, was, in some sense, the birthplace of Civil Rights leader Malcolm X in 1952. While living there he changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X and assumed the leadership roles in the Nation of Islam that launched his international prominence. By 2010 the Little family home was on the brink of demolition by neglect by its owner, the city of Inkster, until a local youth empowerment nonprofit—Project We Hope, Dream, Believe—intervened and secured the property’s future. The grassroots nonprofit has gradually succeeded in navigating local, state, and national historic preservation processes by partnering with educators and archaeologists. In 2022 archaeological interventions were conducted at the property in the service of the home’s restoration and community interests. This conversation involves the three partners who collaborated on the archaeological component of the project: nonprofit’s founder, the leader of the site’s preservation and fundraising successes, and the principal archaeologist. Our discussion considers the role of archaeology in contributing to the future of the Malcolm X house, empowering an underrepresented community, raising issues about access in the US historic preservation system, and promoting the heritage of the Civil Rights movement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeological Congress: Multivocal Conversations Furthering the World Archaeological Congress Agenda   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35975.0