This is my first time EVER posting on a blog. Whoohoo! Anyway, I'd like to share with you a couple of my impressions on the U Street Corridor.
Exiting the Center, I noticed there was a fair amount of foot traffic. People, African American and Caucasian alike, were walking about and seemed to be enjoying the neighborhood. However, as we came to the end of the block where the furniture store was located, I immediately noticed that African Americans were no where in sight. It was as if we had reached the place where an invisible boundary separated the African American and Caucasian population of that neighborhood.
The other thing that made a big impression on me was the African American War Memorial. The site is lovely and it encourages contemplation. That was my initial impression. My second impression of it was how much the style of it reminded me of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, located at the National Mall, but that's where the similarity ended, because I soon found myself wondering why the memorial was designed as is. For example, Why are the plates on which the names are inscribed so small? Why isn't this memorial grander like the memorials that we see at the National Mall? Did the residents of the U Street Corridor have a voice in the design of the memorial, or was it simply imposed on them? Given my personal nature, I would like to believe that the African American War Memorial is pleasing to everyone in the neighborhood. However, due to some of our class discussions, now I'm not so sure what to think of the memorial...
Margaret
Great observation Margaret, I definitely agree. Why isn't the African American memorial grander? Although I think the sculpture itself is amazing, the names are definitely small. We'd have to look at the background as to when this memorial was first erected and who was behind the design idea. Perhaps they didn't want it to look TOO much like the Vietnam memorial?
ReplyDeleteWhat I can say is this: In regards to the design and implementation of the Vietnam memorial, it was a huge accomplishment and a grand idea by, at the time, an art|design student at Yale University--her name is Maya Lin--now one of the most famous landscape designers|architects...she was 21 and competed in this nation-wide competition and her idea won.
Perhaps the memorial was brought about in the same way? Or maybe, as I noticed on the back of the sculpture, the artist added the touch with the names encompassing the memorial?
But what really raised questions to me was this: for such a "chocolate city" [quoting a flyer I saw], why are these memorials and museums--an integral part of any community that was once dominant--at least in population alone, so small and hidden? Are all these points of history and display of culture an afterthought?
Hi Kim,
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I agree with your perception that the memorials and museums appear small and hidden. Perhaps some of it has to do with the many historical site designations. It's clear that developers with big money have been able to make changes to the neighborhood. However, does the community itself have the financial resources to purchase a substantial-sized area of land upon which to construct a museum or memorial? In some respects, it seems, at least to me, that historical designations drive up the market value of land, making it more difficult for a community group to purchase land, at an affordable price, upon which to build a museum or memorial. Then, again, maybe it's simply an "afterthought" as you suggest.
Margaret