Kahler Paulson, “A Living Landscape: Hope and Renewal in Milwaukee’s Inner City”
Mentor: Arijit Sen, History, Letters & Science (College of)
Oral Presentation 9:15am Union E250
The discussion around inner city Milwaukee often revolves around words of despair. Neighborhoods are in disrepair, separated socially and lying neglected. However, this narrative may be countered by taking a moment to interact with and listen to the people living in these spaces. Scars have been left by local and national history, but so has the opportunity for repair and new life. The Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures public humanities project at UW-Milwaukee, since 2012, has spent time with these neighborhoods to recognize and unpack a richer narrative built on hope. We found, in this time, that the garden spaces in these communities play a pivotal role in how people reclaim ruined land and create vibrant central points for their neighborhoods. Examining the stories of these neighborhoods, with a recent focus on Midtown and Walnut Hill, takes place in various ways. Information from local archives, through Census data, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and permit records, show the land history of those spaces now in decay. Community-led walks through their neighborhoods and oral history collection reveal alternative forms of history that go unshared: how residents view their neighborhoods, the work of local leaders, and where community members gather all give rise to a history led first by the people living there. We aim to continue highlighting these communities as they are: a complicated network of people and spaces interacting with each other to create a community that continues to resist despair as a collective, even when otherwise disadvantaged. By concretizing their struggles and triumphs in forms that can be shared, the conversation around these neighborhoods becomes one that focuses on the present and future just as much as the past.