Renowned speaker, exhibition to help remember Syracuse’s 15th Ward April 16

Renowned speaker, exhibition to help remember Syracuse’s 15th Ward April 16March 31, 2009Erica Blustesblust@syr.edu

Renowned speaker Mindy Fullilove, author of “Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It” (One World/Ballantine, 2004) will speak about the impact of urban renewal on such cities as Syracuse on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, 819 Madison St., Syracuse. The talk is free and open to the public.

Fullilove, a professor of clinical psychiatry and clinical sociomedical sciences at Columbia University, is a board certified psychiatrist who has conducted research on AIDS and other epidemics of poor communities, with a special interest in the relationship between the collapse of communities and decline in health. Her talk is part of a wider commemoration of Syracuse’s 15th Ward, a predominantly Jewish and African American neighborhood that was destroyed in the late 1950s and early 1960s through urban renewal, the construction of Interstate 81 and the expansion of Upstate Medical Center (now SUNY Upstate Medical University).

Fullilove’s talk will be accompanied by the photography exhibition “15th Ward: Memories of a Syracuse Neighborhood Transformed,” which was organized, researched, designed and constructed by museum studies students in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) under the direction of instructor Bradley Hudson. A reception and viewing time for the exhibition will be held April 16 at 5 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

The exhibition traces the historical development of the neighborhood from the early 20th century through the urban renewal period of the 1960s and concludes with a look at the neighborhood as it is found today. On view will be photographs that document the early days of the district as it evolved into a center for Jewish life in Syracuse. As the area progressed from those early days, it gradually became a destination for African Americans moving north in search of a better life. The photographs also show the neighborhood during the urban renewal period and the construction of I-81.

The exhibition consists of nearly 60 photographs drawn from the collections of the Judaic Heritage Center, the Onondaga Historical Association, the Coulter Library at Onondaga Community College and Beauchamp Library, as well as former and current residents of this part of the city. Included in the exhibition are the photographs of Aldo Tambellini and Marjory Wilkins.

The event is organized by VPA’s Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in conjunction with University and community partners, including the Judaic Heritage Center, the Southwest Community Center, Temple Society of Concord and Grace Episcopal Church. It is supported by a grant from Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life.

For more information, contact Kendall Phillips, chair of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, at (315) 443-2883 or kphillip@syr.edu.