Rondo is a predominantly African American neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a familiar story. Across the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, an estimated 1,600 communities of color were destroyed by highway construction. Rondo was one of these neighborhoods, sacrificed to the asphalt as cities across the country weaponized their arteries by building “white roads through Black bedrooms.”
Marvin Anderson remembers what the City of St. Paul did to his neighborhood, and he has made it his life’s mission to Remember Rondo. In 2015, Mr. Anderson and Rebecca Wingo joined forces to create RememberingRondo.org, a vibrant history hub with a community-based digital archive, a map of Rondo’s historic businesses, and much more. While Wingo’s academic institution initially hosted the project, Rondo Avenue, Inc. wanted control over their content. Following the model of a shared authority, we transferred the projects.
Then in 2020, someone did not pay the bill. Remembering Rondo is gone.
We have a responsibility to the community members who invested their time and personal history into digital platforms. Academic institutions have a long history of extractive methodologies – particularly among historically-excluded communities – but they offer maintenance and stability for complex data management plans. When communities decide to untether themselves from academic institutions, what additional structures need to be in place to ensure the health and longevity of the projects? Using Rondo as a case study we explore the questions public historians and communities operating in digital spaces must ask to reach A Sustainable Shared Authority.
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Rebecca S. Wingo is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of Public History at the University of Cincinnati.
Marvin Roger Anderson, retired Attorney at Law and former Minnesota State Law Librarian, has been and continues to be a community activist and key figure involved with ongoing efforts to celebrate the past, present and future of Saint Paul’ African American community of Rondo.
Tuesday, 3 September 2024
18.00 - 20.00
Maison du Savoir, 3rd floor
2, place de l’Université
L-4365 Esch-sur-Alzette
and online
Free entrance, please register to participate in-person or online.