Picturing Milwaukee: Conserving Local Heritage
Francesca Bisi Introduction Picturing Milwaukee is a participatory action-research project that explores history and heritage of local neighborhoods. As part of this project, students enrolled in the 2016 Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Summer Field School spent the summer in the Washington Park neighborhood of Milwaukee. Through interviews with the residents of this neighborhood, field school participants were able to determine the histories of the homes and the lives of their residents. Although the stories of these community members can help paint a clear picture of the structure and significance of the buildings in the neighborhood, the houses themselves can share a great deal on their past occupants and their everyday lives. Such is the case with one of the abandoned and foreclosed houses that the field school focused on. The family that had lived there had been evicted, and was forced to leave many of their belongings behind. This house had no residents, yet an analysis of the building and human remains such as decorations, daily domestic objects, and material culture told us much about the individuals who inhabited these buildings in the past. Objects, ranging from architectural decorations, wall ornamentation, everyday objects, tools and toys, correspondence and a piano served as material evidence that helped us interpret the story of this family. Project Objective In this project, I used written documents, correspondence and objects that were left behind by a family that was forced to leave their home to write an interpretative history that describes their everyday live, social relationships, and the events that lead to their eviction. Written correspondence highlighted the relationships among family members and their friends, while bills and eviction notices outlined the family’s dreams and eventual loss of hope and home. My methods borrow from scholars such as Alan Macfarlane who told the story of Ralph Josselin by analyzing the contents of Josselin’s diaries and finances. Mcfarlane was able to infer Josselin’s daily routines and his relationships with friends and family[1]. Literature Survey and Theory When I began looking at the objects, it seemed that this family had been striving for the “American Dream”. Numerous brochures from a memorial park indicated a family member’s interest in purchasing a “bronze memorial”, several receipts from visits to “Eye Physicians Associates”, football team rosters, and school binders and notebooks indicated the growth of the family and their interest in the future and wellbeing of their kin and household. An employee payment summary and a Mary Kay appointment book showed that members of the household were employed and bringing revenue into the home. The proof of employment and the family’s dreams for the future gave way to bail receipts, delinquent tax bills, and notices from the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services stating that occupants of the home were required to vacate the building. Although members of this family had hopes for the future and were working to reach them, they were met with the same barriers that many households face. This family in particular tried to surpass sociocultural and economic factors factors[2]. There was proof that multiple members of the family had been employed, ranging from written correspondence to payment summaries, yet there was also indication that a job was hard to keep. Scholars point out that this is not uncommon, especially among minorities[3]. In addition, the incarceration of at least one of the family members had a negative effect on the finances of the family. Not only did the family lose a source of income, but a criminal record could impede an individual’s chance at employment and ownership[4]. The written correspondence between the mother who was serving time in jail and her daughter also implied that the daughter may have faced trouble with the law. Drastic changes in the organization of a household due to incarceration, can cause families to adapt their priorities and expenditures[5]. The family’s efforts to preserve their home represents a struggle met by many Americans. In her book, Redesigning the American Dream, Dolores Hayden describes the housing crisis as being ca used in part by “efforts of the entire society to fit itself into a housing pattern that reflects the dreams of the mid-nineteenth century better than the realities of the twenty-first century[6].” Methodology In order to better understand the family and their possessions, I constructed a family tree. I began by using some of the objects found in the home to determine a few relationships. A set of letters between a mother and her daughter served as my starting point. Documents found in the house, such as life insurance forms and birth certificates, shed light on other members of the family. Bills, family bibles, and receipts also revealed others who may have lived in the house. But these documents they did not prove the relation of these individuals to the family members. Placing these individuals in the family tree required further research, which led me to archival records, including the U.S. Census, the U.S. Public Records index from 1950 to 1993, and the Wisconsin Marriage Index from 1973 to 1997. In addition to allowing me to add more members to the family tree, these documents also showed the family’s move from Tennessee to Milwaukee. Starting in 1880, the U.S. Census required the inclusion of the relationship of any individual to the head of the household[7]. This allowed me to expand the family tree and determine the connections among some of the family members. Conclusion Although this project focuses mainly on one family and the loss of their home, it fits into the greater picture of the Washington Park neighborhood. Foreclosures and evictions affect the lives of those who lose their homes, but they also impact the community around them. A house that has been adapted to fit the lives of a variety of tenants is now empty, and the loss of its residents negatively impacts the diversity of the community alongside the property value of homes around it. No family plans on being evicted, and most of the items found in the house point to dreams that the members of the household had to leave behind. Although these objects are specific to this family, the stories they tell can fit into a greater pattern that applies to the Washington Park community and beyond. [1] Kirk Jeffrey, "Varieties of Family History," The American Archivist 38, no. 4, (October 1975). [2] W. Keith Bryant, The Economic Organization of the Household (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). [3] Brendan O'Flaherty, The Economics of Race in the United States(Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 2015). [4] Ibid. [5] Bryant, The Economic Organization… [6] Dolores Hayden, Redesigning the American Dream: The Future of Housing, Work, and Family Life (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1984), 30. [7] Jeffrey, Varieties of Family History. |
Family tree sources:
1. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1
2. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2
3. Wisconsin Marriage Index, 1973-1997
4. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
5. United States Federal Census
6. Wisconsin Death Index, 1959-1997
7. Obituary Daily Times Index, 1995-Current
8. U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
9. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
10. Letter, 10/12/1995
11. Letter, 10/18/1995
12. Letter, 10/29/1995
13. Letter, 10/17/1995
14. Letter, 10/02/1995
15. Letter, 10/26/1995
16. Ident-A-Kid Card
1. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1
2. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2
3. Wisconsin Marriage Index, 1973-1997
4. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
5. United States Federal Census
6. Wisconsin Death Index, 1959-1997
7. Obituary Daily Times Index, 1995-Current
8. U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
9. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
10. Letter, 10/12/1995
11. Letter, 10/18/1995
12. Letter, 10/29/1995
13. Letter, 10/17/1995
14. Letter, 10/02/1995
15. Letter, 10/26/1995
16. Ident-A-Kid Card