Gentrification and nostalgia: archaeology of memory for the segregated past in a coastal florida city

Archaeological excavations and presentations are memory-work, offering tactile and visual materials for consideration of the past. In a coastal Florida city, growing rapidly through in-migration of retirees and service industry employment opportunities, few are aware or concerned over history. A recent heritage revival for an African American neighborhood in Sarasota is transforming the landscape with heritage interpretation signs. Yet segregation haunts that history, with a reaction marring the positive trajectory for the city. Understanding the swirl of hidden histories and memories in terms of race, community, and heritage radiates from social justice and the concept of social justice is expanded through discussion of a tradition rarely mentioned in heritage studies: tikkun ha-olam.

Baram, Uzi. “Gentrification and Nostalgia: Archaeology of Memory for the Segregated Past in a Coastal Florida City.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 25, no. 7 (July 3, 2019): 722–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1544922.