Initial Program

Museums

"Reasons for visiting museums are often strongly linked to a sense of place, whether one's own community or one that sparks curiosity. The desire to connect to a locale, to understand it, identify with it, or simply enjoy its distinctiveness is a common impulse that close-by museum seves to satisfy."

"Museums are the community's attic, the storage sites for artifacts once created there or brought to that place for one reason or another. We may seldom visit the attic and, when we do, may find it difficult to sort through what has been preserved there, but nevertheless that is where we know to look for tangible evidence of the past... these allow us to connect somehow to a time, place, or phenomenon we desire to revisit in our minds or visit for the first time."

"Local museums often serve to distill the identity of the community with which people identify, and whether they do it well or badly will affect attitudes toward the locale in question"- improve impressions of Homestead”

"Local museums serve as frames for understanding larger visions about America”

(From Defining Memory: Local Museums and the Construction of History in America’s Changing Communities)

The House of the Seven Gables- A House Museum’s Adaptation to Changing Societal Expectations Since 1910- Salem, Massachusetts
-Representative of a New England shipbuilding community
-affiliation with Nathaniel Hawthorne- important historical figure
-the museum must shift its ‘history’ to meet the shifting needs and preferences of society- struggle against the preconception of the visitor of what it should look like
-Wealthy, upper-class east coast Americans- “they considered themselves to be true Americans and felt threatened by the increasing stream of immigrants.”
-Romanticizing of the Salem witchcraft trials
-Museum that embodies that characteristics of New England. Important regional icon that tells many stories of New England’s history from the slave trade to settlement houses, from the lives of common people to that of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
-Evidence of changing views of New England history and New England’s regional identity- evolving content of the tour script
-During this time period, New England history was described in terms of famous, patriotics, or affluent officials
-The attic was refurbished to represent an old Salem garret- “The objective of this tour was to freeze a particular time period for introspection and contemplation. It offered a stable history that individuals could look back upon when faced with the dramatic cultural changes of the 1960s.

Old Cowtown Museum- Wichita Kansas
-Consists of buildings primarily brought in from downtown Wichita or constructed out of new materials.
-Early Wichita developed into an urban environment almost overnight
-”The notion that Cowtown represents Mayberry-like small town values is understandable but incorrect.”
-”Cowtown was the most visible example of a trend hat included motels with neon cowboy signs and Western-wear outfitters.”
- “The Hollywood Western town image is what served as the inspiration for much of Old Cowtown in the 1950s and 1960s.”
-”Old Cowtown began as an attempt to recreate aspects of Wichita’s early history but developed into a place that presented both Wichita’s urban past and Sedgwick county’s rural origins.”
-”The story of Cowtown reveals a mixture of historic preservation, careful reconstruction, create adaptation of later buildings, and complete fabrication based on Hollywood-inspired fantasy, all of which have shaped Wichita’s collective memory into the small town it never was.”of manufacturing activities, products, and production recipes in anticipation or and in reaction to changes in those activities, products, and recipes in competitor regions around the globe.

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol Museum- Castle on the Mississippi- Baton Rouge
-One of two gothic revival statehouses
-The museum, “provides a learning experience in Louisiana history and the democratic process through exhibitions, educational outreach, and the arts.”
-The northern part of the state is conservative and Protestant, while southern Louisiana is liberal and Catholic. No unified history- many stories.
-Decline of French power in the state- the conversion of the Gothic Revival Statehouse to a museum devoted to state politics in 1994 reflects a maturation of political thinking- politics recognized not just as a battlefield, but as a source of knowledge for better understanding who we are.
-Specialized museum, but themes present throughout museums all over the world- “who owns the history? How does this museum contribute to national, regional, and local cultures? How does one appeal to a very diverse group, both within the state and without? How does one tell a complete story in a state with so many divergent groups?
-The story of one individual can illustrate the history of many, and shared experiences can reestablish links between different social groups.

Homestead- From Mill Town to Mall Town- Jim Daniels
"Homestead interests us because of its rich labor history and its contemporary transformation from a dying steel town into a place that now hosts an enormous shopping complex replete with the nation's most popular chain stores....This is a deeply relevant landscape at this time, interesting in its own right, but also emblematic of what is happening to communities across America... What exactly are we losing as we witness the closing of so many small businesses that were at the heart of the 20th century community both on main street and deep within the American psyche? What are we gaining and how might people assert themselves in places that can be seen as threatening to any kind of heterogeneous character?" (pg. 1)

"In the past half century American culture has become every more standardized. Corporate brands, retail frachises, and look-alike shopping malls stretch from coast to coast, homogenizing the consumption of fashion decorative arts, and material goods... Regional differences in dress, diet, and even language fade as patterns of commerce and communication are universalized. One notable exception to this pattern of increasing uniformity has been the preservation of local culture and distinctive identity in America's vast number of small and local museums." (pg. 1)
Thesis relationships in Homestead:
-the issue of race- telling the story of the black steelworker at the museum at the same time telling the white steelworker’s story
-cultural changes as related to a museum- stable history when people face dramatic cultural changes

Precedent Information

De-Industrialization of Cities:
Most communities that thrived during the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century- first half of the 20th century are now challenged to find viable economic strategies for the 21st century Pittsburgh- the former steel capital of the world Detroit- the former motor city Cleveland- once an industrial giant
-challenges of these cities- slow job growth, declining home values, a diminishing tax base, concentrated poverty.
-world economy going through a major transition that is benefiting some cities and leaving other behind.
-causes- decline in manufacturing as a share of national employment, movement of people and jobs to low labor-cost areas, residential shifts to other
regions, and social and racial segregation.
-Positive elements of these areas- land, infrastructure, business opportunities, underutilized labor, and many of the nation’s major medical, educational, and research institutions.
-”a large number of older industrial cities are still struggling to make a successful transition from an economy based on routine manufacturing to one based on
more knowledge-oriented activities...the image of these cities has been one of empty down towns, deteriorating neighborhoods, and struggling families... still
grappling to overcome the painful legacy of severe industrial decline and population loss, these cities simply haven’t seen the widespread economic
revitalization now being enjoyed by so many other urban areas around the nation.” Retooling for Growth- pg. 33
-”if older industrial cities are to fully capitalize on the positive trends now at hand, government leaders need to design and implement a new urban agenda, one
aimed not at managing these cities’ economic decline, but at stimulating their economic revival.” Retooling for Growth- pg. 34
-“The shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based one has left many older industrial cities still grappling to find their economic niche.” (pg. 35)
-Physical redistribution of manufacturing coupled with advances in automation that sparked increases in productivity and a reduction in companies overall employment needs.
-Cities’ failure to replace the large numbers of well-paying industrial jobs they’ve lost with high-paying jobs in other rapid-growth sectors.
“Extreme economic and residential decentralization has left the poor and minorities isolated in the urban core, ‘spatially’ cut off from education and employment opportunities.” (pg. 37)
“A series of demographic trends are having a profound influence on how and where people choose to live and could significantly benefit older industrial cities.”
“Although economic changes have undoubtedly contributed to the decline of cities reliant on ‘old economy’ industries, moving forward, they also have the potential to give them back their competitive edge.”
Build on economic strengths:
-invest in downtown revitalization
-focus on cities competitive niches
-enhance the connectivity between regions
Transform the physical landscape
-invest in cataclytic development projects
-create marketable sites
-create neighborhoods of choice
What to do to bolster talent
-workforce development strategies
-invest in early childhood education
-new resources for public education
Characteristics of economically distressed cities:
-lost 8% of jobs from 1990-2000 while employment of non-distressed cities increased 18%
-experienced payroll growth of only 50% while payroll grew 91% in non-distressed cities
-saw the number of establishments grow just 1.4% while the number grew 18% in non-distressed communities
-had an average per capita income in 2000 that was only 78% of the non-distressed cities ($16,019 compared with $20,424)
-had a median household income that was 76% of the average of the non-distressed cities ($29,138 compared with $38,510)
-had an unemployment rate of 10% compared with 6% in the non-distressed cities.
-had a labor-force participation rate of 59% compared with 65% in the non-distressed cities.
-had a poverty rate of 23%, compared with 15% in non-distressed cities.

A recent report by Jobs for the Future attempted to define nationally relevant job clusters for low-skilled workers using a model based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Data
Site selection: Baltimore, Detriot, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, New Orleans
East: Baltimore and Detroit- two old, industrial cities Baltimore: historically a port city located at the head of the Chesepeake Bay- shrinkage in the manufacturing sector, dilapitated housing stock, problem-plagued schools, loss of popualtion to the suburbs
-immense resources to build on- professional sports teams, historical heritage, reinvestment in the downtown waterfront, well-funded hospitals
and universities. Detroit: was for many decades the center of the automobile manufacturing indusry in the US. As the manufacturing sector declined and many of
the automobile manufacturing plants closed, Detriot experienced a tremendous decline in its traditional job center.
New Orleans- aftermath of Katrina, displaced from homes and jobs. Helping to define viable employment clusters as a way to help settle the lives of low income individuals who were displaced.
Orlando- tourism-based economy- low income jobs are in the service industry
Los Angeles- problem of immense population sprawl- the city is very spread out, making it difficult for the low-skilled to obtain transportation to and from the better jobs.
Las Vegas- large population growth- transformation from a tourist mecca into a city with many permanent residents.
The product of the analysis process was a group of 15-20 site specific occupations that are considered viable growth occupations for low-skilled workers in each of the six economically troubled metropolitan areas.
pg. 270- “The blame has much less to do with transitioning from a manufacturing based to a knowledge-based economy than with the political failure to organize assets and to dynamically adjust the mix of manufacturing activities, products, and production recipes in anticipation or and in reaction to changes in those activities, products, and recipes in competitor regions around the globe.

Mid-Review Information

These mid-review boards show the distinct differences between the Waterfront and the other areas of Homestead and the severe disconnect that appears there. They also show in the site sections the extreme changes in topography, and the fact that the businesses that exist at the Waterfront are all centered around profit.

Concept Montages

Concept of "below the tracks" is reflected in these images and how there was always a desire of the people in Homestead to live a life separate from the shadow of the mill

1 + 3 Abstract Statement

Thesis abstract:

The underlying identity of a place is carried forward despite drastic economic, social, and cultural changes in a community and continues to exert a strong influence in the present day.

Although the steel works no longer exist in Homestead, the community is still there with memories of past glory days. The communal memories of people in the neighborhood play a large role in defining their past and the intertwining of individual and communal memory will paint a comprehensive picture of the way things were. By giving people an educational local museum celebrating their heritage, they will be able to retain elements of a past that seems like it is slipping away to the claws of big business.