Project Pitch
Genre 1:
Letter to Lee Avirett (text)
Dear Mr. Lee,
Thank you for your time and sharing your memories of Tallahassee with me, they were very helpful with my project and gave me a better idea of the history of Tallahassee. Your information and experiences are important for addressing complex issues that persist today, such as race, poverty, and inequality. It is hard to get a sense of the dynamics in Tallahassee, especially over time, and explaining watching the Civil Rights Movement playing out and seeing the effect on areas like Frenchtown helped me understand things that historical documents could not. I would love to discuss these topics more in-depth with you, and I’ll be next door over winter break if you ever want to talk.
Best Wishes,
Jake Kile
This letter is to my next-door neighbor, Mr. Lee Avirett, whom I interviewed for my Project 2. I asked him questions about the history of Tallahassee, how things have changed overall, and how areas like Frenchtown changed over time and after the Civil Rights Movement. This thank you letter is written just for him as a sign of my appreciation for his willingness to spend time and answer my questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Genre 2: Map of Tallahassee highlighting areas I have been told to avoid, or are overwhelmingly spoken poorly of regarding crime and poverty. The image focuses on three areas: Frenchtown, Southside, and Old Bainbridge. Considered undesirable and rough, these “ghettoes” reveal the lasting economic and racial divides that exist in Tallahassee. I shaded certain areas based on the conditions and reputations of the area from a red (worst) to green (best) scale. The fact that these areas are clusters and not more spread out is an indicator of the historical residential segregation patterns and the deeper issues of race and poverty.This visual genre is my attempt to explain and show some of the attitudes that exist in the community about areas of town like Frenchtown or the Southside, these are judged by me and are a result of what I’ve experienced and encountered living in Tallahassee for 17 years. My views may be problematic as they are only my perspective and are not shared by everyone in the community of Tallahassee.
Genre 3: Pinterest board with collages of photos from around Tallahassee displaying the economic divide and what houses and buildings look like in those areas as well as showing a few border signs that reveal lasting residential segregation. The board is separated into groups based on the area the photos are showing, making it easy to distinguish the major differences between Frenchtown/Southside and Golden Eagle/Southwood.