Doctoral Dissertation Research: Memorial Landscapes Dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement

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The focus of this dissertation research is a comparative analysis of three memorial landscapes dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement: Atlanta, Birmingham, and Selma. By comparing the contexts in which they were produced, the authoritative representations they offer, and visitor interpretations of them, this research probes the relationship between historic memory and social identity in the built environment. The study involves three tasks: archival research and interviews, an analysis of the interpretation and presentation of history, and a survey of visitor profiles and reactions. The proposal is set in a theoretical context of landscape interpretation and black history tourism (and heritage tourism more generally), and attempts to examine the place of race and racism in the U.S. The results will elucidate the diversity of positions that characterize contemporary racial politics.