Creative Design: Undergraduate

Fourth and Yuma Street. Geographical Segregation in My College Town

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Abstract

This project commemorated black history in my college town through the recognition of an emerging community’s struggles and successes. The design focused on the geographic segregation of neighborhoods to reiterate the importance of this location to black history. In the current racial climate, this history is a poignant reminder of the distance yet to overcome in race equality. In 1879, many Exodusters settled beyond the railroad tracks on low ground near the river. By the 1900s, the black community expanded north of the tracks, but with a clear demarcation at Colorado Street with Yuma Street home to several black community establishments (African, 2020). It wasn’t until the 1960s that black families lived beyond this defacto border; however, today there remains both the perception and reality of black community beginning at Fourth and Yuma. The abstracted ariel view of the township is represented in the draped pants.

Keywords: Black history, segregation, exodusters

How to Cite:

Blackgrove, K. & Haar, S., (2022) “Fourth and Yuma Street. Geographical Segregation in My College Town”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13731