Two upcoming events at Syracuse University will pay tribute to Syracuse's 15th
Ward, a predominantly Jewish and African American neighborhood destroyed in the
late 1950s and early 1960s through urban renewal, the construction of Interstate 81
and the expansion of Upstate Medical Center (now SUNY Upstate Medical
University). Memories of the 15th Ward will be featured in the Sojourner Storytelling
Conference and in a photography exhibition, both in the Shaffer Art Building.
The photography exhibition, "15th Ward: Memories of a Syracuse Neighborhood
Transformed," will be presented Feb. 23-27 in the rotunda of the Shaffer Art
Building.
A public reception for the exhibition will be held Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m., with
the Sojourner Storytelling Conference following in Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer
Art Building at 7 pm. Free parking will be available for attendees at the Booth
Garage and, for those who are elderly or have a disability, in the Q4 lot.
The exhibition traces the historical development of the neighborhood from the early
20th century through the urban renewal period of the 1960s and concludes with a
look at the neighborhood as it is found today. On view will be photographs that
document the early days of the district as it evolved into a center for Jewish life in
Syracuse. As the area progressed from those early days, it gradually became a
destination for African Americans moving north in search of a better life. The
photographs also show the neighborhood during the urban renewal period and the
construction of I-81.
The annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference, now in its 11th year, will focus on the
theme "Memories of 15th Ward." The event will feature two live storytellers, mixed-
media presentations about the ward and a 30-minute student-produced documentary
about the neighborhood. The two storytellers are Francis Parks and Sandy Sternlicht.
Parks, the founder of the Sojourner Storytelling Conference, is a renowned storyteller
who recently retired after 25 years of service to the SU community, including as
director of Students Offering Service and of African American Programs in
Hendricks Chapel. Sternlicht is professor of English in The College of Arts and
Sciences and was recently appointed Speaker in the Humanities by the New York
Council for the Humanities. He is also author of several books, including "The
Tenement Saga: The Lower East Side and Early Jewish American Writers" (Terrace
Books, 2004).
The exhibition consists of nearly 60 photographs drawn from the collections of the
Judaic Heritage Center, the Onondaga Historical Association, the Coulter Library at
Onondaga Community College and Beauchamp Library, as well as former and
current residents of this part of the city. Included in the exhibition are the
photographs of Aldo Tambellini and Marjory Wilkins. The exhibition was organized,
researched, designed and constructed by students in the Graduate Program in
Museum Studies in SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).
Both events received funding from Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public
Life and were developed in conjunction with Say Yes to Education, Hendricks
Chapel, the Department of African American Studies in The College of Arts and
Sciences and SU's Public Memory Project
interdisciplinary collective centered in VPA's Department of Communication and
Rhetorical Studies. Over the past eight years, the Public Memory Project has
organized several conferences, guest speakers and public events focused on the ways
that the past continues to inform our orientation toward the present.
The 15th Ward project has also included numerous community organizations and
individuals, including the Judaic Heritage Center, Southwest Community Center,
Temple Society of Concord and Grace Episcopal Church.
