Remembering and storytelling: community engagement through a service-learning partnership

ABSTRACT

This article highlights a four-year community engagement project to engage residents in remembering historic and iconic places, which served the community during its heyday, and envisioning future development. The project was realized over four years through a partnership between a capstone community development service-learning course and a community development corporation (CDC), located in North Philadelphia, PA. The CDC was challenged to engage residents in developing a community vision after decades of disinvestment. Engaging residents in storytelling through multiple forms such as historic narratives, memories, and conversations was seen as the root of the projects’ success.

KEYWORDS:

• Service-learning
• partnership
• community engagement
• public history
• Storytelling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. According to a 2010 survey, vacant lots comprised one third of the parcels in the community (Interface Studio, 2011). [NOTE TO AUTHOR/PRODUCTION: What type of reference is this? Is it available online?]