Founded in 2005 by educator Rebecca Krucoff and playwright Ain Gordon, the Urban Memory Project asks residents to explore the vital relationship between their personal histories and their city’s history, preparing the next generation to be the voice of its own story. Participants study issues and recent changes to the built environment in neighborhoods in transition and present their findings in public presentations of photography, oral history, research and writing.

“The project partners with a high school history or humanities teacher to co-plan and co-teach a rigorous civics course for six to 20 weeks. Students research and document their changing city with photo-walks, text-based seminar discussions, interviews with community members, and exhibitions to formally present their work back to the community. Throughout the course, students grapple with the question of what serves the community’s greater good.”

For more details on the Urban Memory Project, check out their website.