Untold Stories, 2019

Untold Stories is a multi-venue project.

Untold Stories Akron at the Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron included my imaginary realism prints, curated archival materials I selected from the University of Akron Archives, and three videos featuring on-camera interviews with community members titled Working Class Jobs: Women + Race in the Rust Belt, Akron and Environs: Industrial and Agrarian Labor, and Opie Evans: Jennifer Vanderpool and Arnold Tunstall in Conversation with Marvin and Maddie Evans. Interviewing community members, I learned about racist and bigoted hiring policies at the tire plants, the history of Akron's urban development and the emergence of ethnic neighborhoods, and eventual neighborhood disinvestment. These decisions from a bygone era are still visible in the post prosperity landscapes, lived daily, and perpetuate structural racism. Current and retired workers and labor activists shared their stories about the struggle for the dignity of work and racial and gender equality in the workplace. Academics addressed the prolonged economic, social, and cultural traumas of deindustrialization.

Untold Futures Panel
April 11, 2019

Moderated by Jennifer Vanderpool