Providing Real Life Examples: Case Studies on Problematic Public Spaces as a part of the Transforming Community Spaces Project

Transforming Community Spaces, or TCS, is a project intended to provide guidance to communities and institutions in finding ways to understand the histories associated with contested spaces and how they can reconcile those histories with the current use of the space. Case studies on specific communities compose one aspect of the project. These case studies are overviews of the histories and actions taken regarding a specific site within a community. They provide examples of what did and did not work and allow other communities to apply these lessons to their own spaces. These case studies are compiled using preliminary research based on news articles, detailed analysis of government reports and documents, and oftentimes interviews with key community members. Case studies have been completed on buildings, monuments, and other historic sites in cities such as Gettysburg, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Raleigh. It has been found that the course that each city follows is based largely on local sentiment and policy, and thus each of these cases have proven to have a unique narrative and outcome. For example, while San Francisco was able to take down its offensive "Early Days" statue, Raleigh keeps their confederate monuments due to a law that inhibits them from being removed. By providing a plethora of case studies to the public, TCS provides others communities with real life examples, and allows them to decide what might be the best path for their specific site.