On Wednesday Night, I attended the new ministry series at St. Andrew’s Church. My professor Beth Hay told me about it after I told her about my project; her friend Leslie Stainton was putting together this four part series that aimed to start a discussion about race in Ann Arbor. This was extremely fitting to my research so I had to attend. I’m really happy I did. I gained a considerable amount of knowledge about race relations/history in Ann Arbor during the discussion. I shared with a group of around 50 people (mostly seniors living in Ann Arbor) and told them about my project—which they seemed enthusiastic about. I met a woman named Jackie who has lived in Ann Arbor since the 1970s—she has strong opinions about the gentrification of Kerrytown and I got her contact information. I will email her soon to plan a time to interview her!
This night cemented this idea for me that community engagement is going to be a large component of my project. I emailed the programmer with a blurb about my project to get my contact info out—I want people to reach out to me if they would like to speak with me about Ann Arbor history/narratives I should know.
