For the Black visual memory of Altadena
About The Project
AltaHeirloom is a post-custodial archive and visual activation series exploring the enduring social and visual memory of Black Americans in Altadena, CA. This archival offering distinguishes the largely understudied migrational history and cultural placemaking in the foothills of Altadena, especially highlighted by the historically redlined community west of Lake Avenue. From an interior perspective, the project space considers how our community has long been impacted by the displacing conditions of segregation, gentrification, and more recently climate disaster following the Eaton Fire. Through an activation of surviving image materials, AltaHeirloom assembles pieces of our experience that remain couched in our memories for our collective knowledge, expression, and cultural sovereignty.
AltaHeirloom is a post-custodial archive and visual activation series exploring the enduring social and visual memory of Black Americans in Altadena, CA. This archival offering distinguishes the largely understudied migrational history and cultural placemaking in the foothills of Altadena, especially highlighted by the historically redlined community west of Lake Avenue. From an interior perspective, the project space considers how our community has long been impacted by the displacing conditions of segregation, gentrification, and more recently climate disaster following the Eaton Fire. Through an activation of surviving image materials, AltaHeirloom assembles pieces of our experience that remain couched in our memories for our collective knowledge, expression, and cultural sovereignty.
AltaHeirloom is a post-custodial archive and visual activation series exploring the enduring social and visual memory of Black Americans in Altadena, CA. This archival offering distinguishes the largely understudied migrational history and cultural placemaking in the foothills of Altadena, especially highlighted by the historically redlined community west of Lake Avenue. From an interior perspective, the project space considers how our community has long been impacted by the displacing conditions of segregation, gentrification, and more recently climate disaster following the Eaton Fire. Through an activation of surviving image materials, AltaHeirloom assembles pieces of our experience that remain couched in our memories for our collective knowledge, expression, and cultural sovereignty.
Archive Steward
AltaHeirloom 0.1 Digital Zine
AltaHeirloom 0.1 Digital Zine
An 80-page digital zine re-membering what Black life has looked like in Altadena, CA through personal prose on memory and archival collages of enduring family photographs.
" Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place -- the picture of it -- stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around out there outside my head." — Toni Morrison, Beloved.
" Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place -- the picture of it -- stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around out there outside my head." — Toni Morrison, Beloved.
" Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place -- the picture of it -- stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around out there outside my head." — Toni Morrison, Beloved.
Substack
Substack
Read more on substack
Read the story behind the AltaHeirloom project on Substack and subscribe to stay up to date with emerging expressions on recovery, community, and the future of Altadena.
Read more on substack
Read the story behind the AltaHeirloom project on Substack and subscribe to stay up to date with emerging expressions on recovery, community, and the future of Altadena.
Contribute to the collection.
To preserve and reconstruct the visual memory of our neighborhood, I invite you to consider any surviving photos you have of our Black Community in Altadena that you want to add to the AltaHeirloom digital collection.