About the project

This is my journey into truth and reconciliation. I believe it is my duty, as an American, to understand the depths of the history of the United States. I was taught one version of history, and it is time black and brown history became more than just a month, but a cornerstone of reality in this country. My hope is that this project helps advance the ideas of truth and reconciliation in the United States.

The project is funded by the Geraldine K. Scott Traveling Fellowship awarded through the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California Berkeley.

While studying how history and memory is expressed in the landscape, I came across auut Studio's website digitizing Ida B. Wells' and Monroe Work's efforts to record lynchings in the Southern United States and Equal Justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project that places markers in the landscape to memorialize the victims of lynching, as well as their plans to build the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice to recognize the history of violence against black people in the United States. This project, though unaffiliated, is an extension of the efforts of auut Studio and Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).

I am guided by the question:

How do communities remember their history of lynching as manifested through the landscape today?

For example, is there a marker? Or, is the land developed? Is the community aware of the history? Or, is talking about lynching taboo? There are many possible configurations and I am seeking those variations.

In order to answer the question, I will try to reveal landscapes of lynchings at places previously uncovered, document each landscape of lynching that I encounter, interact with the community where the lynching occurred, and research the stories of the victims of lynching. I will supplement the travel by incorporating sites into the itinerary that provide context to the history of lynching.

The result of the project will include 3D scans, photographs, interviews, blog entries, and a textual and graphic summary of my findings and impressions.

Follow along here, or on the social feeds (Instagram and Twitter): @lynch_lands.

I use spatial data and 3D images to better understand history and identity, in order to think about the future of and solve problems regarding place. You can see more about me and the work I have done on my website which is simply jamesonreeves.com

I grew up in the Valley of the Moon, a rural part of Northern California. After graduating from UC Berkeley with my undergraduate degrees (Urban Studies, Environmental Economics and Policy, and Geographic Information Science and Technology), I moved to Madrid, Spain to teach English. While I was there, I spent my time learning Spanish history, taking part in the culture, and using and observing urban and rural landscapes. This experience emphasized for me how history and identity shape space. That is why, when I returned to UC Berkeley for a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture, I wrote my thesis, Criminalized Landscape: Oakland's Historically and Socially Constructed Image of Criminality, studying the relationship between Oakland's policies of criminalization toward people of color and the manifestation of those policies in the landscape.

I live near Lake Merritt, Oakland, California and spend my time reading, photographing, cooking, and riding my bike.

- Jameson Reeves