In 1995, ethnographic geographer Karilyn Crockett established MYTOWN, Inc.' the Multicultural Youth Tour Of What's Now, a Boston-based nonprofit which offered youth-led, historical walking tours in Boston neighborhoods. Inspired by the connection to place that she had experienced as a young Bostonian with family roots in West Virginia, Crockett partnered with Boston high school students to explore local archives and conduct oral histories, helping the students understand connections between the city's history and their own lives. In this illustrated talk, Crockett shares highlights from her work with youth and the insights that she has gained from these young historians which inform her work today.
Dr. Karilyn Crockett focuses her research on large-scale land use changes in twentieth century American cities and examines the social and geographic implications of structural poverty. Karilyn’s new book "People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making" (UMASS Press 2018) investigates a 1960s era grassroots movement to halt urban extension of the U.S. interstate highway system and the geographic and political changes in Boston that resulted.