{"id":48837,"date":"2020-01-11T16:23:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T21:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yorkblog.com\/yorktownsquare\/?p=48837"},"modified":"2020-01-12T07:09:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T12:09:45","slug":"york-pa-farquhar-park-race-riots-monument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yorkblog.com\/yorktownsquare\/york-pa-farquhar-park-race-riots-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"This York County man saw a need, and acted on it. “Informal urbanism” or “Do-it-yourself-urbanism” on display"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bob Mann witnessed something when he was 14 years old that no one, young or old, should ever see.<\/p>\n

He saw a young woman gunned down in the street in front of his home.<\/p>\n

That woman, Lillie Belle Allen, had stepped from her family\u2019s car to take the wheel from a family member after it had stalled on the railroad tracks crossing Newberry Street in York.<\/p>\n

Mann has thought of that terrible moment ever since.\u00a0About six months ago<\/a>, he decided to place flowers on a monument in Farquhar Park, observing the race riot deaths of Allen and police officer Henry C. Schaad in 1969.<\/p>\n

That monument, two facing benches<\/a>, with scant wording, has been virtually forgotten since it was constructed about 15 years ago. The memorial was a result of a search for peace and healing in the aftermath of the race riot trials of their killers.\u00a0Twelve men were convicted or pleaded guilty in those deaths.<\/a><\/p>\n

One day, someone in the park asked Mann about Allen and Schaad: Who were they?<\/p>\n

Mann decided explanatory signs were needed to preserve their memory, and he asked the city to put them in place. He says the city didn\u2019t respond to his query.<\/p>\n

So, he erected his own with the titles \u201cMemorial Bench in Memory of Ms. Lillie Belle Allen,\u201d and \u201cMemorial Bench in Memory of Officer Henry C. Schaad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bob Mann at Farquhar Park near the monument.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Informal urbanism\u2019 on display<\/h2>\n

Bob Mann simply was intent on making sure these two victims on these late 1960s revolts were remembered.<\/p>\n

His problem-solving is an example of what is being called \u201cinformal urbanism,\u201d or \u201cdo-it-yourself urbanism.\u201d<\/p>\n

This practice is becoming more widespread as cities with dwindling resources are not able to respond to everyday urban issues, big and small. Basically, residents practicing do-it-yourself urbanism solve problems apart from the city planning process.<\/p>\n

This form of urbanism can be as simple as putting a sign in a window protesting, for example, the installation of ugly, visible gas meters. Or putting up candles and photos in the spot where someone was slain.<\/p>\n

They can be done out of selfishness \u2013 reserving a parking place with a chair in a snowstorm \u2013 or with good intentions, as Bob Mann demonstrated.<\/p>\n

The podcast \u201c99 Percent Invisible\u201d<\/a>\u00a0devoted a full program to this practice, interviewing Gordon C.C. Douglas, author of\u00a0\u201cThe Help-Yourself City.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

An understandable example from that podcast centered on a pool of slime that resulted from rainwater dripping through the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City.<\/p>\n

Someone erected a wooden footbridge to allow pedestrians to pass over the mess \u2013 a bridge under a bridge. Eventually, authorities learned of the problem, solved it and the temporary bridge was removed.<\/p>\n

This example follows the path of many informal urbanism practices \u2013 lack of awareness or inattention to a problem by authorities that leads to do-it-yourself practices that result in permanent change.<\/p>\n

This might be the outcome with Mann\u2019s improvements to the Farquhar Park memorial.<\/p>\n

\n
York Mayor Michael Helfrich said the city intends to install a permanent explanatory sign.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe want to ensure that, as the living witnesses pass on, that the knowledge is passed beyond ourselves,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He did not say whether Mann\u2019s temporary signage would remain up.<\/p>\n

Well, Mann\u2019s work, indeed, should remain in place until something permanent is erected. His signs appear durable enough to last for months.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Farquhar Park, without markers, as it appeared for many years. (YDR file)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grass roots grow stronger<\/h2>\n

Such work at the grass roots is a growing movement in York.<\/p>\n

For example, Chuck Marohn, author of \u201cStrong Towns: A Bottom-up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity,\u201d visited York late last year to deepen the conversation about empowering city residents to improve their communities.<\/p>\n

Conversation is taking place on a\u00a0Strong Central PA on Facebook<\/a>, and an\u00a0online books forum sponsored by York XL<\/a>\u00a0and Martin Library will discuss Marohn\u2019s views and other empowerment ideas.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s just one example of the Strong Towns iterative thinking, in the form of a four-step investment process for a strong town:<\/p>\n