Places that Matter

In this activity, you will:

• identify a significant place in your community
• research the significance of your chosen community place
• write a guidebook entry about your selected community place

• Multipart Activity

Look at an Architectural Drawing of the First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church

Paul R. Williams’ design for the First AME Church included this colorful drawing of the exterior. Consider the following questions as you look closely at this drawing.

• What details do you notice at first glance?
• What words would you use to describe the buildings and site?
• Find the tall columns along the front of the building. What do you notice about their shape and how they’re arranged?
• Look at the small figures drawn walking near the entrance and steps. What do they tell you about the size and scale of the building and the space around it?
• Find the trees and plants throughout the drawing. Why might Williams have included so much greenery in this drawing?

Every community has places that matter, with spots that inspire, connect, or mean something to the people who live there or pass through. These places often exist because a community fought to create or protect them. Imagine you’re contributing to a list of important places in your community for people to visit, whether they’re tourists, a class on a field trip, or family friends coming to stay with you. Your job is to write a guidebook entry that tells people why a specific place in your community is worth visiting and what makes it special.

Choose a Place in Your Community

Start by listing three places in your community where people come together. They do not need to be famous. Circle the one you know best or find most interesting. Why did you choose it?

Research the Place

Find out more about your place by researching it online or at the library. Ask people in your community what they know about it or whether they have visited it. If you can, visit the place yourself to see what it feels like to be there. Take 5–7 photos of your place, or find them online, and note specific visual details (colors, materials, signage, art, language). As you research and talk to people in your community, think about and look for information to answer the following questions:

• Who designed or started this place? Do you know the name, or has that information been lost or forgotten over time?
• How do people use it today? Has that changed over the years?
• What needs does this place meet for the people who use it—socially, culturally, spiritually, or economically?
• Can everyone access it or, if not, who can access it, and why is access restricted?

Go Deeper

Now go beneath the surface. These questions ask you to think about culture, identity, and community.

• Does this place reflect the identity of the people who use it, through language, art, food, music, or design? Or does it feel generic, like it could be anywhere? Explain your answers.
• What does this place say about the people who use it that a textbook or news article might never capture?
• If this place disappeared tomorrow, what would the community lose?

Write Your Guidebook Entry

Remember, you’re writing this guidebook entry for someone who has never been to this place. So your job is to help them understand why it’s worth visiting. Your entry should be 300 to 500 words and written in a voice that is warm, specific, and personal, like you are telling a friend about a place they absolutely need to visit. Make sure to include the following details:

• Describe it. Help your reader picture the place. What does it look, sound, or feel like when you’re there? What makes it stand out?
• Explain why it matters. What’s the significance of this place—to you, to your community, or to visitors? Why should someone make a point to go there?
• Give your reader a reason to visit. End with something that makes the place feel worth the trip. This can be a detail, a moment, or an experience they can look forward to.

A network or group of people, sometimes living in a particular place, who share interests, values, characteristics, responsibilities, or physical spaces.

In architecture, the proportional relationship between a building’s elements, the overall structure, and the typical human body.