Civic Life Archives - Page 2 of 10

Scott and Tiffany Whaley stop for a picture in front of the old Kershaw Train Depot renewed as office spaces and a museum. Photo by Michelle Ellia.

Ben Speggen
November 8, 2022

A train depot that’s a museum. A bank branch building that’s become a library. Another former bank that is serving as an early education center. Here is how this South Carolina town is repurposing buildings of the past to build up its future.

Porcello House on Main Street in Mount Blanchard OH (Deborah Fallows)

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Citizen Engagement

How One Small Ohio Town Practices Democracy

Deborah Fallows
October 24, 2022

Small is big in Mount Blanchard, Ohio. The town approached change in two ways, and Deborah Fallows reports on the impact she and her husband, James, saw during their travels there.

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Inside Our Towns: Tighe Bullock

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
October 18, 2022

Evan Sanford catches up with Tighe Bullock, the accountant, lawyer, downtown developer, and construction contractor, on his latest work in Charleston, West Virginia.

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Civic Life

Inside Our Towns: Allen Carroll and Story Maps

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
September 16, 2022

Evan Sanford explores the origin and evolution of Esri’s story maps with the innovative storytelling tool’s creator, Allen Carroll.

A flagpole outside of the Fort Lawn Community Center where a 9/11 Memorial features an artwork created from a World Trade Center steel beam.

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Citizen Engagement

To Both See and Tell the Country: From the Road through North Carolina to South Carolina

Ben Speggen
September 7, 2022

Why seeing more of America matters.

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Civic Life

‘To Arrive Where We Started and Know the Place for the First Time’

James Fallows
September 3, 2022

The America that Americans Don't Know About, and Why That Matters

Mac Love (center) stands in front of a mural reading "beautiful" with fellow Art x Love team members Josy Jones, Dee McCall, Gaby Barnes, and Patrick Richards (left to right) who were a part of the @Play project in Akron. Photo courtesy of Art x Love.

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An Outsider Works with Insiders: Examples from Akron and Cleveland

Alex Bieler and Ben Speggen
August 10, 2022

Mac Love, who has spent much of his life outside Ohio, uses new technologies to bring community residents and college students together. That collaborative approach is now helping citizens’ voices be heard and is driving meaningful change in their neighborhoods.

The Tucker family -- a husband and wife and two children -- sit in front of a house.

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Citizen Engagement

A Dining-room Meeting Begins a New Chapter in One Town’s Story

Jordan Sandman
August 1, 2022

As Isaac and Heidi Tucker saw it, there was no use in waiting for their town to improve itself. Instead, they took action, and are rallying renewal efforts in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania today.

Dillsburg Pennsylvania historical marker

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Citizen Engagement

A Town of Doers Works Together to Preserve Their Past and Plan Their Future

Jordan Sandman
July 13, 2022

Residents and businesses in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania have adopted a mantra: if it’s a community problem, it’s their problem too.

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Inside Our Towns: PA Humanities

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
June 27, 2022

A look at Humanities in the 21st century, the power of storytelling in community development, and more.

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Citizen Engagement

Inside Our Towns: Jason Neises

Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
June 3, 2022

Discussing opportunities, real and perceived challenges in small-town America, and the impact of Community Heart & Soul in Iowa.

Tolliver’s barbershop in Los Angeles is a place for conversation.

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Health & Well-Being

A Safe Place to Talk: Raising HIV Awareness through Barbershops

Patrick Waechter
April 29, 2022

Barbershops are often hubs for conversation in Black and Latinx communities. DKBmed’s Fade Out HIV initiative strives to make use of these gathering spots to destigmatize HIV education and save lives.

The Erie Depot in Kent, Ohio first opened its doors on June 1, 1875. It is stop No. 6 along "The History of Industry in Kent, Ohio" StoryMap walking tour. Photo courtesy of the Kent Historical Society & Museum.

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Citizen Engagement

Story Maps are at the Center of Community Collaboration in Kent, Ohio

Allie Kuroff
April 21, 2022

New digital tools give communities innovative and engaging ways to tell their own stories. In Kent, Ohio, a community-wide collaboration among Kent State University, Main Street Kent, and the Kent Historical Society & Museum uses story maps to teach residents about the town's rich history.

The Fisk/Burgess House in Redlands is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of 20 noteworthy sites fourth-graders experience along the Smiley Heritage Tour. (Courtesy A.K. Smiley Public Library)

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Never Too Soon: Engaging America’s Youngest Citizens Early and Often

Allie Kuroff
April 18, 2022

Americans know that retaining their young people requires getting them involved in the civic process early and often.

Old factory building, labelled Greenville SC

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Why Story Maps Matter

James Fallows
April 11, 2022

People understand the world through stories. People absorb their stories in ever-expanding ways. Here is a preview of a powerful, emerging form of digital story-telling, which we’ll be using frequently in this space.

Baker Precision Cancer Medicine Building at Mission Bay on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, in San Francisco. (Photo by Noah Berger).

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Health & Well-Being

American Institutions That Still Work

Orville Schell
March 17, 2022

Everyone knows about the parts of America that are so polarized and divided that they have lost touch with their basic functions. Here’s a look at some of the people, institutions, and collaborative cultures that provide examples, and lessons, for the rest of us.