East St. Louis Action Network
Public programs and activities related to East St. Louis Action Network are coordinated by the IUR’s Urban Research Scholar and ESLARP Coordinator, Dr. Howard Rambsy. Click here for informaiton about past events. For information about upcoming events, contact Dr. Rambsy at hrambsy@siue.edu.
About ESLARP
The East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP) began in 1987 and was led by student, faculty, and staff from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ESLARP facilitated service projects that sought to improve neighborhoods and communities in East St. Louis, Alorton, Brooklyn, Centerville, and Washington Park, Illinois. Faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign affiliated with ESLARP offered courses pertaining to East St. Louis, and students participated in outreach weekends, which gave students opportunities to work with organizers and local residents in East St. Louis and the region on service projects.
Over the last few years, responsibilities for the project transferred to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Institute for Urban Research. So far, we have worked on service projects and have begun reaching out to community organizations to coordinate service programs in the community.
In 2013-2014, our most involved service project was with the Katherine Dunham Museum in East St. Louis. On different occasions during the academic year, faculty and student volunteers assisted in retrieving and sorting materials from Dunham’s prior residential homes, and we transferred the materials to the basement of the Dunham museum. Later, we constructed shelves for additional storage at the museum and re-organized boxes and other materials in the basement of the museum.
In 2014-2015, we will pursue two major projects.
The Lessie Bates Neighborhood House Preservation Project – we will participate in an extensive technological and preservation project related to the Lessie Bates Neighborhood House, a comprehensive social services organization based in East St. Louis. Through a grant that we were awarded from the Meridian Society, we will scan, organize, and digitally store over 1,000 photographs from the Neighborhood House’s special collection. The photographs were taken between the 1910s and late 1990s.
East St. Louis Humanities Project – we will produce a series of arts and humanities materials and coordinate a series of activities related to important sites and historical buildings in East St. Louis. For one, we will produce weekly blog entries related to the city. We will also coordinate informational sessions and small exhibits concerning East St. Louis for groups of SIUE students and students at the SIUE/East St. Louis Charter High School. The materials and activities are designed to raise awareness about the history of East St. Louis and the possibilities of using arts and humanities to enhance views of a city.
For additional information, email the Project Coordinator Dr. Howard Rambsy II at hrambsy@siue.edu.
