Assessing University-Community Reciprocity through the Heritage West Project: An Excavation of West Philadelphia’s Former Black Bottom

Educational practitioners have voiced extensive criticism on the lack of reciprocity in university-community engagement. This paper assesses the reciprocity between the University of Pennsylvania’s Heritage West Project and the West Philadelphia community. Penn Anthropological archaeologists excavated artifacts from the former Black Bottom neighborhood, demolished in the late 1960s as part of urban renewal. The paper will measure the project’s university-community reciprocity through the evolution of its research question, its excavation, lab sessions, and its participant responses. It will review the project’s corresponding educational opportunities and probative discussions while suggesting how a more deliberate approach to community engagement will garner greater participation. Keywords: reciprocity, democratic engagement, oral histories, displacement, urban renewal, and community archeology