Countering (Infra)Structural Violence in Black Dallas: A Historical Archaeology of Infrastructures, Erasure, and Persistence in Oak Cliff's Tenth Street District (1888-1968)

After the Civil War (1865-1930), thousands of free African Americans left plantations to create places of their own across Texas. Known as Freedom Colonies, these places served as safe havens where African Americans could resist dehumanization and persist amidst racism and violence. Though there were once more than 500 Freedom Colonies, most have been effaced from the landscape and erased from our dominant historical narratives. This dissertation focuses on the Tenth Street District, one of the few remaining intact Freedmen’s Towns in Dallas. Founded in 1888, Tenth Street was home to a thriving African American community anchored by churches, schools, and a vibrant business district. Over the course of the 20th century, a series of infrastructure projects culminating in the construction of R. L. Thornton Freeway disrupted and damaged the community. Today, despite continued threats, Tenth Street is a nationally recognized historic district and its community persists. This dissertation examines how race, racism, and (infra)structural violence impacted the 20th century landscape of Tenth Street. Specifically, it explores how municipal infrastructure projects impacted Tenth Street and the surrounding Freedmen’s Town over time, as well as the ways Tenth Street’s residents built, maintained, and responded to disruptions to their community. To do this, the author uses new and emerging methods in historical archaeology: geographic information systems (GIS) counter-mapping and space syntax analysis. Together, these tools help expose the slow, multidimensional nature of (infra)structural violence and support descendants’ efforts to define, preserve, and determine the future of their community on their own terms.