Finding Kenyon Barr: Exploring Photographs of Cincinnati’s Lost Lower West End features photos from Cincinnati Museum Center’s Kenyon Barr Collection, taken in 1959 by the City of Cincinnati to document structures slated for demolition as part of the Kenyon Barr Urban Redevelopment Project.

The Kenyon Barr project grew out of Cincinnati’s 1948 Metropolitan Masterplan which called for the creation of a center for light industry in the lower portion of the West End. When Federal Urban Renewal dollars became available in the late 1950s, the city put the plan into action and began acquiring more than 2,000 structures. Once demolished, the land where the buildings and streets of the lower West End once stood was resold to private developers to create the neighborhood known today as Queensgate. The residents displaced from these buildings were 97% African American and largely low-income. The 40 photos featured in Finding Kenyon Barr illustrate the vitality of the neighborhood, featuring landmark architecture, booming businesses, active street life, and vibrant community institutions.

The exhibit is the creation of urban historian, Anne Delano Steinert, who hopes the exhibit will educate Cincinnatians about the mass demolition and displacement caused by the Kenyon Barr project. “The demolition of this entire vital neighborhood is such an unfortunate moment in Cincinnati’s history,” says Steinert. In addition to the historic photographs, the exhibit features maps and modern-day photos to enhance viewers’ understanding of the neighborhood.

Please note that the exhibition dates for Finding Kenyon Barr are September 13 – October 23, 2018, which have been updated since the printing of the FotoFocus catalogue and map.