Imagined Glassboro Mural Proposal: The Other Side of the Tracks

Location of Mural

Geographically, Elsmere was separated by “not one, not two, not three, but no less than four sets of [train] tracks” (Tucker 58). The community of Elsmere within Glassboro was spatially divided, forcing black students to have to cross multiple sets of train tracks from the years of 1915 to 1919 as they attended segregated schools that were further away. Industrialization within the area allowed for the white developments to gain more money, and for the nonwhite areas to stay stagnant and underdeveloped.  My mural proposal takes place surrounding the train tracks similar to the ones that segregated students had to walk across on their route to school. Although these students faced this issue at the Elsmere station, this station is no longer there. To envision this long, cold walk to education, I believe the sets of train tracks dividing the area near the Glassboro Historic Train Station to be a physical representation of the exclusion that these students faced. I believe the placement of my mural should be somewhere within plain sight, such as the side of the building of the Historic Glassboro Train Station. In my mural, I would depict more footprints of those who walked past the train tracks, as well as the faces of those who spent their days travelling in the cold weather just to get to school. My imagined mural is not as in depth as the proposed mural could be, however it is a start. A fully-developed mural would have to include more indication as to how strenuous the struggle for equal education was in America, in a place that is clearly visible and accessible.





This mural would contribute to a sense of community in Glassboro by welcoming and acknowledging the stories that many have taken to get an education in this area. By creating a large mural on the side of a building, the community would be able to recognize the accomplishments of those from the past, while being able to use those feats as inspiration for the future of young people in Glassboro.

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