Who We Are:
Dayton Neighborhoods Project

“There is a thing about rights of passage…those stages that an individual goes through–and the community as a result goes through the same kind of stages in terms of rights of passage. Seeing people born, people living, people getting older, generation after generation…it’s almost like a living breathing history, and you’re a part of that community history.”

-Curtis Barnes, Westwood


he Who We Are project ran from 1992—1997, and documented the history of thirteen Dayton neighborhoods. For four years, MCHS staff worked with over thirty neighborhood organizations to interview residents and collect photographs which recorded the past and present of these city neighborhoods. While each neighborhood had its own story to tell in the history of the city, they also shared common experiences. The 1913 flood, two world wars, the Great Depression, and urban change provided a thread which made their stories a part of a larger story of community. And when all was said and done, the residents of these neighborhoods shared similar goals–to build a community where they can live, work and raise their families.

The goal of this project was to enhance community pride and to make others outside of the neighborhoods aware of shared and unique experiences. The Society was also able to collect stories and add photographs to their Archive, which will assure the preservation of the Dayton neighborhood experience. The result was a series of traveling exhibits and brochures, the contents of which appear in the following pages.

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