Building Back The Blacktop

Jennifer Saunders’ fellowship project is a 3D digital reconstruction of the blacktop of St. Emma Military Academy in Powhatan, VA circa 1965. Though hundreds of students made memories on the grounds of this Black Catholic military boarding school between 1895 and 1972, most of its buildings were demolished soon after the school closed. This project aims to acknowledge the value of students’ experiences by restoring the landscape in an accessible, interactive way, and to explore digital methods as an element of the historic preservation toolkit.

Collaborators:

• Jennifer Saunders, Graduate Fellow
• Arin Bennett, 3D Visualization Specialist