Archiving the Rust Belt: Investigating Rust Belt Narratives of American Exceptionalism through Buffalo’s Downtown Department Store

Abstract

In this article, Buffalo’s now defunct flagship department store Adam, Meldrum & Anderson is discussed as a synecdoche for broader concerns facing the Rust Belt region, including gentrification, de-industrialization, urban renewal, and systemic inequality. Through an intersection of archival theory and the discourses of American exceptionalism, it is argued that the Rust Belt’s economic downfalls have been recreated as capitalist opportunities, a process that obfuscates economic inequality. To demonstrate the disruptive potential of the archive, an archived photograph is analysed alongside Dennis Maher’s reimagining of Buffalo’s cityscape. Ultimately, these alternative imaginings work toward a more equitable Rust Belt landscape.

Buffalo's West Side Story: Migration, Gentrification, and Neighborhood Change

“…). Today, though, Buffalo is beginning to experience some urban recovery (Karam ; Manning ; Silverman et al. ).…”

“…While the production of steel and grain and other goods kept the city aloft, deindustrialization, economic globalization, automation, and depopulation deteriorated Buffalo's economic institutions and, by extension, its neighborhoods (see e.g., Hobor 2013;Silverman et al 2013). Today, though, Buffalo is beginning to experience some urban recovery (Karam 2017;Manning 2015;Silverman et al 2015).…”