India Point Park: Memory

Though I can speculate about and deduce much from the memories expressed in India Point Park, I feel as though I should begin this exploration by sharing my own memories of the place:

I suppose I'd been aware of India Point Park from driving under the new pedestrian bridge over I-95 when coming to or from Providence. But the first time I actually entered the park on foot was during a walk with a good friend last winter. She's the type of friend who I only see once or twice a semester, but with whom I would share almost anything. As such, our infrequent meetings usually involve long walks through the neighborhoods surrounding Providence. These walks keep us busy and mobile while giving us enough time to divulge all the happenings of our lives - both momentous and mundane - since we last spoke. At the end of last semester, we met and she suggested we explore India Point Park. She had biked through it a number of times and loved it, and I had never been.

Coming from the Pacific Northwest, with powerful mountains and rivers, vast forests, a sprawling coastline , and high desert all within less than two hours' drive of my home, I have found the open spaces of Brown's campus to be less than fulfilling. Also, I have not explored as much of New England as I ought to have. However, from the moment I entered India Point Park, I fell in love with it as an open urban space. Whenever I go for a walk to clear my head, I inevitably end up walking through the park. In my mind, crossing the highway bridge sets the park apart from the surrounding neighborhood, and I feel like I've truly entered a different space. I love the proximity to the water; living up on College Hill often makes me forget that Providence is surrounded by and dependent on water. I love the birds, bikers and families that share the park with me. Despite the nearness of the highway, it seems like a quiet space to me - an island in the middle of this busy urban context. Though there are paved paths, one can easily wander at one's own pace across the grass and gravel of the park.

But though I've enjoyed the times I spent in the park, I had not truly considered it as a site of memory until I began this project. In anticipation of this project - especially while reading about the history of the area - I realized just how much I had missed during my walks through the park. I returned this past weekend with my camera, a friend, and the explicit intention of looking for memories stored in the fabric of India Point Park. My friend promised to record my observations if I needed a spare hand, and to help me observe things about the park which I might not have noticed on my own. Though I did remember several details from the park, I was amazed by what we found as I approached the park as a centuries-old site of memory. Though memory is flexible and not given to qualification, the following photo journal represents one possible method of categorizing my observations concerning memory:

Back to India Point Park

Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology