Kenneth Foote Shadow Ground Summary

Foote, Kenneth E., Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy. Austen:
University of Texas Press, 2003.

Introduction

Kenneth Foote’s Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy

examines monuments and memorials that deal with a variety of events in American History. He

uses a variety of types of monuments dedicated to natural disasters, mass murders,

assassinations, freak accidents and other varieties. Such monuments and memorials deal with

what Foote believes is a “sense of place.”

Sense of place. Memories attached to that place. Cultural geographer. Placelessness

Shared meanings
Temporary versus permenet

Function of the monument

In Foote’s argument, sanctification means the creation of a sacred place. It

often requires

a ritual dedication. Sanctification deals with the memory of the event itself, whether through a

martyr, hero or group of victims. He further explores the “sense of space” or in this case a

“sacred place.” Sanctification means leaving a durable mark. Foote successfully articulates that a

site, “is transformed into a symbol of intended to remind future generations of a virtue or

sacrifice or to warn them of events to be avoided. Several “fields of care” are related to

sanctification. They include: the heroic struggle, martyrs and heroes, and a sense of community

loss. Foote’s example of the heroic struggle is The National Cemetery at Gettysburg. He uses

presidential assassinations as examples of martyrs and heroes. Lastly, Foote uses the victims of

the Jonestown Floods as an example of community loss.

Foote argues that designation pertains to events that some believe, will be of importance

in the future. It often times overlaps with sanctification. Designation is sanctification without any

of the ritualistic activities. Often designations such as markers are temporary rather than a

sanctified stationary monument. Foote articulates that designation, “is sometimes best viewed as

a transitional phase in the history of a site.” Many sites of designation have the possibility of

becoming sanctified in the future. Fields of designation include: the minority cause, places in

progress, and the unforgettable event. Foote uses the MLK assassination at the Lorraine Hotel in

Memphis, Tennessee as an example of the minority cause. He uses The Bunker Hill Memorial as

a place in progress and the Hindenburg Disaster as an unforgettable event.

Rectification refers to when the original purpose of a site is revisited after a time

Moreover, rectification comes when the meaning of a site has changed, when the designation is

outdated or when the place is deemed innocent in terms of the event.

This site is temporarily

noteworthy and eventually returns to its original use. It is almost as the event goes through a

lifecycle of sorts. This can be attribute to events that pertain to a certain generation and looses its

significance when that generation dies out. Lose of significance often leads to the

abandonment of these sites though that is often easily rectified.

Obliteration deals directly with sites that are attributed to scarring events. Many times

this obliteration refers to covering up an event or removing it completely from public view. Such

sites are considered not rectifiable or eternally tainted. Many of these events are sources of

community shame. Foote uses various examples of this. Foote first uses homes and sites of serial

murders and serial killers. One in particular, John Wayne Gacy. The community did not want to

understand that such a horrendous person could be in their community and doing these things. In

Foote’s words, “The shame of the murderer radiates outward to the community at large.”

The community also wanted to prevent the pilgrimage of fans of these killers to visit their

homes

and other attributing sites. Many times, such as the case of Gacy, these houses were leveled,

though the memory of the event remains.

In his revised edition Foote articulates the four purposes of the 9/11 memorial. First the

memorial is meant to anchor the memory of a specific site. It further interprets the meaning of

nearby exhibitions. The memorial preserves evidence of trauma in archival collections. Lastly, it

disseminates knowledge of an event through the work of a public educational institute.

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