Syracuse, NY sits at the conjunction of US Interstates 81, which travels from the Canadian border to the state of Tennessee, and 90, which starts in Boston in the east and ends in Seattle on the west coast. Likewise, Syracuse has found itself as a meeting point of many significant moments and events in US history. Before I-90 there was the Erie Canal around which the city grew and on which good and people from NYC and Buffalo and beyond traveled. Before there was the Erie Canal, there was the main trail connecting the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. At the center of that Confederacy is the Onondaga Nation and the site where the Peacemaker brought the nations together, Onondaga Lake, upon whose shores the city of Syracuse was established. Its geographic centrality contributed to the area’s historical significance, which this project will explore. How did it become the center of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy? What happened during the American Revolution? What about now? Why does Syracuse become a destination for fugitive slaves? What were their lives like in the city? What happens when slave catchers came looking? What is the immigration story of Syracuse? Why is there an upside-down traffic light in the Tipperary Hill neighborhood? How did the immigration story change? When and why does it become home to refugees? Where and how do they live? How have they helped the city grow? Oh, and that I-81 goes right through downtown and has been connected to the fact that Syracuse has one of the highest levels of concentrated poverty for communities of color in the country. What happened when it was built? Who were the winners and losers in that infrastructure project? And what about Onondaga Lake, which at one point was the most polluted lake in the United States? This project will explore these questions and others of importance to the region.

“Syracuse at the Crossroads,” created by and maintained by faculty and students at Le Moyne College, will utilize GIS technologies in order to create a geographic understanding of the development of the city and how the space and place of Syracuse affected events. To understand the Jerry Rescue, the rescue of a fugitive slave arrested in Syracuse in 1851, it helps to have an idea of the layout of the city, as well as his route out of the country. It also helps to know how a man born into slavery in NC, escaped that institution in Missouri, and made his way to Syracuse, NY. Mapping is key. Furthermore, there are dramatic stories to tell and that lend themselves well to a podcast format. So along with understanding the geography of the Jerry Rescue and other important events, Syracuse at the Crossroads will offer its audience audio narratives that can explain the significance and convey the human experience of the events by interviewing scholars and community members.

According to US census data Onondaga County is home to just under a half-million people. Of that population, 88% have computers and over 80% has access to broadband. This population will be the main audience for the project for people to 1. Learn more about their history and 2. Hopefully work with the project to help tell the stories. In many ways Syracuse at the Crossroads isn’t just about Syracuse, but it is for Syracuse. Furthermore, like many Rust Belt cities, Syracuse has seen its population decline starting in the 1970s and 1980s as the economy and its residents headed south and west. These people often still have family in the area and a strong emotional connection. This project is also for them and about them. For both communities, this project can offer a greater connection to a community they live in and identify with.