Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Cornelius Corky Dozier-Historic Perspective of the Shotgun HouseSubmitted into the publi record f e r ite L( on City Clerk THE HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE OF THE SHOTGUN HOUSE We believe the shotgun house is historically sigxVicant became they are among the first examples of African architecture in the Milted Stotts. The name "shotgun" may have originated from the Africa's Southern Dahomey Fox area term, to -gun, which means, "place of assembly" or 'shogun". In West Africa 'shogun" means "God's House". The African past through its communal space and design and sacred meanings of its form," creates a "domestic temple" that provides spiritual protection, along wWt family connectedness. Spirituality has always run deep in the Black community. A "shogon" was more than just a home. It was the spiritual center of the family unit Home is a place where everything comes together around faith and family. If the family represents the soul of the community, then the house is the sours vessel In West African culture, religious rituals made clear the belief that- the home - contained the soul of the ancestors. The idea of a house form is closely associated with the way a people seek to order their world. The design of the house draws individual family members into prolonged daily contact the front porch, and the placement ent of shotguns in tightly spaced rows in urban areas supported interconnection between people and gave neighbors a strong sense of community. The earnest models for the shotgun house clearly can be traced to West Africa. It is an archlt ct ural form that enslaved Africans, particularly the Yoruba, brought with them to the cosxtriiea of the Caribbean and to the United States. It was a form that fostered physical togetherness and emotional intimacy - two values that laid the foundation upon which these Africans' new architecture was designed We Believe ... The Shotgun House Is the Original Affordable "Workforce* Housbig. These structures exemplify a type of working class housing style that was common in black urban neighborhoods during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the genuine reason shotgun houses appeared in the United States is a matter of economy. A qsdntessential part of the American Dream L to own a home. A shotgun house could be an Fordable dwelling, one that afforded its inhabitants a measure of dignity. The early African Bahamian pioneers sealed themselves into clusters of ,freedmen, and were the first Black ` ,laceanakers" in Miami i 4V/A-s\)\)ii\��\4\(i I�oZ,c�-�,�0�,� e�sQe��,�e a� ti\e 34L Submitted into the pub record fo ite (s on City Clerk THE HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE OF THE SHOTGUN HOUSE We believe the shotgun house is historically significant because they are among the jb►st example.s of African architecture in the United States. The name "shotgun" may have originated from the Africa's Southern Dahomey Fon area tern, to -gun, which means, "place of assembly"or "shogun". In West Africa "shogun" memo "God's House': The African past through its communal space and design and sacred meanings of its form," creates a "domestic temple" that provides spiritual protection, along with family connectedness. Spirituality has always run deep in the Black community. A `shogon" was more than Just a home. It was the spiritual center of the family unit Home is a place where everything comes together around faith and family. If the family represents the soul of the community, therm the house is the sours vessel In West African culture, religious rituals made clear the belief that- the home — contained the soul of the ancestors. The idea of a house form is closely associated with the way a people seek to order their world The design of the house draws dal family members into prolonged daily contact. the front porch, and the placement of shotguns in dghtly spaced rows in urban areas supported interconnection between people and gave neighbors a strong sense of comatunity. The earliest models for the shogun house clearly can be traced to West Africa It is an architectural form that enslaved Africans, particularly the Yoruba, brought with them to the countries of the Caribbean and to the United States. It was a forma drat fostered physical togetherness and emotional intimacy — two values that laid the foundation upon which these Africans' new architecture was designed We Believe ... The Shotgun House Is the Original Affordable "Workforce" Housing. These structures exemplify a type of working clans housing style that was common in black urban neighborhoods during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the genuine reason shotgun houses appeared in the United States is a matter of economy. A quintessential part of the American Dream is to own a home. A shotgun house could be an afordabk dwelling, one that afforded ib inhabitants a measure of dignity. The early African Bahamian pioneers settled themselves into clusters of freedmen, and were the jbst Black "placemakers" in Miami.