Barbara miner

Miner left Milwaukee for 20 years before returning in the 80s to raise her family, but she noticed a significant change not only in the physical landscape but in the spirit of the city after deindustrialization. Factories closed and turned into strip malls, office buildings or apartments, and union jobs that supported many families were gone — setting off major changes to Milwaukee and its economy.

Miner examines the impact of this shift in her new multimedia project, Shadows of Industrialization. Through photographs and audio interviews, the project looks at contemporary Milwaukee through its former factories and the people who worked there. Milwaukee's industrial strength and prominence in were demonstrated through the top ten employers in the city that year, being either factories or breweries according to Miner.

During this time, Milwaukee was one of the best places for middle-class and Black families.

Barbara miner: Barbara Miner is a photographer

Earl Ingram Jr. The highest standard of living In a year period [Milwaukee went] from the best place in the nation to live to now, arguably, one of the worst," says Ingram. In addition to the multiple interviews and first-hand accounts that Miner pursued and collected for this project, she also thought it was important to incorporate photographs of the areas discussed in the project.

Many areas that once housed these prominent pillars of employment and economic stability are either abandoned or have been demolished and replaced. Miner notes that unionization helped make this economic style stronger while it was still in the prime of its power.