East St. Louis Action Research Project University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign LA 437/465 Final Reports The Spirit of African-
American Yards The Spirit of African-American Yards Front Yard
Designs in East St. Louis The research of folk gardening
traditions is slowly beginning in the United States. As a
result, African-American yards have received little systematic
attention to date. Several researchers who have made scholarly
contribution directly to African-American yards are Richard
Westmacott, Robert Farris Thompson, Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins,
and Judith McWillie. This study explores the vernacular language
of African-American front yards of the Edgemont neighborhood
which locates in the southeast end of the city of East St.
Louis. By identifying existing cultural-specific residential
landscape features and structures, African-American front yard
prototypes have been developed. J. B. Jackson once said, "we can
only start to understand the contemporary landscape by studying
what we have rejected and what