The Albina Soul Walk (2021-)

A collaboration between artist Megan Hattie Stahl (production and editing) and archivist Bobby Smith (musical curation and oral history direction).

The Albina Soul Walk is an award-winning one-mile, self-guided audio tour exploring the musical history of Portland's historically Black Albina district. Locally, it's no secret that the area has changed enormously over the past several decades. Urban renewal projects and gentrification have led to displacement of residents and the fracturing of tight-knit communities. Kicking off at the legendary Cotton Club, the Albina Soul Walk leads users to sites where historic jazz and soul venues once stood. Through music and interviews with those who sang, played, and partied at these clubs, the Albina Soul Walk tries to not only communicate what went on at these spots during the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, but to interrogate why they're no longer there and honor the toll these decades of "progress" have taken on this community.

Community Engagement

In addition to the self-guided walk, released for free on the ECHOES mobile application in June 2021, a few events have been held to promote and celebrate the project. First, a live version of the walking tour was led by musician Calvin Walker and Cotton Club owner Paul Knauls Sr. in June 2021 as part of the Vanport Mosaic Festival. Then, a kick-off event marking the wide release of the self-guided walk took place in August 2021. At this event, attendees could meet elders featured in the walk, receive technical assistance, and do the walk in a group with a tech-savvy guide.

These events, which took place during the pandemic, helped to create a sense of intergenerational community and connectedness, in contrast to the solitary sound walk experience with headphones.

The Albina Soul Walk is still available free of charge and has been streamed over 1000 times to date.