The Official Blog of the Urban History Association
By Daniel Clark For most of the twentieth century, autoworkers and their families were a large share of metro-Detroit’s population, and the decade and a half after World War II has been widely considered to be their heyday. Those familiar with the literature on Detroit history will immediately, and correctly, point out that Tom Sugrue’s […]
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By Richard Harris, McMaster University I enjoyed Victoria Wolcott’s recent item in The Metropole. Engaging, and deeply-felt, it effectively made the point that the lives and struggles of black women are among the most neglected aspects of the American urban experience. But one phrase gave me pause. She suggested that lately we have been “neglecting […]
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We’ve been thinking long and hard here at The Metropole and the Urban History Association about how to sustain the blog in a way that honors and rewards all of the hard work that our editors and contributors currently do as volunteers. In 2019, we had over 50,000 visitors to the site (an increase of […]
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By Pete Saunders Detroit has had an outsized impact on American history. People around the world are familiar with its contributions to the auto industry in particular and manufacturing in general. And Detroit has had an impact on music—from Motown rhythm and blues to rock, jazz, gospel, and electronic dance music—that is unparalleled. Detroit has […]
Read MoreMike Amezcua Assistant Professor of History and Urban Studies New York University https://www.razalandscapes.com/ Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? I am in the process of completing my first book manuscript which centers on the making of Mexican Chicago and its distinct neighborhoods from postwar urban renewal to the era of gentrification. […]
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Cityscape is The Metropole’s monthly shortcut to recent, forthcoming, or overlooked writing, exhibits and film. The City in Print The Taco Truck: How Mexican Street Food is Transforming the American City By Robert Lemon. University of Illinois Press, 2019. When the food truck pulls up it may stir conflict, but it can enliven and transform […]
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By James McQuaid On May 10, 1973, Gary Kapanowski walked into work and was greeted by orange and black fliers papered throughout the plant denouncing him as “a faggot,” asking workers at the plant, “Do you want a faggot to be your chairman of the shop committee?”[i] Kapanowski had worked at the Briggs Beautyware stamping […]
Read MoreJovana Babović Assistant Professor of History SUNY Geneseo Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? I am currently working on a social history of animals in Yugoslavia. As I was researching entertainment for my book Metropolitan Belgrade: Class and Culture in Interwar Yugoslavia (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018), I kept noticing the discrete yet […]
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We are but a mere ten months (give or take) away from UHA 2020. In anticipation of the conference to be held in Detroit from October 8-11, 2020, The Metropole is featuring Detroit as our Metro of the Month for January. You can see our MotM posts for Detroit here. We encourage all urbanists to […]
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[Editor’s note: In anticipation of UHA 2020 to be held in Detroit, October 8-11, 2020, The Metropole is featuring Detroit as our Metro of the Month for January. See here for the CFP and here for info about and link to the UHA spreadsheet. The latter is meant to help urbanists find prospective panels and […]
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