The Official Blog of the Urban History Association
Nichole Nelson Ph.D. Candidate Department of History, Yale University Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? My dissertation examines how communities that choose to intentionally racially integrate in order to increase property values can serve as potential models to achieve racial residential integration nationwide. The methods that small, suburban communities have adopted […]
Read MoreIn 2014, the literary journal/magazine n+1 released the edited collection, City by City; a series of short vignettes from urban writers reflecting on the state of the nation’s metropolises. To its credit, the anthology included cities like Fresno and regions like Northern Kentucky, so it gave voice to oft ignored metropolitan areas. Moira Donegan’s […]
Read MoreRobert B. Fairbanks, PhD University of Texas at Arlington Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? I am currently researching the growth of the so-called suburban cities of the Southwest. One of the hallmarks of modern metropolitan America after World War II is the growth of huge suburban cities. Currently, Mesa, Arizona, […]
Read MoreFamed geographer Carl Suer once wrote: “Culture is the agent, the natural area the medium, the cultural landscape the result.” To put it less eloquently, people shape the landscape through husbandry, conservation, and architecture, and the end results speak volumes. While New Orleans might not be the perfect encapsulation of such an idea, as evidenced […]
Read MoreKenvi Phillips, PhD Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? Among the topics I am currently interested in is the Colored Y Campaign lead by Rev. Jesse E. Moorland in the early 20th century. The efforts of the national and […]
Read MoreNew Orleans has just roared through its season of celebration and excess that ends on Mardi Gras – or Fat Tuesday. A big part of the annual carnival is the donning of masks. Celebrants tossing beads from floats hide their true identities; members of marching crews disguise their faces; and one of the trademark gifts […]
Read More“It has been said that, in any New Orleans bar, the three subjects most likely to be discussed are the status of the seafood in season at the time, politics and sports – all with equal fervor,” notes the introduction to the 1983 reissue of The W.P.A. Guide to New Orleans. In the original guide, […]
Read MoreKoji Hirata PhD Candidate Department of History, Stanford University Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? Drawing on archival sources in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, my dissertation, “Steel Metropolis: Industrial Manchuria and the Making of Chinese Socialism, 1909–1964,” tells the story of the rise and fall of the largest steel enterprise in […]
Read MoreWelcome to The Metropole, the new blog of the Urban History Association. We envision this digital space as the hub of the Association’s scholarly network, bringing together UHA members who live scattered throughout the United States and across the globe. Furthermore, our aim is for The Metropole to serve as a central public square where […]
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The Metropole 