The Official Blog of the Urban History Association
Manshel, Andrew W. Learning From Bryant Park: Revitalizing Cities, Towns, and Public Spaces. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2020. Reviewed by Katie Uva On an August night in 1993, I was five years old and sitting in Bryant Park on a blanket on a lush bed of grass with my parents, their friends, and […]
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Established over a decade ago, the Lowcountry Digital Library has amassed an array of historical materials documenting the culture of the region, the lives of its inhabitants, and its connections to the Atlantic World. Charleston’s political, cultural, and economic prominence in the area means it occupies an important place in the library’s archive and exhibitions. […]
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Editor’s note: This is the third post in a three part series by Kirin Makker exploring Black community building in rural towns during the Jim Crow era. Click here to see Part I. Part II can be found here. By Kirin Makker Though a story about a scattered community, the history of the Farmers Improvement […]
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Editor’s note: This is the second post in a three part series by Kirin Makker exploring Black community building in rural towns during the Jim Crow era. Click here to see Part I. Part III can be found here. By Kirin Makker Robert L. Smith was a black politician and social entrepreneur during the rise […]
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Editor’s note: This is the first post in a three part series by Kirin Makker exploring Black community building in rural towns during the Jim Crow era. You can find Part II here and Part III here. By Kirin Makker Dating back to mid-twentieth century, Americans have held a nostalgic view of their small towns […]
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Dyja, Thomas. New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess, and Transformation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021. Reviewed by Bob Carey To get at what Thomas Dyja is after in his new book, begin with the epilogue. Having drawn us into a lengthy but spirited chronicle which begins in the seventies […]
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By Charles Lester With his most recent book, Charles Blow offers an intriguing proposition for Black empowerment–a mass migration of African Americans to the South. He argues that the project of northern and western migration of previous generations has given way to racial prejudice, de facto segregation, failing schools, chronic underemployment, few economic opportunities or […]
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By Alan Lessoff The gaudy psychodrama that led to January’s trashing of the Capitol gave Americans even more to fret about during the already dreary months when those of us who adhered to public health advice were compelled to interact with the country mostly from home, through televisions and computer screens. As an historian who […]
Read MoreThis blog post is the first in a series of posts supporting the UHA’s inaugural Membership Drive. These posts will introduce you to some of the many amazing scholars, activists, teachers, and others in the UHA’s membership community, as well as highlight the role played by the UHA in the lives and careers of its […]
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Hamilton, Peter E. Made in Hong Kong: Transpacific Networks and a New History of Globalization. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021. Reviewed by James Watson-Krips There are few places in the world quite like Hong Kong. Billed as “Asia’s World City,” it is today celebrated as much for its striking cityscape as its vibrant street […]
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