50 YEARS SINCE THE TORCH WAS PASSED: THE SIERRA CLUB AND THE FOUNDING OF CONGAREE NATIONAL PARK

By Neal D. Polhemus October 18, 1976, the date President Ford signed Public Law No. 94-545, is generally considered the birthday of Congaree National Park. But the campaign to save the rapidly disappearing old-growth forests across America, specifically those in the Congaree River floodplain, began much earlier.[1] A more fitting birthday would be October 25-26, […]

Read More

Member of the Week: Patricia Ploehn

Patricia Ploehn   Senior, Honors College, College of Charleston Double major in Historic Preservation and Art History, minor in Southern Studies Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest?  I am currently involved in two different research projects! I am continuing my research on the interpretation of monuments by seeking out more contentious […]

Read More

Member of the Week: Patrice Green

Patrice Green MA/MLIS Candidate University of South Carolina Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest?  My current research is on the history of the United States Space and Rocket Center, its establishment, and the development of its premier program, Space Camp. I’m looking at how the Center cultivated a national cultural identity […]

Read More

A Week for our Members

It will be a gift in your life to clap loudly for your friends — melanie (@melanienewport) October 20, 2018   This tweet, for me, sums up the experience of #UHA2018. Throughout the conference I was repeatedly struck by the collegiality, generosity, and support that our association’s members showed to one another. I heard several […]

Read More

#UHA2018

In Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 film “24 Hour Party People,” then-television journalist and future Factory Records founder Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) ventures out into the cool Manchester, England night one evening to take in a rock show. What he sees changes his life and those of millions of others forever. “In the fall of 1976, the […]

Read More

Member of the Week: Robin Waites

Robin Waites Executive Director Historic Columbia @RobinWaites @HistColumbia Describe what you’re currently working on at Historic Columbia. What projects are currently keeping you occupied? Over the last five years Historic Columbia has been engaged in a complete overhaul of the interpretive frame and content delivery at four of the six historic sites that we manage. […]

Read More

Coming to Columbia, S.C.: #UHA2018

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Urban History Association. Born in Cincinnati amidst the systematic disinvestment in the nation’s cities and the “greed is good” coda of Wall Street, the UHA could have become a dour professional organization hosting the occasional pedantic and scolding conference–after all, one could argue the nation has mistreated […]

Read More

ICYMI: The First One of 2018 Edition

The Metropole stormed into January with some great content, setting the tone for an exciting year. What were our New Years resolutions, you ask? We simply have one: to continue putting out the kind of great research and reflection that makes our blog the digital hub for urban history, read by experts and enthusiasts alike. […]

Read More

A Vision for UHA 2018

Earlier this month, longtime UHA member Jim Wunsch of Empire State College (SUNY) raised some great questions and points of debate regarding how we organize, conduct, and process conferences, including: accepting fewer papers for presentation; rethinking how historians present research (and the context in which they are presented); and posting papers earlier to encourage greater […]

Read More