The Official Blog of the Urban History Association
With #UHA2018 in the books, it’s time to bid farewell to one of the driving forces of urban history and planning over these past two years, President Richard Harris, and his “dope orange sweater.” Thanks to Peter Suskind and Richard Harris for their stewardship of the UHA and #UHA2018. Plus Prof. Harris donned his dope […]
Read More
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
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 MoreRobin 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
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 MoreJessica Elfenbein Professor of History University of South Carolina Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? I’m working on a community study of a now-disappeared place called Ferguson, SC. In the decades following Reconstruction, Chicago lumbermen Benjamin F. Ferguson (1840-1905) and Francis Beidler (1854-1924) made their way to South Carolina, acquired–at bargain […]
Read MoreLaDale Winling Associate Professor, Department of History Virginia Tech @lwinling Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? I am currently researching real estate and segregation in Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s. From this milieu, in the midst of the Great Migration and in wake of the 1919 race riot, emerged new […]
Read MoreElaine Lewinnek Professor of American Studies California State University, Fullerton Describe your current research. What about it drew your interest? At the UHA meeting in Philadelphia, I was enthusing to Laura Barraclough about her book, A People’s Guide to Los Angeles, which takes insights from urban historians and radical geographers, presenting them in an appealing […]
Read MoreThe 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
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
The Metropole 