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Latinx Entrepreneurs in Philadelphia – A Legacy of Resilience and Growth – The Metropole
Editor’s note: This is the fourth post in our theme for November, The Latinx City. By Stephanie Rivera-Kumar Philadelphia, one of the oldest cities in the United States, has a vibrant history shaped by immigrant contributions that continue to affect its neighborhoods and economy. In recent years, Latinx immigrants from countries such as the Dominican…
Creature of the Night: A Review of “Midnight Rambles: H. P. Lovecraft in Gotham” – The Metropole
David J. Goodwin. Midnight Rambles: H. P. Lovecraft in Gotham. New York: Fordham University Press, 2023. Reviewed by Peter C. Baldwin The horror fiction of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, which sends delightful chills down the spines of his many fans, draws its power from its monsters and creepy settings, not from human characters. Lovecraft’s florid prose…
The Metropole Bookshelf: Writing the Golden State: the New Literary Terrain of California – The Metropole
The Metropole Bookshelf is an opportunity for authors of forthcoming or recently published books to let the UHA community know about their new work in the field. Other entries in the series can be viewed here. By Romeo Guzmán I’m a historian who is weary of origin stories. In presenting Writing the Golden State: the New…
The “World City” at Work: How Street Vendors Transformed Global L.A – The Metropole
By David Helps Jorge Cruz Cortes was still a teenager when the Los Angeles Police Department arrested him for selling household goods without a license in 1989. The eighteen-year-old from Oaxaca, Mexico had been in L.A. long enough to know how the legal system treated workers in the growing informal economy. An arrest meant fines…
Chicago Americans: The City of the Second Generation – The Metropole
Editor's note: This is the second post in our theme for November, The Latinx City. By Andres Villatoro A friend from graduate school recently visited Chicago for the first time ever to present at a large annual academic conference. As an international student from Santiago, Chile and a lover of cities, I was excited for…
The Latinx City: Overview and Bibliography – The Metropole
Editor's Note: This is the first post in this month's theme, The Latinx City By Ryan Reft If you’ve been even remotely paying attention in 2024, immigration and its impact on America has been a hot topic this year (and to be honest, nearly every election cycle since the 1990s). Granted, it’s a discussion largely…
Where to Start? An Urban History of the Bight of Biafra – The Metropole
The Metropole Bookshelf is an opportunity for authors of forthcoming or recently published books to let the UHA community know about their new work in the field. By Joseph Godlewski I was trained to be suspicious of origins. The search for metaphysical starting points has always seemed haunted by romantic essentialist beliefs and fraught with…
One Hundred Years of the Renaissance Theater and Ballroom/Casino – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Bridget Kelly What makes a site special? What must happen there for society to decide that a place, a building, a history is worth preserving? 2341 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, C. 1939-1941. Department Of Finance: Manhattan 1940s Tax Photos.…
To (Not) Get Lost in the City of Phnom Penh – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Zhiyi Wang “Everyone gets lost in Phnom Penh,” commented a Cambodian friend when we were trying to pinpoint a location on Google Maps. He is from Battambang, which along with Siem Reap and Phnom Penh are Cambodia’s largest and most…
My Street Looks Different Now: Oral History and the Anti-Redlining Movement – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, “Connections.” by Joshua Rosen In 1974, when Richard Wise was hired as a community organizer in Boston's Jamaica Plain,[1] there were thirty-one abandoned buildings in the center of the neighborhood. He remembers cars burning underneath the elevated train line nearly every week.[2] Banks…
After the Same Rainbow’s End: Purists, Pragmatists & Racial Advocates Duke It Out in Savannah – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Emi Higashiyama Savannah, Georgia, may not be the most obvious place to look for a decades-long battle over city planning, but recent developments over the Civic Center proved to be a contest that revived old feuds and started new ones.…
Architecture Matters? A Review of “The Architecture Of Urbanity: Designing For Nature, Culture And Joy” – The Metropole
Vishaan Chakrabarti. The Architecture Of Urbanity: Designing For Nature, Culture And Joy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024. Reviewed by Dasha Kuletskaya Can architects and other design professionals help tackle the global challenges humanity faces today? Can design be a tool to address climate change, rising inequality, and the spread of right-wing populism? Can architecture…
Connecting the City to the Sea: The Development of the National Aquarium in Baltimore – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Weilan Ge American ecologist Loren Eiseley once said, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in the water.”[1] The National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) puts this message at the entrance for all visitors to see, illustrating that…
Where Do You Summer? How the Urban Elite Forged Connections While Escaping the City – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Matthew Adair For many Americans, summer is a season of travel. The ritual of leaving home for somewhere more relaxing (or invigorating) has a long history. Since at least antiquity, “escaping the city” has been a common tradition among the…
Pittsburgh’s Chinese Laundries: Connections to the Past – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Jackie Wu Chinese-owned laundries dotted the urban landscape of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the late nineteenth century well into the post-World War II years. Tucked in between houses, restaurants, and other businesses, the number of Chinese laundries peaked in the 1930s…
Americanizing South Los Angeles through National Retailers and High-Security Malls – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by David Bruno During the mid to late twentieth century, shopping centers in America served as community cornerstones, providing communal spaces and establishing national social and cultural connections based on mutual shopping experiences and product consumption. Weakening regional differences and contributing…
How to Keep a School Open: Two Carvers and the Fight for Fair Desegregation – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Jeremy Lee Wolin During the era of formal segregation, Black communities across the United States created thousands of schools to provide the education that white schools would not allow their students to receive. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the same…
BART (Dis)Connects the San Francisco Bay Area – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Andrew Allio The camera pans along the street, highlighting the abandoned buildings. Midway down the block, a bulldozed lot is littered with broken concrete, plywood, and other construction debris. It is May 9, 1967, and Ben Williams of KPIX News…
Boxing & Urban Decline: Community Development & Urban Revitalization in Early 20th-Century Winnipeg – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Matthew McKeown Third places are spaces people go to get away from work and home life. These spaces are vital for connecting community members and essential for urban renewal. Recently, there have been arguments about the decline of third places.[1]…
Circumventing the Past: Navigating Around the Harbor Through the East Boston Tunnel – The Metropole
This piece is an entry in our Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest, "Connections." by Genna Kane Bostonians grumbled and complained when the Sumner Tunnel closed again in the Summer of 2024, demonstrating the significance of underwater connections to East Boston. The City of Boston annexed East Boston in 1836, but the harbor strained East…
Connect! With the Graduate Student Blogging Contest Entries – The Metropole
It is September, and here at The Metropole that means it is time to publish entries to the Graduate Student Blogging Contest. Now in its eighth year, the contest is intended to encourage students to write pieces for a public-facing, online platform and share their research with a broad audience. Beginning Thursday and extending into…
The People and Places That Made Two of Harlem’s Most Notable Neighborhoods: A Review of “Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill: Alexander Hamilton’s Old Harlem Neighborhood Through the Centuries” – The Metropole
Davida Siwisa James. Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill: Alexander Hamilton's Old Harlem Neighborhood Through the Centuries. New York: Fordham University Press, 2024. Reviewed by Kevin McGruder In Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill: Alexander Hamilton’s Old Harlem Neighborhood Through the Centuries, author Davida Siwisa James uses several individual buildings and collections of buildings, the people who…
Digital Summer School: LIVING HERITAGE ATLAS | BEIRUT: Mapping and Activating Beirut’s Crafts – The Metropole
On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion ripped through the heart of Beirut, Lebanon. While the devastation left by the blast was followed by a series of reconstruction efforts, it has remained difficult to document, map, and support the living heritage of the city, especially regarding its small creative businesses. The Living Heritage Atlas |…
A Forgotten or Simply Erased History of Organized Labor: A Review of “Building Power, Breaking Power: The United Teachers Of New Orleans, 1965-2008” – The Metropole
Jesse Chanin. Building Power, Breaking Power: The United Teachers of New Orleans, 1965-2008. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2024. Reviewed by Daniel G. Cumming Ten years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, a Chicago Tribune columnist memorialized the catastrophe with disturbing notes of envy. Though full of chaos, tragedy, and heartbreak,…
Digital Summer School: The Architecture of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book – The Metropole
During the summer of 2016, architectural historians Anne E. Bruder, Susan Hellman, and Catherine W. Zipf came together over their shared interest in documenting the history of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, more commonly referred to as simply "the Green Book." As noted in their interview below, a series of conference engagements led to the…
Digital Summer School: Sunset over Sunset – The Metropole
If you've been to Los Angeles recently and had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), perhaps you were able to drop in on its new exhibit, "Ed Ruscha/Now Then". Ruscha has long been an observer of the city, especially with regard to its vernacular and commercial architecture. While the…
Last call for the 8th Annual UHA Grad Student Blogging Contest – The Metropole
Hey all, it's our final reminder that the submission window for the Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest is still open—through July 12, 2024. We look forward to your submissions about connections, whether literal of figurative, in the historic urban landscape. We are pleased to announce this year’s contest judges: Dr. Andrew Sandoval-Strausz of Pennsylvania…
Digital Summer School: Green Book Cleveland – The Metropole
By J. Mark Souther Few things embody the freedom of American life more than mobility, and perhaps no other form of transportation, for better and worse, has defined mobility in the United States like cars. Yet in the era of Jim Crow, mobility for Black families could be dangerous, even deadly; hence the need for…
When the Gentrified Become Gentrifiers – A Review of “Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City” – The Metropole
Richard E. Ocejo. Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024. Reviewed by Mario Hernandez Focusing on small cities rather than the large metropolitan areas typically covered in gentrification literature, Richard Ocejo’s Sixty Miles Up River makes significant contributions to the study of gentrification. Beyond location,…
Black Female Mayors Are Shaping Our Cities—A Review of “Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors” – The Metropole
Sharon D. Wright Austin, ed. Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2023. Reviewed by Sarena Martinez Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors, edited by political scientist professor Sharon D. Wright Austin, is a trailblazing volume that draws together twenty-two…
Graduate Students—Connect with Us through the Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest – The Metropole
The submission window for the Eighth Annual Graduate Student Blogging Contest is still open—through July 12, 2024. We look forward to your submissions about connections, whether literal of figurative, in the historic urban landscape. We are pleased to announce this year’s contest judges: Dr. Andrew Sandoval-Strausz of Pennsylvania State University, current UHA president; Dr. Elizabeth…
From the Railway to the Highway: The History of (Un)Free Movement in the Arab Mediterranean – The Metropole
Editor's note: This is the final entry in our theme for the month, Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean by Ingy Higazi In September 1923, Egyptian writer al-Sayyid ‘Abd al-Mu‘min Kamil al-Hakim set out on a journey from al-Qantara, east of the Suez Canal on Egypt’s northeastern border, to Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. His month-long journey…
Reading ‘Akka’s Khans – The Metropole
Editor's note: This is the fifth entry in our theme for May, Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. by Francesco Anselmetti Entering ‘Akka in November 1693, ‘Abdel Ghani al-Nabulsi was overcome with disappointment. “We arrived at ‘Akka—a ruined town”, the Damascene intellectual writes, “its walls destroyed, the eye of its castle gouged out, the fruits of…
The Jewish Quarter of Saïda: Intertwined Displacements and Memories of Absence in a Southern Lebanese City – The Metropole
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth entry in our theme for the month of May: Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean by Molly Oringer “The rabbis prayed here, in Saïda’s synagogue,” recalled Basma, a Palestinian woman in her mid-thirties. It was early 2020, and we stood gathering in a courtyard typical of the medieval neighborhood, Ḥarat…
The Center at the Edge: The Beach in Mid-Century Alexandria – The Metropole
Editor’s note: This is the third entry in our theme for May, Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. by Alexandra Camille Schultz Introduction: From Edge to Center[1] In the early twentieth century, more people began to spend organized leisure time at the beach, including in Egypt. Indeed, by the end of World War II, the Mediterranean…
Urban Huts, Sickness, and Mobility: Finding Immigrants in Haifa and Jaffa in the 1930s and 1940s – The Metropole
Editor's note: This is the second post in our theme for May, Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. by Lauren Banko Public health officers in Palestine could not find Adam Mohammad, a man diagnosed with leprosy. As it did with others in Palestine with the same diagnosis, the department of health wished to monitor Mohammad’s condition.…
The Urban Tapestry of the Eastern Mediterranean—An Overview – The Metropole
Editor's Note: This is the first in our theme for the month of May: Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. by Zeead Yaghi The social, urban, and political fabric of cities across the Eastern Mediterranean have long shared material, cultural, and architectural commonalities, influenced by factors such as travel, commercial capitalism, and shared governance. Whether the…
Beyond the “Doom-Loop”—A Review of “Kids on The Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco’s Tenderloin” – The Metropole
Plaster, Joseph. Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco's Tenderloin. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2023. Reviewed by Alex Melody Burnett At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, national media outlets developed a powerful new narrative about San Francisco. After years of tech-induced prosperity, San Francisco had supposedly entered a dangerous…
Announcing The Eighth Annual UHA/The Metropole Graduate Student Blogging Contest – The Metropole
Connection The Metropole/Urban History Association Graduate Student Blogging Contest exists to encourage and train graduate students to blog about history—as a way to teach beyond the classroom, market their scholarship, and promote the enduring value of the humanities. This year’s theme is Connection. We are looking for blog posts that highlight connections that occur within,…
Demystified Tokyo Offers an Alternative Paradigm of Urban Planning—A Review of “Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City” – The Metropole
Almazán, Jorge and Studiolab. Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City. Novato, CA: ORO Editions, 2022. Reviewed by Eric Häusler Emergent Tokyo is the result of the collaborative effort of Studiolab, an architecture studio at Keio University that combines interdisciplinary research with socially conscious architectural practice. Emergent Tokyo’s authors argue that Tokyo is a vibrant and…