Exploring the Historiography of Urban America
Complete the following reading selections by the listed date and come to class prepared for lively discussion. For tips on how to approach each selection check out the resources page.
Required course texts are available at both the Cal Bookstore and Ned's, but can also be purchased used on sites such as Amazon.com and Abebooks.com. Our Course Reader can be purchased at Copy Central, 2560 Bancroft Way. All texts are also on 2-hour reserve at Moffitt Library. Additional articles can be accessed via links provided below.
January 19
: Introductions and logistics
January 26 : Popular culture and the city (120 pages)
• Chapters 1, 6, 7, and 8 in David Nasaw, Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements (Reader)
• Elaine Abelson, book review for Going Out, in American Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Sept 1996)
• Chapters 1 and 4 in Eric Avila, Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles (Reader)
February 2: San Francisco (200 pages)
• Intro, Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and Conclusion in Nayan Shah, Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco's Chinatown
• Martha Mabie Gardner, "Working on White Womanhood: White Working Women in the San Francisco Anti-Chinese Movement, 1877-1890," Journal of Social History, Vol. 33, No.1 (Autumn 1999)
• Joan B. Trauner, "The Chinese as Medical Scapegoats in San Francisco, 1870-1905," California History, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Spring 1978)
• Leigh Dana Johnsen, "Equal Rights and the 'Heathen "Chinee"'": Black Activism in San Francisco, 1865-1875, The Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan 1980)
February 9: New Orleans (200 pages)
• James Bennett, Religion and the Rise of Jim Crow in New Orleans
February 16: Atlanta (150 pages)
• Gregory Mixon, The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in a New South City
• Eugene J. Watts, "The Police in Atlanta, 1890-1905," The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 39, No.2 (May 1973)
February 23: LIBRARY SESSION
Class will meet in room 350C in Moffitt Library. Be sure to bring your student ID for access.
March 2: Washington, D.C. (210 pages)
• Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, D.C., 1910-1940
• Chapter 39 in Mary Church Terrell, A Colored Woman in a White World (Reader)
March 9: Chicago, part I (190 pages)
• Introduction and Part II in James Grossman, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration
• Chaps 2, 3, and 4 from Thomas A. Guglielmo, White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945 (Reader)
PROSPECTUS/BIBLIO DUE in class Wednesday, March 9.
March 16: Chicago, part II (430 pages)
• Books I, II, and II in Richard Wright, Native Son
SPRING BREAK, March 21 - March 25
March 30: Los Angeles, part I (300 pages)
• Introduction, Part III, and Epilogue in Luis Alvarez, The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance During World War II
• Chester Himes, If He Hollers Let Him Go
April 6: New York (230 pages)
• Joshua Zeitz, White Ethnic New York: Jews, Catholics, and the Shaping of Post War Politics
April 13: Detroit (270 pages)
• Thomas Sugrue, Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit
• Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," Office of Policy Planning and Research, United States Department of Labor (March 1965)
April 20: Los Angeles, part II (230 pages)
• Intro, Part II, and Epilogue in Becky Nicolaides, My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965
• Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Gerald Horne, Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s (Reader)
April 27: Boston and Atlanta Revisited (0 pages)
• In-class film: "The Keys to the Kingdom," Eyes on the Prize
FINAL PAPERS DUE to me in my office, 2108 Dwinelle, between 4pm and 6pm, Wednesday, May 11.
Analysis Assignments
Each Wednesday: WEEKLY READING RESPONSES
Each week, excluding the week in which you are leading seminar, compose an informal 1/2 to 1 page (double-spaced) response, including summaries of the authors' main arguments and brief analysis of each selection. All response assignments should be emailed to me and will be due no later than 2pm on the day of our meeting.
Paper Preparations
March 9, Wednesday: PAPER PROSPECTUS and BIBLIOGRAPHY due
A prospectus for your final paper should be roughly 3 pages in length and must include a title, thesis statement, proposed framework, and research details. the following. In addition, you will submit an annotated bibliography, which must include a comprehensive list of your sources, with complete citations and a couple of sentences describing each source.
No email submissions. Submit a hard copy to me in class Wednesday, March 9.
Final Paper
May 11, Wednesday : FINAL PAPER due
By the end of the semester you will complete a 9 to 11 page paper based on primary source research and informed by secondary sources. Spell-check and proof-read your work and be certain to follow each of the required specifications for your final draft. No email submissions. Submit a hard copy to me in my office in 2108 Dwinelle between 4pm and 6pm, Wednesday, May 11.
A note about turning in assignments: Departmental policy forbids students from leaving any assignments in GSI mailboxes. All assignments must be delivered to me in person during class time or office hours.
