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Book Review: Black Citymakers: How The Philadelphia Negro Changed Urban America

Book Review: Black Citymakers: How The Philadelphia Negro Changed Urban America Book Reviews BLACK CITYMAKERS:HOW THE PHILADELPHIA NEGRO CHANGED URBAN AMERICA by Marcus Anthony Hunter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, 304 pp. $35 Cloth. ISBN: 978-0-1999-4813-0 Reviewed by Preston H. Smith II Mount Holyoke College In Black Citymakers Marcus Hunter wants the reader to focus on the agency of black politi- cal actors in shaping the development of Philadelphia throughout the twentieth century. In his study Hunter attempts to convey the impact of black political actions through what he calls “critical junctures”: historical moments of economic and political crises during which the inner workings of Philadelphia’s political economy are laid bare. These histor- ical moments include the failure of two black-owned banks in the 1920s, the collapse of a tenement building and subsequent housing reform in the 1930s, the proposal to con- struct a highway through the black sections of the Seventh Ward in the 1950s, and the rise of the black mayor in the 1980s. Using W.E.B. DuBois’ Philadelphia Negro as a point of departure, Hunter claims that the “Black Seventh Ward,” as the “origin of black life in Philadelphia,” was the site for many of these pivotal moments during which black politi- cal actors made their imprint on http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png City and Community SAGE

Book Review: Black Citymakers: How The Philadelphia Negro Changed Urban America

City and Community , Volume 13 (1): 1 – Mar 1, 2014

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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 2014 American Sociological Association
ISSN
1535-6841
eISSN
1540-6040
DOI
10.1111/cico.12055
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book Reviews BLACK CITYMAKERS:HOW THE PHILADELPHIA NEGRO CHANGED URBAN AMERICA by Marcus Anthony Hunter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, 304 pp. $35 Cloth. ISBN: 978-0-1999-4813-0 Reviewed by Preston H. Smith II Mount Holyoke College In Black Citymakers Marcus Hunter wants the reader to focus on the agency of black politi- cal actors in shaping the development of Philadelphia throughout the twentieth century. In his study Hunter attempts to convey the impact of black political actions through what he calls “critical junctures”: historical moments of economic and political crises during which the inner workings of Philadelphia’s political economy are laid bare. These histor- ical moments include the failure of two black-owned banks in the 1920s, the collapse of a tenement building and subsequent housing reform in the 1930s, the proposal to con- struct a highway through the black sections of the Seventh Ward in the 1950s, and the rise of the black mayor in the 1980s. Using W.E.B. DuBois’ Philadelphia Negro as a point of departure, Hunter claims that the “Black Seventh Ward,” as the “origin of black life in Philadelphia,” was the site for many of these pivotal moments during which black politi- cal actors made their imprint on

Journal

City and CommunitySAGE

Published: Mar 1, 2014

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