Becoming Penn

by John L. Puckett, Mark Frazier Lloyd

2015 · University of Pennsylvania Press

The second half of the twentieth century saw the University of Pennsylvania grow in size as well as in stature. On its way to becoming one of the world's most celebrated research universities, Penn exemplified the role of urban renewal in the postwar redevelopment and expansion of urban universities, and the indispensable part these institutions played in the remaking of American cities. Yet urban renewal is only one aspect of this history. Drawing from Philadelphia's extensive archives as well as the University's own historical records and publications, John L. Puckett and Mark Frazier Lloyd examine Penn's rise to eminence amid the social, moral, and economic forces that transformed major public and private institutions across the nation. Becoming Penn recounts the shared history of university politics and urban policy as the campus grappled with twentieth-century racial tensions, gender inequality, labor conflicts, and economic retrenchment. Examining key policies and initiatives of the administrations led by presidents Gaylord Harnwell, Martin Meyerson, Sheldon Hackney, and Judith Rodin, Puckett and Lloyd revisit the actors, organizations, and controversies that shaped campus life in this turbulent era. Illustrated with archival photographs of the campus and West Philadelphia neighborhood throughout the late twentieth century, Becoming Penn provides a sweeping portrait of one university's growth and impact within the broader social history of American higher education.

Place Matters

by Peter Dreier, John H. Mollenkopf, Todd Swanstrom

2004

Analyzes the problematic trends facing America's cities and older suburbs and challenges us to put America's urban crisis back on the national agenda.

Parish Boundaries

by John T. McGreevy

2016 · University of Chicago Press

A "remarkable" study of white Catholics and African Americans—and the dynamics between them in New York, Chicago, Boston, and other cities ( The New York Times Book Review). Parish Boundaries chronicles the history of Catholic parishes in major cities such as Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia, melding their unique place in the urban landscape to the course of twentieth century American race relations. In vivid portraits of parish life, John McGreevy examines the contacts and conflicts between European-American Catholics and their African American neighbors. By tracing the transformation of a church, its people, and the nation, McGreevy illuminates the enormous impact of religious culture on modern American society. "Thorough, sensitive, and balanced."— Kirkus Reviews " Parish Boundaries can take its place in the front ranks of the literature of urban race relations."— The Washington Post "A prodigiously researched, gracefully written book distinguished especially by its seamless treatment of social and intellectual history."— American Historical Review " Parish Boundaries will fascinate historians and anyone interested in the historic connection between parish and race."— Chicago Tribune