US Urban History

HST 331: History of the American City Spring 2006

This syllabus may be altered to meet the needs and interests of the students as the semester progresses. No change will be made without advance notice to all students via their UNCW email accounts. Be sure to check that account regularly.

Dr. Laura Wittern-Keller

WitternkellerL@uncw.edu, Morton Hall 103B, phone 962-7580

Office Hours: Tuesday, 12:30-1:30 and Thursday, 9:00-10:30. Other times by appointment. Just email.

This is a reading-intensive course.

History of the American City will focus on the commercial development of early American cities, then shift to political, social, and economic factors as cities grew both in size and importance throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. We will pay special attention to post-World War II suburbanization and the decay of the postmodern city, finishing with a look at the renewal of inner city life in the last twenty years.

Required Reading:

Chudacoff, Howard P. and Smith, Judith E. The Evolution of American Urban Society, sixth edition. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005 (ISBN 0-13-189824-8)

Monkkonen, Eric H. America Becomes Urban : the Development of U.S. Cities & Towns, 1780-1980 / [electronic resource].

Reps, John. "Town Planning in the Carolinas and Georgia," Town Planning in Frontier America, (on reserve)

_______ "Washington: A New Capital for a New Nation," Town Planning in Frontier America, 211-227 (on reserve).

Barth, Gunther. City People.

Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States

Sugrue, Thomas J. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit.

Riordan, William. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (available full-text online: see below)

Finney, Jack. Time and Again, Touchstone Reprint (ISBN: 0684801051)

Fun yet historically accurate novel about life in NYC in the late 1880s.

Recommended:

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie, any edition. (classic story of urban life and consumerism)

Gerard, Philip. Cape Fear Rising. (fictional account of the 1898 racial violence in Wilmington)

Cecelski, David S., ed. Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy. E-book.

Grading:

The course will be graded using a 1,000 point scale. You will have a midterm (200) and a final (300) which will count for half of your grade. Class attendance will be necessary since the exams will cover both the reading material and the class instruction, including all documentaries shown. You will also write one-page reaction papers to each documentary we view (100 total) and you will write three book reviews, each of which will count 100 points (300 total). Or you can choose to write a summary history of Wilmington (see separate sheet for details on this option,300). Participation points will count for the final 100 of your course grade.

930 = A, 900 = A-, 865 = B+, 830 = B. . .730 = C. . . 630 = D. . .600 = D- (minimum passing grade).

No late papers will be accepted. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the day noted in the course schedule.

Student Responsibility:

Arrive on time.

Turn cell phone ringers off, not on buzz.

Laptops may be used ONLY for note taking. Any infraction will result in one full letter grade drop from your course grade.

Do not talk unless addressing the entire class.

No food but you may bring liquids.

Academic honor: it is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is. Please refer to the student handbook if you are unsure.

Be sure to check your UNCW account regularly.

Course Schedule: Unless otherwise noted, the first reading for each week is to be done for Tuesday; the second for Thursday

Week One: introductions

Week Two: Colonial Cities:

Read Chudacoff, chapter 1 for Tuesday

Read Reps, "Town Planning" for Thursday

Week Three: Commercialization and Expansion, 1780-1880

Read Monkkonen, chapter 3, "Growth Begins." (overview of growth)

Read Chudacoff, chapter 2 for Thursday

Week Four: The Walking City, 1820-1860

Read Chudacoff, chapter 3 for Tuesday

Read Reps, "Washington" for Thursday

Week Five: Antebellum Wilmington/antebellum NYC

Read: TBA

Week Six: Industrialization, 1850-1920

Read Chudacoff, chapter 4

Read Jackson, chapter 2

Read Barth, chapter 2, "Divided Space"

First book review due. Local history papers annotated bibliography/outline due.

Week Seven: Immigration and Consumerism, 1850-1920

Read Chudacoff, chapter 5

Read Barth, chapter 4, "Department Store" and chapter 5, "Ball Park"

Coney Island: http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/coneyisland/index.html

Week Eight: The Machine and Political Reform

Read Chudacoff, chapter 6

Read Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, available at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2810

Week Nine: Wilmington and the New South

Read: e-Reserves article on the New South