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Perspectives on Milwaukee's Past

Perspectives on Milwaukee's Past

Edited by Margo Anderson and Victor Greene

Contributions by Margo Anderson, John D. Buenker, Jack Dougherty, Eric Fure-Slocum, Victor Greene, Judith T. Kenny, Genevieve G. McBride, Aims McGuinness, Anke Ortlepp, Joseph A. Rodriguez, N. Mark Shelley, Steven M. Avelia and T. C. Hubka

Published by: University of Illinois Press

Imprint: University of Illinois Press

360 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 × 28.00 mm, 10 black & white photographs, 3 maps, 2 tables

Paperback
9780252076176
Published: March 2009

£24.99

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

In this volume, a diverse group of scholars explores key themes in the distinctive history of Milwaukee, from settlement to the present, both in terms of the area's internal development and its comparative standing with other Great Lakes cities. Contributors discuss the importance of socialism and labor in local politics; Milwaukee's ethnic diversity, including long-standing African American, Latino, and Asian communities as well as an unusually large and significant German American population; the function and origins of the city's residential architecture; and the role of religious and ethnic culture in forming the city's identity. Rich in detail, the essays also challenge readers and researchers to pursue additional research on the city and the region by identifying critical areas and methods for future investigations into Milwaukee's past.

Contributors are Margo Anderson, Steven M. Avella, John D. Buenker, Jack Dougherty, Eric Fure-Slocum, Victor Greene, Thomas C. Hubka, Judith T. Kenny, Genevieve G. McBride, Aims McGuinness, Anke Ortlepp, Joseph A. Rodriguez, and N. Mark Shelley.

Preface ix
Introduction: Milwaukee in Perspective 1

Margo Anderson and Victor Greene

SECTION 1: POLITICS AND WORK
1. Cream City Electoral Politics: A Play in Four Acts 17

John Buenker

2. Milwaukee Labor and Urban Democracy 48

Eric Fure-Slocum

3. The Revolution Begins Here: Milwaukee and the History of Socialism 79

Aims McGuinness

SECTION 2: THE PEOPLES OF MILWAUKEE
4. Deutsch-Athen Revisited: Writing the History of Germans in Milwaukee 109

Anke Ortlepp

5. African Americans, Civil Rights, and Race-Making in Milwaukee 131

Jack Dougherty

6. Latinos and Asians in Milwaukee 162

Joseph A. Rodriguez and Mark Shelley

7. Helpmeets, Hausfrauen, Hellions, and the Missing Majority in Milwaukee History 192

Genevieve G. McBride

SECTION 3: INSTITUTIONS AND CULTURE
8. Surveying Milwaukee's Residential Landscapes: Prospects for Research 223

Judith T. Kenny and Thomas C. Hubka

9. Religion and the Shaping of Milwaukee 256

Steven M. Avella

10. Dealing with Diversity: Milwaukee's Multiethnic Festivals and Urban Identity, 1840-1940 285

Victor Greene

Epilogue: Milwaukee's Usable Past 317

Margo Anderson

Appendix: Milwaukee Population   331
Contributors   333
Index   337

Margo Anderson is a professor of history and urban studies and director of the urban studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Victor Greene is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"Anderson and Greene's collection offers a compelling case for the broader national significance of Milwaukee as a site of historical research. This book not only sheds light on Milwaukee's history from its pre-industrial origins through the era of deindustrialization, but also surveys shifting historiographical trends in the scholarly and popular treatment of the city's history."--Joe William Trotter Jr., author of Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45 "Examining diverse aspects of Milwaukee's history, the contributors to this wide-ranging collection offer a rich portrait of the city's past. Anderson and Greene have assembled a stimulating volume that contributes significantly to cultural and social history and to the study of urbanism, planning, and public policy."--Nora Faires, author of Permeable Border: The Great Lakes Basin as Transnational Region, 1650-1990