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Cover and pages of "American Redux" book about housing.

The Rich American Legacy of Shared Housing

A visual journalist remembers a time when "housing was more flexible, fluid and communal than it is today.”

Anatomy of an ‘American Transit Disaster’

In his new book, historian Nicholas Dagen Bloom chronicles the collapse of public transportation in US cities — and explains who really deserves the blame.
64 East 7th Street, New York City, 2022.

The Parsonage

An unprepossessing townhouse in the East Village has been central to a series of distinctive events in New York City history.
An NYPD police car on the parade route on 59th Street during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in 2016.
partner

Police Cars Are a Form of PR — and the Message Is Always the Same

Police champions have long wielded new technology as a tool to project authority and legitimacy, while deflecting criticism.
Visualization showing the largest cities in the US, from the Statistical Atlas of the Eleventh Census, 1790-1890

Growing New England's Cities

What can a visualization of population growth in cities and towns in the Northeast tell us about different moments in the region's economic geography?
A sex worker on Cass Avenue, Detroit, 1965.

Red Lights, Blue Lines

Three recent books examine the discrimination and hypocrisy at the heart of policing “vice.”
Rats in a garden.

New York’s Rats Have Already Won

I thought having a rat czar would be an easy win for the city. I was wrong.
Scientists carrying a log by using straps around their heads.

1,000 Years Ago, Ancient Puebloans Built a Mysteriously Vast City. We May Finally Know How.

High up on the Colorado Plateau, in what is today the state of New Mexico, sit the remains of what was once a city of epic proportions.

Fountain Society

The humble drinking fountain can tell us much about a society’s attitudes towards health, hygiene, equity, virtue, public goods and civic responsibilities.
Illustration of flag against burning city backdrop

Did George Washington Burn New York?

Americans disparaged the British as arsonists. But the rebels fought with fire too.
Illustration of Black fugitives fleeing slavery on the Underground Railroad

How Some Enslaved Black People Found Freedom in Southern Slaveholding States

Instead of using the Underground Railroad as a route north, thousands of enslaved Black people fled to communities in the South.
A nurse tends to a patient in the influenza ward of the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Md.

1918 Flu Pandemic Upended Long-standing Social Inequalities – At Least for a Time

The first flu children encounter shapes their immune systems. This had a surprising effect on Black and white mortality rates in 1918.
"Nasby in Exile" cover with print of a man in a top hat smoking a pipe.

Nasby in Exile

The story of David Ross Locke's travels to Western Europe.
Black and white illustration of immigrants on a boat sailing into the harbor next to the Statue of Liberty.

How Jewish Immigrants from Eastern Europe Were Introduced to Whiteness

That status has been taken as obvious, then questioned, then reasserted over the decades.
original

Redlining is Only Part of the Story

An annotated collection of resources from the Bunk archive that help explain the long history of housing discrimination.
Little girl preparing for a polio vaccine.

We Didn't Vanquish Polio. What Does That Mean for Covid-19?

The world is still reeling from the pandemic, but another scourge we thought we’d eliminated has reemerged.
Architectural drawing of Boston Harbor from above.

Who Profits?

How nonprofits went from essential service providers to vehicles for programs shaped and approved by capital.
Black and white photo of pedestrian and vehicle traffic in Los Angeles

When Cities Treated Cars as Dangerous Intruders

To many urban Americans in the 1920s, the car and its driver were tyrants that deprived others of their freedom.
Still from The Wire (HBO): two detectives, McNulty and Bunk.

20 Years Later, "The Wire" Is Still a Cutting Critique of American Capitalism

The Wire — both stylish and smart, follows unforgettable characters woven into a striking portrait of the depredations of capitalism in one US city.
People talking about a neighborhood map, from the cover of Claire Dunning's book "Nonprofit Neighborhoods."

Grantmaking as Governance

A new book examines how the US government funded the growth of — and delegated governance to — the nonprofit sector.
Picture of an ornate door knocker.

What Historic Preservation Is Doing to American Cities

Laws meant to safeguard great buildings and neighborhoods can also present an obstacle to social progress.
Yellow oily paper with writing

Smell, History, and Heritage

Smell’s diffuse nature requires crossing the boundaries of several subfields within the historical discipline, but also moving beyond the boundaries of history alone.
Collage of four images related to urban development. Clockwise from left: photo of Ralph Nader, 1975. [Library of Congress] Aerial view of the Appalachia Dam, Tennessee Valley Authority [Tennessee Valley Authority, public domain] Edward Logue, at a hearing of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, 1965. [Digital Commonwealth, License CC 4.0] Hunters Point, San Francisco, ca. 1969. [San Francisco Public Library, public domain]

Public Interests

Three books offer views of the shift from public planning to neoliberal privatization, and emphasize the need to reclaim planning in the public interest.
Grid of black and white photos of various homes with different architectural styles.

Explore Milwaukee's History Through Its Many Home Styles

Interactive map shows Milwaukee’s housing patterns reflect not only aesthetic trends but also how historical events like immigration, war and civil rights shaped the city.
A 1921 card reading: For Safety's Sake, cross this way, not here, not this way. Quit Jay Walking

The Invention of “Jaywalking”

In the 1920s, the public hated cars. So the auto industry fought back — with language.
A crowd watches a roller skater dance at block party in the Bronx.

The Stories of the Bronx

"Urban Legends: The South Bronx in Representation and Ruin" is a vibrant cultural history that looks beyond pervasive narratives of cultural renaissance and urban neglect.
Map of the Baltimore B&O railroad

The B&O Railroad From Municipal Enterprise To Private Corporation

A cautionary tale about the costs and benefits of public/private partnerships.
Henry James; illustration by James McMullan

Visions of Waste

"The American Scene" is Henry James’s indictment of what Americans had made of their land.
Photograph of horse and buggy carrying Black family migrating North

A Brief History of the Great Migration, when 6 Million Black People Left the South

The Great Migration in the 20th century changed the face of America. For the past few decades, it's been reversing.
Collage of a residential security map.

The Lasting Legacy Of Redlining

We looked at 138 formerly redlined cities and found most were still segregated — just like they were designed to be.

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