11.013J | Spring 2010 | Undergraduate

American Urban History I

Course Description

This course is a seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. The focus of the course is on readings …
This course is a seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. The focus of the course is on readings and discussions.
Learning Resource Types
Projects with Examples
Men in bowler hats stand in the alleyway of a tenement house. Laundry hangs on lines above them.
“Bandit’s Roost” by Jacob Riis from How the Other Half Lives, 1888. Bandit’s Roost was considered one of the most dangerous and crime-ridden parts of New York City. (This image is in the public domain.)