Native Son New Haven

  The chapters from Model City B lues highlight the tensi on between a business management style of urban renewal and one that allows for citizen involvement , as it specifically relates to redevelopment in New Haven in the 1960’s. Jackson details how racial attitudes influenced the assumption that primarily white academic and business leaders knew what was best for neighborhoods such as the Hill . She explains that neighborhood organizers had a long and sometimes successful history of advocating with Mayor Lee’s administration for improvements and taking direct action to improve their neighborhood, while the focus of the planners worked to stymie c itizen involvement. Jackson describes how New Haven fit into the broader issue of urban redevelopment as a national issue, and h ow Mayor Lee’s relationship with the Federal Government fostered a top-down formula for deciding how Federal dollars were spent in the city.   It was with great interest that I read Jackson’s history of rede

  “ Yankee Elysium ” chronicles the rise and fall of the Elm Tree in New England and New Haven in particular . Campanella sees the planting of shade trees, and Elms in particular, in villages and cities of New England as an intentional design intended to ameliorate the negative effects of urban growth. Incorporating the pastoral into its growing villages and cities was in keeping with the Jeffersonian vision of America as a nation of ‘ y eoman f armers ,’ and worked as a hedge against the sins inherent in large cities as seen in the Old World. At its pinnacle in the latter half of the 19 th century, the st ately rows of Elms provided a n antidote to the rush of progress in cities across the country. New Haven, dubbed the “Elm City,’ w as singled out in praise by leading writers and prominent leaders. These same voices anguished over the devas tation of the Elms that progress, abetted by the Dutch Elm Disease and the 1938 Hurricane , brought to New Haven , New England, and t

  In “ Podcasting the Past, ” Benjamin Breen explores the role of podcasting in the field of history. He evaluates the benefits and the shortcomings of this recent phenomenon in making history available to a wider audience and comes away with the opinion that historians should embrace this new medium. In answer to the primary criticism coming from academic historians that this content is often produced by amateurs and not by ‘scholars ,’ Breen notes that neither Herodotus nor Edward Gibbon held advanced degrees in history . He cites the enormou s popularity of history podcasts as evidence of the appetite and e nthusiasm for history that exists beyond the world of academia.   He sees podcasts as a way to get people interested in history at a time when the formal study of h istory is waning.   “The Delicious History of Pizza in New Haven,” is an example of a podcast that is a conversation that takes place over pizza at Modern Apizza in New Haven. This format is inter estin

  The chapters from Mendez’s book relates the story of Black soldiers in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He details the recruitment process, the experience of the troops in battle, the circumstances of their families on the home front , and for those t hat survived the war, their re union with loved ones. The Emancipation Proclamation authorized the forming of Black regiments and provided an opportunity for Black men to fight for the country they lived in , prove their worth as citizens, and risk their lives  to end slavery. He acknowledges the doubts, born of racial prejudice , held by whites concerning w hether Blacks would perform well as soldiers. Those doubts were soon overcome by their courageous actions at Po rt Hudson, Milliken's Bend, and the assault on Fort Wagner. In addition to the mortal danger faced by the troops, there w ere the sacrifices their families made, often being without a means of support, and lacking the benefits that society provided for

  Dayton’s chapter on the legal system in colonial New Haven chronicles the evolution of its structure, with a particular focus on gender and social standing. The Puritan ethos of its leaders, Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport, led them to establish a colony without a charter from the crown, envisioning a society that would answer to a higher , scriptural authority. The importance the Puritan religion placed on identifying and punishing sin , combined with English Common Law tradition, created a dynamic legal system that had consequences for women's legal standing. This puritan ical obsession with allowing no sin to go unpunished had the unintended effect of liberating women in the P uritan’s scripturally based divorce laws. Dayton presents an economic and social history of New Haven that helps explain the unique circumstances that influenced the evolution of legal proceedings in the colony , and the influence that a growing comme rc ial and industrial sector contributed to