Cities & Suburbs Midterm 1

Teen Angel

Popular song from 1950s that reflects the cultural theme of teenage love, rebellion, and anxiety during the postwar era

Rise of cars led to a rise in teenage automobile accidents and this dating culture

Wake Up Little Susie

Popular song by The Everly Brothers in 1957 

Song tells the story of a teenage couple who accidentally fall asleep at the drive-in movie and wake up past curfew afraid of the consequences they’ll face

Some radio stations banned it because of “implied impropriety,” even though the lyrics are innocent and clean

Betty Friedan

She wrote the book The Feminine Mystique in 1963

Her book told the audience how dissatisfied housewives felt in the 1950s

“the problem that has no name” describes the unspoken unhappiness

1966 → co-founded National Organization for Women (NOW)

Fought for gender equality 

Cahokia

Pre-columbian Native American city near modern day St. Louis/Illinois which rose during the Medieval Warming period, reaching a population of about 40,000

Was a major trade and political center with well planned pathways but decline due to environmental stress and resource depletion (combination of flooding, deforestation, and overhunting).

City Beautiful Movement

A reform movement in the United States that took place from the 1890s to the 1900s

The movement's goal was to make cities more attractive and grand

Cliff May (1909-1989)

Best known and remembered for developing the suburban post-war “dream home” and mid-century modern “ranch-style houses”

Cold War

Geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that began after World War II

Daniel Burnham (1846-1912)

Based in NYC

American architect and urban designer

A proponent of the Beaux-Arts movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ever produced."

Decade of Fire

Housing stock in South Bronx was deteriorating

Increasing number of arson fires in the 1970s: landlords got insurance money and not required to fix buildings (would pay Black teenagers to commit arson to these rundown buildings)

Neighborhood turned around and developed plans to renovate buildings

Continuing challenges: incarceration and stereotypes living to this day

Deindustrialization

Closing, downsizing, relocation (think about ALL three)

Many cities never recovered from the “systematic restructuring of the local economy”

Dr. Alfred Kinsey

American biologist and sexologist known as the “father of the sexual revolution”

Conducted landmark studies on human sexual behavior, publishing "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" (1948- including high rates of masturbation, extramarital affairs, and homosexuality) and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female" (1953) about American sexual habits

Dr. Benjamin Spook

Wrote The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946) 

Encourages affectionate and flexible parenting and that parents should trust their instincts instead of schedules and discipline

Encouraged nurturing, play, and child-centered parenting

Emily Remus

“A Shoppers’ Paradise: How the Ladies of Chicago Claimed Power and Pleasure in the New Downtown” (2019)

Talks about how women in the late 19th and 20th centuries shaped urban consumer culture 

Chicago’s downtown transformed → roles of department stores, theatres, restaurants

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Enacted by Dwight Eisenhower to create interstate highways

Gained appreciation for German Highway System as it was a necessary component of national defense/transportation for war materials

No tolls like the freeway, 4 lanes, no at grade crossings (no train crossing), no crossing another highway (overpasses/underpasses)

Federal Housing Authority (FHA)

FHA provides mortgage insurance on single-family, multifamily, manufactured home, and hospital loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories

Established in 1934 as part of the New Deal

Frederick Jackson Turner

Wrote about the Frontier Thesis in his essay called, The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893)  

Claimed that frontier experience created individualism, democracy, and innovation 

Suggested westward expansion

Gaither Report

Cold War policy reports by Eisenhower in 1957 

Warned that the US was at risk of falling behind the Soviet union is arms race 

Suggested that the USSR was outpacing the US in missile development 

Recommended building a nationwide system of vulnerability 

Urged significant increase in military funding

Garden Cities (or Greenbelt, MD)

Greenbelt, Maryland is a New Deal-era garden city that was built as a model community for low-income workers 

Cul-de-sacs, underpasses, sidewalks to separate from cars

Included community amenities (playgrounds, pools, shops, etc.)

George Chauncy

A historian of LGBTQ+ (“Sex and the City”) history, particularly noted for his book Gay New York, which challenged the idea that homosexuality was invisible before the 1960s

He highlighted early 20th-century gay subcultures and their interactions with urban spaces.

Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC)

Enacted by Roosevelt and introduced, perfected, and proved the American mortgage ideal

Systematized appraisal methods and trained appraises on the occupations, income, ethnicity of neighborhood’s inhabitants, age, type of construction, price range, sales demand, general state of repair of neighborhood’s housing stack

Undervalued dense, mixed-race, and older neighborhoods (racist)

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns built by homeless people during the Great Depression

Named sarcastically after President Herbert Hoover, whom many blamed for the economic crisis

They symbolized urban poverty and government inaction

Housing Act of 1949

A postwar law that funded urban renewal, public housing, and mortgage assistance. Aimed to address the housing shortage but often led to displacement and gentrification.

Established federal funding for slum clearance, urban renewal, rent assistance programs, and construction of 800,000 units of public housing (which eventually fell short)

International Style

Modernist architectural movement that happened in 1920s and 1930s 

Simplicity and functionalism

Skyscrapers, office buildings, and public institutions

Emphasized clean lines, geometric forms, and open spaces, used modern materials

Did not use decorative elements, only pure form and structure

Jane Jacobs

An urbanist and activist who authored The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), criticizing top-down urban planning

She championed mixed-use development, walkability, and community-driven city design 

Coined “social capital,” “mixed primary uses,” and “eyes on the street.”

Her book was criticized for leaving our race and endorsing gentrification, referred to as “unslumming.”

Kenneth T. Jackson

A historian known for Crabgrass Frontier, which explores the history of suburbanization in the U.S.

He analyzed the role of governmental policies, car culture, and racial dynamics in shaping suburban growth

Kitchen Debates (1959)

Nixon argued that the Americans built to take advantage of new techniques

Khrushchev advocated for Communism by arguing that the Soviets built for future generations

Levitt & Sons

A real estate development company that pioneered mass produced suburban housing after WWII, creating Levittown communities

Their methods standardized home construction and fueled the suburban boom

Liz Cohen

Artist for her work in photography, performance, sculpture

Bodywork (2002-2010) → most famous project where she transformed herself into a pin-up model while modifying a 1987 Trabant car into a Chevrolet El Camino

Challenged masculinity

Minoru Yamasaki

Japanese-American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects

One of the most prominent architects of the 20th century

New Urbanism

Planning and design movement that aims to create walkable communities with a variety of housing and job types

Based on the idea that well-planned communities are better for the environment, people's health, and community resilience

Nucleated Cities

City where buildings are clustered around a central point, such as a road junction or river crossing

Pennsylvania Station

MSG was built on top of the beautiful “cathedral” and “royal”-like station

The deconstruction of this beauty galvanized urban renewal, which was the enemy of everything that was beautiful

Phyllis McGinley

“I rise to defend the quite possible She”

She argued that the suburbs were a safe and important medium…boring is good! This world put the most significant duties in the hands of women in the suburbs

Wrote the book, “Sixpence in Her Shoe”, talking back to the “Feminine Mystique”

She is almost entirely forgotten together today, yet influential in letters to editors/newspapers from wives in the suburbs expressing their feelings

1 of 9 poets on the cover of Time Magazine

Populuxe

Coined by Thomas Hine to describe popularized luxury in 1950s

Affordable yet stylish consumer goof that showed postwar prosperity

Colors, curves, brand names

Pruitt-Igoe Public Housing Complex

Founded by 1949 Housing Act, it created 5,800 units for 10,000 residents. 

33 high rises, 57 acres, 11 stories each

Churches in the area were not demolished, as its role was to “save” the neighborhood, serving non-Catholic citizens (Polish-Irish, Black, etc.)

1957 (3 years in): 91% occupied, 1971: 600 people left

All buildings demolished in 1976…how did they fail?

Redlining

Fourth Grade areas, hazardous, and government programs don’t lend money to homeowners in this area out of fear they won’t be paid back

Robert Caro

Wrote “Robert Moses & The Fall of NYC”, biography on Robert Moses

Robert Moses

Developed the idea of highways for urban renewal…if we can get those people back to downtown, let’s make the highways go through the slums!

This idea badly undermined public transportation, and people are driving now

Those being displaced as an effect were largely (not exclusively) Black Americans

Rustbelt

Cities that used to be industrial hubs in the northeastern and midwestern United States that experienced economic decline, population loss, and urban decay because of deindustrialization

These include Newark, Brooklyn, South Bend, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati, Gary, Minneapolis, Chicago, Newark, etc.

Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

US Supreme Court case that ruled racially restrictive housing covenants under the 14th Amendment 

Shelley family (African American) purchased a home in a neighborhood with a racially restrictive covenant and the white homeowners sued them to prevent them from living there

Court ruled that private racial covenants were legal, but state courts could not enforce them 

Did not ban racial covenants, but it was a step closer against housing discrimination

Skid Row

Population of about 8,000 to 11,000 people

The population is predominantly Black male, but the number of women and children has increased

Downtown LA, most people struggle with substance abuse and homelessness, high incarceration rates

Stonewall Inn

In Greenwich Village, NYC, riots started continuously for 6 nights during the Civil Rights Movement

Protestors outnumbered police (500 to 1) to fight for gay rights

Police ticketed at Stonewall because they hadn’t gotten paid (easy to arrest/ticket flamboyant citizens there)

Streetcar Suburb

Residential community built along electric streetcar lines

Named after the mode of transportation that made their existence possible by dramatically reducing travel times on the periphery of the urban areas in the late 19th century

Sunbelt

The southern and southwestern United States, stretching from California to Florida → known for its warm climate, economic growth, and population boom after WWII

People moved to the Sunbelt after 1950s because of mild winters, jobs, and suburban expansion 

Conservative stronghold 

People left the Rustbelt for lower taxes, cheaper land, and better job prospects in the Sunbelt

Tenement housing

Multi-family urban dwellings that housed large numbers of poor immigrants and working-class families, often in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions

These buildings, common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lacked proper ventilation, plumbing, and light, leading to major housing reforms

The Great Migration

A mass movement of approximately six million African Americans from the rural South to urban centers in the North between 1910 and 1970

It was driven by the search of economic opportunities and escape from racial violence, transforming cities like Chicago and Detroit.

The Harlem Renaissance

A cultural and intellectual movement of the 1920s centered in Harlem, New York, where Black artists, writers, and musicians flourished

It celebrated African American identity and challenged racial stereotypes, influencing literature, music (jazz), and political thought.

The Lavender Scare

A Cold War era persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals in government jobs, paralleling the Red Scare’s fear of communism

Many were fired or forced to resign due to the belief that they were security risks and susceptible to blackmail.

The Midway

Refers to the entertainment section of a fair, carnival, or amusement park with games, rides, food stands, and sideshows

The New Look

Fashion movement introduced by Christian Dior in 1947

Emphasized luxury, femininity, and elegance after WWII

Hourglass silhouette, tiny waist, volume skirts below the knee, rounded shoulders, rich fabrics, very detailed

The Pershing Map

Early blueprint/map for a national highway system in the United States, with many of the proposed roads later forming a substantial portion of the Interstate Highway System

The White City (Columbian Exposition)

The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492

Thomas Sugrue

A historian who studied the decline of industrial cities, particularly in his book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis

He argued that deindustrialization, racial discrimination, and economic policies contributed to the long-term decline of cities like Detroit

Unity Building (Chicago, 1890)

The Unity Building was built between 1890 and 1892 by John Peter Altgeld, who became the 20th Governor of Illinois. It was demolished in 1989

Chicago’s “new skyscraper”

Urban Renewal

Land redevelopment used to address urban decay in cities

Clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities in favor of new housing, businesses, and other developments

Victor Gruen

Austrian architect, redesigned facades of department stores to modern, bright storefronts to keep shoppers downtown

Designs pulled shop our front, becoming a window shopping gallery

Gruen also designs the first enclosed (open-air) malls like a “modern town center” with parking, bus ramps, outdoor courts, and two anchor stores

Walks to Freedom

Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

About job stability/fairness (especially in the North for economic issues)

White Flight

The large-scale movement of white residents from urban centers to suburban areas in the mid 20th century, driven by racial integration, economic changes, and fears of crime

It contributed to urban decline, school segregation, and disinvestment in city infrastructure

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

New Deal agency created by FDR in 1935 to combat unemployment during the Great Depression by providing public works jobs 

Employed over 8.5 million Americans

Built roads, bridges, schools, parks, airports, public buildings

Ended as WWII ramped up

Youngstown Sheet and Tube

September 19, 1977: Black Monday

This company closes and 40,000 jobs were lost in one day

What role did cities play in the American Revolution?

Cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York were major centers of colonial resistance and political mobilization

They were hubs for revolutionary activity, including protests, pamphleteering, and the organization of militias

Urban economies and ports were crucial for trade and supplies, making cities focal points of British control and colonial rebellion

The dense population allowed for rapid spread of revolutionary ideas, as seen in the formation of committees and public demonstrations

How did New York entrepreneurs and politicians “boost” their city?

New York entrepreneurs and politicians promoted infrastructure projects like railroads and the Erie Canal, which facilitated trade and urban expansion

The city’s strategic location made it a financial and commercial powerhouse, attracting business investment and immigrants

Real estate development and skyscraper construction helped solidify its reputation as a leading global city

The combination of public policies and private investment helped modernize and expand New York’s urban landscape

Who was Robert Moses and what was his importance for postwar American urban and suburban life?

Robert Moses was a powerful urban planner who reshaped NYC and its suburbs through large-scale infrastructure projects

He focused on highways, parks, and public housing, often demolishing low-income neighborhoods in the process

His vision prioritized automobile travel (and public transportation), leading to the construction of expressways that transformed urban and suburban commuting

He was both praised for modernizing cities and criticized for displacing communities and reinforcing racial and economic segregation

Why was there a housing crisis in the U.S. in the late 1940s and early 1950s?

Driven by a severe shortage of homes due to the lack of construction during the Great Depression and World War II

After demobilization in 1946, millions of returning veterans and their families created a sudden demand for housing that far exceeded supply (baby boom)

Housing Act of 1949 aimed to address the crisis by funding public housing, slum clearance, and federal mortgage insurance, but it fell short of expectations

Who were Levitt and Sons and why were they important for housing in the postwar period?

Levitt & Sons was a real estate development company that pioneered mass produced suburban housing in the postwar period

They developed Levittown communities, which used assembly line construction techniques to rapidly build affordable single-family homes for returning veterans and middle class families (all of the houses began to look the exact same with the same regulations)

Their methods reduced homebuilding to 26 steps, allowing them to complete up to 30 houses per day, making home ownership widely accessible

Played a crucial role in the suburban boom, shaping the modern American suburb with detached homes, lawns, and car oriented infrastructure (the communities also were very fairly white, all the same age demographics)

• Very racially segregated due to restrictive covenants, which excluded Black families and reinforced housing inequality

Why did the ranch style house become the national vernacular of suburban homebuilding in the postwar period?

They were cheap and quick to build, making them perfect for mass production in suburban development 

They had a single-story open floor plan that reduced construction costs

After WWII, veterans and their families were in demand for homes, which led to the rise of large-scale suburban developments like Levittown

GI Bill → made homeownership more accessible, increasing demand 

Family-friendly living with an open floor plan and patio/backyard 

They were build on large suburban lots, creating space for driveways and garages, very important for the car-based suburban life

What were the marks of the Cold War “familial consensus” in the 1950s?

Men were the breadwinners are were expected to work and provide for their families,  usually in white-collar or industrial jobs

Women were Homemakers → they had domestic roles focusing on raising children and maintaining the home

They were structures like a middle-class model with a father, mother, and children 

Focused on suburban life 

The baby boom encouraged large, growing families

There was a consumer culture → Household appliances, televisions, and automobiles became symbols of middle-class success 

GI Bill, FHA loans, and mass-produced housing developments helped with family stability

Design critic Thomas Hine coined the term “Populuxe” to describe 1950s style. How did he define the term and what were the characteristics of this design style?

He defined this term as popularized luxury

It was coined after the war to show postwar prosperity to reflect the era’s emphasis on affordable yet stylish consumer goods

Colors, curves, brand names 

Vibrant colors, bold materials, mass consumer appeal, futuristic aesthetic

Populuxe was very visible in cars, household appliances, furniture

Who was Victor Gruen and how did he transform the experience of shopping in postwar America?

Austrian architect, redesigned facades of department stores to modern, bright storefronts to keep shoppers downtown

Designs pulled shop our front, becoming a window shopping gallery

Gruen also designs the first enclosed (open-air) malls like a “modern town center” with parking, bus ramps, outdoor courts, and two anchor stores

What are some of the effects of suburban shopping centers replacing downtown department stores and shopping districts?

Downtowns lost businesses, jobs, and foot traffic

Mall prioritized parking, which fueled suburban sprawl

Malls became social hubs, hurting local retailers 

National chains dominated, reducing the number of small businesses 

Now, malls are struggling and cities are reboosting their downtown

Define the major characteristics of “rustbelt” cities.

• By 1960s, Rustbelt cities had negative characteristics, including: 

  1. High unemployment 

  2. Population loss 

  3. Declining tax revenues 

  4. Swelling welfare rolls

  5. Deficit spending 

  6. Poor municipal credit ratings 

  7. Urban decay 

  8. High rates of crime 

  9. High rates of drug use 

  10. Poor quality education

Describe why cities in general, and the Stonewall Inn in particular, played an important role in the advancement of gay rights in the postwar period.

Cities provided anonymity, community, and activism opportunities that were crucial for the advancement of gay rights in the postwar period, as they allowed LGBTQ+ individuals to gather, organize, and push back against discrimination

Stonewall Inn became a landmark in this movement when customers resisted a police raid in 1969, sparking 6 days of protest that galvanized the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement

This uprising demonstrated the power of collective resistance and led to the formation of key advocacy organizations, setting the stage for future legal and social progress

Prior to Stonewall, ~50-60 activist groups; in 1 year, ~1500 groups; in 2 years, ~2500 groups

ESSAY 1: What were some of the most important features of the downtown’s built environment during the 1950s?

“Moment of Grace” by Michael Johns

1. Office Work

• Less industrial workers, more office (in the 1950s, white collar workers surpassed blue collar)

• Neat, clean look of man in “gray flannel suit”, but years earlier, they were in the war wearing uniforms…corporate culture is not so different from military culture

• Female presence existed, yet not equal (ex. secretary)

2. Shopping

• Comfort, class, servant attentiveness, restaurants

• Discount stores had food/restaurants also

• “Can I afford that?” People (including Blacks) could go downtown and people watch instead

• Because people were moving more to suburbs, the decline of department stores increased

3. Rail

• Long-haul, sleeping car peaked at 1950s

4. Fashion

• Mass production of clothing

• The look of the “woman” dominated the post-war period

5. Architecture

• Order, precision, unornamented, “international style”

6. Planning

• Clearance of slums and creation of freeways/highways

• Robert Moses = quintessential urban planner

  • Concerned with areas around train stations (ex. slums), needed to be eliminated so people still come downtown…IRONY

• The creation of highways itself to drive downtown to shop had the wrong effect and broke down the intimacy of cities and suburbs

What were some of the successes and failures of public housing projects in the postwar period? What were some of the contributing factors in the failures of public housing?

• Fiscal model behind financing of public housing: federal funding and legislation was up to the cities itself to maintain housing by using money from tenant rent

• Public housing units were placed in already existing neighborhoods, not in open land because it went against private developers’ interests

  • “Kill two birds with one stone”...suburban resistance

• Caps were put on residents, “You’re too wealthy to live here.”

  • Housing became welfare housing, and tenants could not put up rent for living costs

    • ex. Pruitt-Igoe Apartments:

      • Job discrimination, jobs declining/leaving

      • Tried to cut corners with construction for decreased costs, but led to higher maintenance costs later on (elevator, incinerator, no bathrooms on higher floors, mildew)

• Why did public housing fail?

  • Blame architect and critique the design

  • Blame federal/city government…shouldn’t be doing this AT ALL

  • Blame resident victims, as they were unaccustomed to urban living (this was a racist argument)

• “New Deal Ruins”

What were the principal effects of the Interstate Highway System on the United States?

• “Car Country”

• Highways built right through the heart of cities, which undermined public transportation and did NOT save downtown from suburban trend (blighting)

• Low-density, car-development, and economic development was created roadside with motels, gas stations, fast-food restaurants (Great American Roadside)

  • Motel = motorway, no lobby, external highway

  • Hotel = not car-centric, elevator, internal highway

• Was a powerful tool for agribusiness, and long-haul trucking undermined using public transportation (ex. railroad) to transport using highways

• Branch/regional offices increased in number, leading to suburban industrialization

  • Manufacturing jobs decreased, and suburban population increased

• After World War II, car sales jumped and car ownership increased in families…leading to traffic

  • Drive-thru restaurants, where McDonald’s brought comfort and price, quality, and taste were the SAME

  • Emergence of drive-in movies, drag racing…both romanticized in TV

• Culture change: concept of “teenager” emerged in 40s-50s, where the automobile equaled freedom

  • Teenage tropes increased, automobile crashes/fatalities skyrocketed in teens due to freedom and recklessness (ex. “Teen Angel” made sense to people)

• Open-road, freedom, individuality = resonated with American values

  • Car facilitated the behavior associated with demand for automobiles

What are the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and how did they reshape housing, cities, and suburbs in the postwar period? As part of your answer: describe the HOLC rating system, why the FHA is said to have been a success, and how the HOLC and FHA spawned postwar suburbanization.

• HOLC: 

  • Created in 1933 under FDR’s New Deal to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure during the Great Depression 

  • It allowed homeowners to replace short-term, high-interest loans with long-term, fixed-rate mortgages → made homeownership more stable 

  • The HOLC mapped neighborhoods in major cities, ranking them from A (best) to D (hazardous) based on perceived investment risk 

    • “Green” (A) areas → safest for lending and were often white, middle-class neighborhoods 

    • “Red” (D) areas → deemed as risky, usually Black, immigrant, and working-class, led to redlining where banks and lenders refused to provide mortgages in these areas 

      • Redlining: Prevented Black and minority families from securing home loans, created racial segregation, helped with urban decline because redlined neighborhoods lacked investment and deteriorated over time

• FHA: 

  • Created in 1934 to encourage home construction and stabilize the mortgage industry

  • Why the FHA was a success:

    • It made homeownership affordable by introducing low down payments (10-20%) and long term, fixed mortgage rates (20-30 years), making buying a home cheaper than renting 

    • They created guidelines for home appraisal, construction standards, and loan qualifications → reduced lender risk

    • It boosted and increased the demand for single-family homes, which was needed after the war 

• How the HOLC and FHA spawned postwar suburbanization: 

  •  The FHA favored newly built suburban homes over older urban housing → led white-middle class to move to the cities

  • GI Bill extended FHA-style home loans to veterans so they also moved to the suburbs

  • FHA and HOLC discourages integrated neighborhoods and denied loans to Black and minorities. This kept the suburbs to only white people 

  • As suburbanization grew, white families left urban areas, which led to urban disinvestment, decline in taz, and increase in segregation 

  • Levitt used FHA-backed loans to mass-produce suburban communities, which created affordable homes for white middle-class families

  • excluded Black homebuyers, continuing racial segregation

According to Eric Avila, what were the characteristics of the “new mass culture” and how did it differ from Victorian culture? What lead to the decline of the “new mass culture” and what were the characteristics of the “new new mass culture”?

• Characteristics of the “new mass culture”:

  • Mass entertainment and Leisure → rise of movies, radio, and amusement parks all made entertainment more available. Hollywood became the center of film production and recorded music 

  • Youth → youth, fashion, consumer pleasure. Advertisements targeted a broad audience, especially women and young people 

  • Cultural mixing → mass culture was led by urban, working class, and immigrant influence, blended jazz, cinema, and dance 

  • Race and gender → there were still racial and gender divisions 

    • ex. Jazz and swing came from Black communities but were appropriated by white performers 

    • women were more on film and advertisements but still had limited gender roles  

• How it differed from Victorian culture → victorian cultiure was used in the 19th century that had elite values and a social hierarchy 

  • They also promoted modesty, discipline, and traditional gender roles 

  • There was a division in the elite and the working class 

    • Elite → opera, literature, classical music 

    • Working-class → folk traditions 

    • mass culture blurred the differences

• What led to the decline of the “new mass culture”

  • The use of cable TV, personal computers, and the internet broke up the mass culture into specific audiences

  • The Civil Rights and social movements challenged racism and sexism which led to more diverse and more critical media

  • There was a decline in industrial manufacturing and a rise of global capitalism 

  • By the 70s and 80s, there was a critique of mass consumption and suburban conformity

• Characteristics of the “new new mass culture”

  • The internet, social media, streaming platforms 

  • Broader range of racial, ethnic, and gender identities 

    • Challenges the white, male-dominated culture 

  • Blending Asian, Latin American, and European influences into American pop culture  

  • The consumers are now actively participating, especially through fan communities of social media influencers

What are some of the causes and effects of deindustrialization?

• Factors that led to deindustrialization in Detroit:

1. Capital mobility, “Treaty of Detroit”

• Healthcare coverage, retirement benefits, cost-of-living adjustments for wages, guaranteed vacation time, protection from strike, strength of the union

• General Motors: $3.4B, Ford: $2.5B, Chrysler: $700M -> spent on new plants and facilities, not in the city but in the SUBURBS

  • Made 1 story plants and increased assembly line technology for efficiency (downtown plants didn’t have space, and materials could be transported via new highways, not railroads)

2. Automation (don’t need humans, so machines were used and people were laid off)

• As jobs are disappearing, the union tries to “cushion” the blow with extended unemployment benefits, improved pension plans, preferential hiring plans for displaced workers, and federal training for new jobs

3. Labor costs and taxes

• For decreased costs, plans moved to places like Lima, Ohio for lower tax rates in rural/suburban areas

• Because the amount of spending for city services was expensive, the city could not lower this spending and big plants were moving out. This led to decreasing tax revenue and declared bankruptcy in 2013

4. Federal policies and decentralization

• Department of Defense encourages building of parallel plants

• The biggest losers were the Midwest, who had benefited from military spending in the 1940s. Cities like LA, the OC, etc. became aviation hubs

5. Increased use of overtime

• This diluted union strength. Companies were paying for overtime rather than new workers (not paying for HR training, administrative costs, etc. for new hires). This short-term gain led to a long-term loss