It’s Friday-Time to Catch Up on Social History!
Over the course of the week, we often read a lot of interesting things that don’t warrant a full blog post about it- but at the same time are worth sharing.
Recommended by Aaron:
The Bowery Boys had a great write up on the history of Jones Woods, the historical forest overlooking the East River on the Upper East Side, which was a meeting place used by Irish and German New Yorkers until it burnt down in the 1890’s.
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York took a look at how nearly 100 years of New York history and a slowly evolving neighborhood can be seen in a look at the corner of 10th and Greenwich Ave.
Ephemeral New York featured a great etching by William C. McNulty done in 1931 depicting a bustling industrial New York viewed from under the Brooklyn Bridge. Â Its a stark contrast from the photo of the same bridge featured in The Newtown Pentacle this week.
Recommended by Leah N.:
The I-75 Project is the plan for a public art project that would place “historical markers” documenting the decline of the U.S. manufacturing economy and other social and economic changes over the last 30 years. The markers would be placed along I-75 at various rest stops, so that motorists through the area would pull over, read the sign, and think about the consequences of globalization and other issues. It’s a provocative if uneven project, as is often the case when contemporary artists contend with history.
I highly recommend the AmericanRadioWorks series Pueblo, U.S.A., documenting the impact of growing Latino immigration in the United States. As a former resident of the Old North State, I was especially interested in Nuevo South, looking at how a large influx of immigrants working in the poultry processing plants has impacted one small North Carolina town.  The final chapter of Nuevo South looks specifically at how immigration is changing what had previously been only black-white race relations.  Parts of Pueblo U.S.A. were done collaboratively with Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, whose bilingual Nuestros Historias, Nuestros Sueños is also worth listening to and viewing.
And in case you missed it, NBC is developing a workplace comedy about the lives of historical re-enactors at a Plimouth Plantation-style living history museum. Â If this show somehow hits the sweet spot between The Office, Party Down, and the potential hijinks of historical interpreters interacting with the average American tourist, I think history nerds everywhere are in for a treat!
Last 5 posts by ASHP Staff
- FDR's Tree Army [now on Vimeo] - March 13th, 2013
- December Roundup - December 19th, 2012
