African American Urban History Index

African American Urban History Overview

African American urban history examines the growth, development, transformation, and challenges of Black communities within American cities. The field studies migration, segregation, housing policy, labor markets, public institutions, urban renewal, social movements, crime, incarceration, and neighborhood change across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

These works explore the historical forces that shaped urban Black America, including the Great Migration, redlining, public housing, deindustrialization, mass incarceration, and the changing landscape of American cities.

Works and Topics

• Black Neighborhoods in America

  Examine the formation, development, institutions, and transformation of African American neighborhoods throughout American history.

• The History of Public Housing

  Study the origins, expansion, successes, and challenges of public housing in the United States and its impact on urban communities.

• Mass Incarceration and the American City

  Explore the rise of the carceral state and its effects on urban neighborhoods, families, and community institutions.

• Redlining and Housing Segregation

  Examine discriminatory housing policies and their long-term effects on wealth, opportunity, and neighborhood development.

• Streets of America

  Study the origins, evolution, and decline of African American street organizations within the broader history of urban America.

• The Great Migration

  Explore the movement of millions of African Americans from the rural South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western cities.

• Urban Renewal and Displacement

  Examine redevelopment programs, highway construction, and urban renewal projects that transformed American cities and displaced communities.

• The War on Drugs

  Analyze drug policy, criminal justice expansion, and the social and economic effects of anti-drug campaigns in urban America.

Major Themes

• The Great Migration
• Urbanization and Industrialization
• Housing Segregation
• Redlining and Disinvestment
• Public Housing
• Urban Renewal
• Neighborhood Formation
• Deindustrialization
• Crime and Violence
• Mass Incarceration
• Gentrification
• Community Resilience