A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia

by Lisa Levenstein

Overview

Lisa Levenstein reframes highly charged debates over the origins of chronic African American poverty and the social policies and political struggles that led to the postwar urban crisis. A Movement Without Marches follows poor black women as they traveled from some of Philadelphia's most impoverished neighborhoods into its welfare offices, courtrooms, public housing, schools, and hospitals, laying claim to an unprecedented array of government benefits and services. With these resources came new constraints, as public officials frequently responded to women's efforts by limiting benefits and attempting to control their personal lives. Scathing public narratives about women's "dependency" and their children's "illegitimacy" placed African American women and public institutions at the center of the growing opposition to black migration and civil rights in northern U.S. cities. Countering stereotypes that have long plagued public debate, Levenstein offers a new paradigm for understanding postwar U.S. history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807889985
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/30/2009
Series:	The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Lisa Levenstein is associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Lisa Levenstein is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction: The Multidimensionality of Poverty in a Postwar City 1

1 "Tired of Being Seconds" on ADC 31

2 Hard Choices at 1801 Vine 63

3 Housing, Not a Home 89

4 "Massive Resistance" in the Public Schools 121

5 A Hospital of Their Own 157

Conclusion 181

Appendix: Note on First-Person Sources 193

Notes 201

Bibliography 259

Index 285

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A Movement Without Marches is a deeply humane account of poor women's struggles for dignity and survival. Lisa Levenstein combines history from the bottom up with an unparalleled account of the institutions, from courts to schools, that shaped and constrained black women's lives. Her book opens up new ways of thinking about the unfinished history of race, gender, and civil rights in modern America.—Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North

If we could persuade our elected representatives to consider the historical context in which they make policies regarding welfare and poverty that impact the lives of women and their families this would be one book they should read. The stories here challenge one-dimensional sound bites that too often suffice in public discourse on these issues.—Tera W. Hunter, author of To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors After the Civil War

A Movement Without Marches offers a subtle and illuminating portrait not only of political and civic activism, but also of social and economic citizenship in the making, as we learn how African American working-class women worked to make Philadelphia's public institutions work for rather than against their needs, interests, and rights.—Alice O'Connor, author of Poverty Knowledge: Social Science, Social Policy, and the Poor in Twentieth-Century United States History

Editorial Reviews

Levenstein's focus on the 1950s and 1960s serves to explore the roots of political and social activism embraced by so many younger black people in the subsequent decade. . . . Highly recommended.—Choice

Challenges scholarship on black urban poverty. . . . Instructive to students of urban history, migration, race, gender, and poverty.—The Journal of American History

Vivid stories of individual women. . . . Each one of them offers an original and compelling interpretation of its subject. Tightly interconnected as they are, each could also stand alone as a major addition to the historiography of public institutions.—Journal of Social History

A path-breaking account. . . . [Levenstein's] wide-ranging study of five public institutions suggests a pervasiveness, depth, and force of this phenomenon that historians have not recognized. The field of twentieth-century U.S. politics desperately needs more of her sustained analysis.—Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

Excellent. . . . Levenstein becomes a skilled storyteller and weaves narratives from her oral histories throughout the book to support the detailed analysis. . . . Does not disappoint.—Journal of African American History

Is it possible to write about poor women as active agents without fitting them within a social movement framework? . . . Levenstein has already achieved that balance in this important work. . . . A full understanding of African American poverty must include the women Levenstein so powerfully analyzes.—American Historical Review

An excellent local study….The narrative of self-empowerment and persistent agency that Levenstein constructs of poor African American women defying all stereotypes in the face of crippling hurdles does not disappoint.—The Journal of African American History

An important contribution to our understanding of the gendered construction of African American urban poverty.—Neue Politische Literatur

From the Publisher