Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Hardcover)

by Wendell E. Pritchett (Author) "Samuel Tenenbaum and William Poster both grew up in Brownsville during its early years-Tenenbaum in the 1910s and Poster in the 1920s..." (more)
Key Phrases: neighborhood council, neighborhood transformation, governing hoard, New York, Puerto Rican, Van Dyke (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Between 1943 and 1970, Brownsville went from being a "white, predominantly Jewish, working- class neighborhood" of 100,000 to being a 75% black/20% Puerto Rican neighborhood of 70,000. This fascinating cultural and social analysis traces Brownsville from its economically ambitious if poor beginnings through its rise, economic decline and current stirrings toward renaissance. Developed in the 1890s amid high land costs, speculation and immigration, by 1907 Brownsville was known as a "Modern Tenement City." That reputation held until the 1940s, when unplanned housing development, government neglect and white racism destroyed the thriving neighborhood not least, the author surprisingly argues, via liberal lobbies and labor unions pushing for "slum clearance." Pritchett, an assistant professor of history at CUNY's Baruch College, stays close throughout to community groups, from the earliest Jewish charitable and educational societies to the role women played in political organizing during the war years, the integrated Brownsville Boys Clubs in the late 1940s, the beginning of black and Latino community organizing in the 1950s, the devastating effect of white flight on longstanding Jewish religious institutions in the mid-1960s and multiracial and religious grassroots organizing around issues such as housing and poverty. Pritchett demonstrates with empathy and intelligence how race, ethnicity, culture and gender influence both the successes and failures of these community groups and the community they represent.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Pritchett (history, Baruch Coll., CUNY) focuses on Brownsville, a section of Brooklyn, and its changing fortunes in the 20th century. Through the 1950s, Brownsville was a white, predominantly Jewish, working-class neighborhood. During the 1960s, however, it was burdened with one of New York City's highest crime rates as well as the largest concentration of public housing in the country. Despite this troubled new reputation as a ghetto, the neighborhood still supported a wide variety of grass-roots movements for social change. Residents struggled to improve deteriorating housing and gain community control of public schools. Pritchett sees the story of Brownsville as that of mutual struggle and frustrated cooperation among white, African American, and Latino residents. Jews of Brooklyn is recommended for New York City and Judaica collections. Brownsville, Brooklyn is recommended for New York City collections. Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll., New York
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226684466
• ISBN-13: 978-0226684468
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,199,043 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #49 in

  Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > New York

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating case study of one changing neighborhood, April 30, 2002

By	jamton - See all my reviews

New Yorkers see constant small changes in their city, and the cumulative effect of those changes can remake the character and composition of a neighborhood almost overnight. That is what happened in Brownsville during the late 1950s and early 1960s. What had been an entirely Jewish neighborhood of sidewalk synagogues and old-world customs became an entirely black and Latino neighborhood. Pritchett captures that period of change and the various players -- community activists, business interests, government agencies and politicians -- masterfully. He tells a poignant story of idealistic neighborhood leaders who fought for integrated public housing to meet the needs of their community and were instead given massive projects built to house the city's poor who had been displaced by urban renewal. This is a great book for anyone interested in New York or urban history generally.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Formidable book about cities and race relationships, July 6, 2006

By	Francois Bonnet (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Paperback)

Don't be fooled by the first part of the title; for this book is really about Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto. Pritchett studies Brownsville in details, but never forgets to see the bigger picture, which should be of interest for any historian or social scientist. Pritchett is very good at giving you the facts, the analysis and the feelings as well. This book is not just about a ghetto in Brooklyn, it is indeed about urban change and inequality.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intersting, thoughtful and highly accurate, February 24, 2006

By	H. Eisenberg "history instructor" (NE New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Paperback)

As someone who lived not far from Brownsville in the 1950s and early '60s, I can say this is an exceptionally accurate book. It is well-written and is the best attempt I've seen yet at explaining the phenomenon of the changing urban neighborhood. Not only does Pritchett provide many well-reserached, well-thought-out answers but, just as important, he raises insightful, penetrating questions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American urban history, particularly as it relates to New York City.