Urban History Review

Volume 23, Number 2, March 1995

Table of contents (23 articles)

Articles

  1. The Growth of the Industrial City and Inner Toronto's Vanished Church Buildings

    Jon Caulfield

    pp. 3–19

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    Abstract
    EN: Based on research about ninety churches located in inner Toronto in 1893, this article considers four explanations for the disappearance or adaption to new uses of many of these buildings and concludes (1) that the city's shift to industrial urbanism, as well as a degree of ecclesiastic overdevelopment, were the main factors leading to church abandonment and (2) that evidence does not strongly support secularization or highest-best-use hypotheses.

    FR: Le présent article, qui est basé sur la recherche portant sur quatre-vingt-dix églises existantes dans le vieux centre-ville de Toronto en 1893, envisage quatre raisons susceptibles d’expliquer la disparition de bon nombre de ces édifices ou leur reconversion vers de nouveaux usages. Il conclut 1) que les principaux facteurs qui ont mené à leur abandon ont été l’industrialisation de la ville ainsi qu’une certaine surabondance d’églises et 2) qu’il n’existe pas d’évidences vraiment probantes à l’appui de l’hypothèse de la sécularisation ou de celle d’une utilisation supérieure ou meilleure.

  2. Ward Heelers and Honest Men: Urban Québécois Political Culture and the Montreal Reform of 1909

    Alan Gordon

    pp. 20–32

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    Abstract
    EN: While scholars often emphasize traditionalism, ruralism and anti-statism as the "dominants" of Quebec's political culture prior to the Quiet Revolution, some Québécois embraced progressivism early in the twentieth century. Municipal government reform, one of the hallmarks of the progressive movement, cropped up in Canada's largest city, Montreal. Far from being confined to anglophones and remnants of Quebec's rouge party, support for reform came from a wide section of Montreal's French-speaking population. This article analyzes the rhetoric employed by Montreal's mass circulation newspapers during the referendum campaign of 1909 in order to demonstrate the popularity of reform in Montreal and to uncover the main doctrines of French-Canadian progressivism. Urban Quebec's political culture, then, accommodated the position of the city in Québécois culture and envisioned an expanding and active state role in city life. Overriding these beliefs were the basic assumptions of early-twentieth-century liberalism and, curiously for a referendum campaign, a distrust of popular sovereignty characteristic of North American reformism in general.

    FR: Alors que les érudits insistent souvent pour dire que le traditionnalisme, la vie rurale et l’anti-étatisme ont été les « éléments dominants » de la culture politique au Québec avant la Révolution tranquille, certains Québécois ont adhéré au progressisme au début du vingtième siècle. La réforme de l’administration municipale, l’un des fleurons du mouvement progressiste, a vu le jour dans la plus grande ville du Canada, Montréal Loin d’être uniquement le fait des anglophones et de ce que restait du parti rouge du Québec, l’appui à la réforme est venu d’une bonne tranche de la population francophone de Montréal. Par l’analyse de la rhétorique qui avait cours dans les journaux montréalais à grand tirage durant la campagne référendaire de 1909, le présent article démontre la popularité de la réforme à Montréal et met à jour les principales doctrines du progressisme canadien-français. La culture politique du Québec urbain adapta, alors, la position de la ville à la culture québécoise et envisagea un rôle plus grand et plus actif de l’état dans la vie de la ville. Le fait dépasser outre à ces convictions a présidé à l’élaboration des hypothèses de base du libéralisme du début du dix-huitième siècle et, ce qui est surprenant pour une campagne référendaire, a été une façon de discréditer la composante « souveraineté populaire » contenue dans le réformisme nord-américain en général.

  3. Public Works in the Canadian City; the Provision of Sewers in Toronto 1870–1913

    Catherine Brace

    pp. 33–43

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    Abstract
    EN: Until the 1970s Canadian public works had been adequately described, but never extensively studied in the literature of urban history, which has focused on other aspects of the city-building process. Since then, Canadian public works history has been dominated by debates about the public versus private ownership of utilities. Scant attention has been paid to sewerage, which has only been alluded to in discussions about public health and sanitation. This paper aims to show that the historical provision of sewerage in Canadian cities was a fundamental part of the city-building process. It focuses on the provision of sewers in Toronto between 1870 and 1913 and argues that sewerage influenced and was influenced by contemporary debates about public health, local government intervention in the lives of citizens and the role of technology in the urban environment.

    FR: Bien que jusqu’en 1970 les travaux publics canadiens aient été adéquatement décrits, ils n’ont jamais été abondamment étudiés dans les écrits traitant de l’histoire urbaine. Ceux-ci ont davantage porté sur d’autres aspects du processus d’urbanisation. Depuis lors, l’histoire des travaux publics canadiens a été dominée par les débats visant à déterminer à qui appartiennent les services publics : au secteur public ou au secteur privé. On s’est très peu intéressé à l’aménagement des systèmes d’égouts; il en a été uniquement question dans les discussions sur la santé et l’hygiène publiques. Le présent article veut démontrer que l’aménagement de systèmes d’égouts dans les villes canadiennes a été un élément essentiel du processus d’urbanisation. Il insiste sur l’aménagement d’égouts à Toronto entre 1870 et 1913. L’auteur soutient que les débats contemporains sur la santé publique, l’intervention des administrations locales dans la vie des citoyens et le rôle de la technologie dans l’environnement urbain ont été influencés par l’aménagement de systèmes d’égouts et vice versa.

  1. Contributors

    p. 44

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Review Article

  1. Crisis, Progress and Tin Cans in Housing and Housing Histories in Canada / John Bacher, Keeping to the Marketplace: The Evolution of Canadian Housing Policy (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993) / Marc Denhez, The Canadian Home: From Cave to Electronic Cocoon (Toronto and Oxford: Dundurn Press, 1994) / John R. Miron ed., House, Home and Community: Progress in Housing Canadians (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press; Ottawa: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 1993) / John Sewell, Houses and Homes: Housing for Canadians (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1994) / Jill Wade, Houses For All: The Struggle For Social Housing in Vancouver, 1919–1950 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1994)

    Sean Purdy

    pp. 45–49

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Exhibition Review

  1. World War II and the American Dream: How Wartime Building Changed a Nation, National Building Museum, Washington DC, 11 Nov. 1994-31 Dec. 1995; accompanied by a catalog of the same title, ed. Donald Albrecht, published by the National Building Museum and MIT Press, 1995

    Annmarie Adams

    pp. 50–53

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Book Reviews

  1. Weinberg, Robert. The Revolution of 1905 in Odessa: Blood on the Steps. (Studies of the Harriman Institute.) Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993. Pp. xvi, 302. 15 black and white plates, bibliography, index. US $29.95 (cloth)

    Lynne Viola

    p. 54

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  2. Driver, Felix. Power and Pauperism: The Workhouse System, 1834–1884. (Cambridge Series in Historical Geography no. 19.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xiii, 207. Tables, maps, index, bibliography. US $49.95

    Ellen Jacobs

    pp. 54–55

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  3. Nussdorfer, Laurie. Civic Politics in the Rome of Urban VIII. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. Pp. 287. Illus.

    Donald A. Bailey

    p. 55

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  4. Schwartz, L. D. London in the Age of Industrialisation: Entrepreneurs, Labour Force and Living Conditions, 1700–1850. (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xv, 285. 28 figures, 356 tables, bibliography, index

    Craig Muldrew

    pp. 56–57

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  5. Fairfield, John D. The Mysteries of the Great City: The Politics of Urban Design, 1877–1937. (Ohio State Urban Life and Urban Landscape Series). Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1993. Pp. xi, 320, Illustrations. $35 (US) / Blackford, Mansel G. The Lost Dream: Businessmen and City Planning on the Pacific Coast, 1890–1920. (Ohio State Urban Life and Urban Landscape Series). Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1993. Pp. xiii. 189. Illustrations. $58.50 (US)

    Eric Mumford

    pp. 57–58

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  6. Borneman, John. Belonging in the Two Berlins: Kinship, Nation, State. (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. 400. 5 figures, 1 plate. $59.95 (US)

    Edward Larkey

    pp. 58–59

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  7. Ward, Steven V., ed. The Garden City: Past, Present and Future. London: E & FN Spon, 1992. pp. xiv, 215 Maps, Illustrations, black and white plates, index, bibliography by chapter. $112.50 (Hardcover only)

    Matt Sendbuehler

    pp. 59–60

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  8. Honey, Michael K. Southern Labor and Black Civil Rights: Organizing Memphis Workers. (The Working Class in American History). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Pp xiii, 364.10 black and white photographs, index. $49.95 (US) (cloth); $17.95 (US) (paperback) / Thomas, Richard W. Life for Us Is What We Make It: Building Black Community in Detroit, 1915–1945. (Blacks in the Diaspora). Bloomington and Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press, 1992. Pp. xiv, 365. 13 black and white photographs, index. $47.50 (cloth)

    Peter Rachleff

    pp. 60–62

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  9. Jablonsky, Thomas J. Pride in the Jungle: Pride and Everyday Life in Back of the Yards Chicago Creating the North American Landscape. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Pp. xviii, 190. Numerous black and white plates, maps, tables, references, index. $38.50 (US)

    Ian MacLachlan

    pp. 62–63

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  10. Walter, Richard J. Politics and Urban Growth in Buenos Aires: 1910–1942. (Cambridge Latin American Studies). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xii, 278. Tables, maps, photographs, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. $59.95 (US)

    David Sheinin

    pp. 63–64

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  11. Adamson, Walter L. Avant-Garde Florence: From Modernism to Fascism. (Studies in Cultural History). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. Pp. xiv, 338. 12 illustrations, bibliography, index. $39.95 (US)

    Modris Eksteins

    p. 64

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  12. Loza, Steven. Barrio Rhythm: Mexican American Music in Los Angeles. (Music in American Life Series). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Pp. xx, 320. Black and white illustrations, 13 musical transcriptions, bibliography, discography, index. $42.50 (US) (cloth), $16.95 (US) (paper) / Tracy, Steven C. Going to Cincinnati: A History of Blues in the Queen City. (Greater Cincinnati Bicentennial History Series). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Pp. xxxii, 262. Black and white illustrations, bibliography, interviews, discography, general index, song index. $29.95 (cloth) (US)

    Warren Gill

    pp. 65–66

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  13. Gordon, Robert B., and Patrick M. Malone. The Texture of Industry: An Archaeological View of the Industrialization of North America. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. xi, 442. Illustrations, bibliography, place and site index, subject index. $72.50 (cloth)

    Dianne Newell

    pp. 66–67

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  14. Fujito, Kuniko, and Richard Hill, eds. Japanese Cities in the World Economy. (Conflicts in Urban and Regional Development, John R. Logan and Todd Swanstrom, Editors) Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Pp. 310. Tables, maps, index. $44.95 (US) (cloth)

    T. G. McGee

    p. 68

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  15. Schultz, Ronald. The Republic of Labor: Philadelphia Artisans and the Politics of Class, 1720–1830. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp. xi, 298. Illustrations. $63.00

    Sean T. Cadigan

    pp. 68–69

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  16. Frances, Raelene. The Politics of Work: Gender and Labour in Victoria, 1880–1939. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xii, 267. Tables, charts, illustrations, index. $59.95 (US)

    Todd McCallum

    pp. 69–70

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  17. Petrow, Stefan. Policing Morals: The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office, 1870–1914. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Pp. xiii, 343. $78.95

    John C. Weaver

    pp. 70–71

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