The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower-Class Life, 1790-1940 - Paperback

by Allen F. Davis (Editor), Mark H. Haller (Editor)

Although much has been written about elite Philadelphians, only in recent decades have historians paid attention to the Jews and working-class blacks, the immigrant Irish, Italians, and Poles who settled in the city and gave such sections as Moyamensing, Southwark, South Philadelphia, and Kensington their vitality. In this classic of social and ethnic history, the authors draw on census schedules, court records, city directories, and tax records as well as newspaper files and other sources to give a picture of the ways in which these less-privileged groups of Philadelphians lived. What emerges is a picture of Philadelphia radically different from the conventional portrait of a staid old city.

Back Jacket

Although much has been written about upper-class Philadelphians, only in recent decades have historians paid attention to the Jews and working-class blacks, the immigrant Irish, Italians, and Poles who settled in the city and gave such sections as Moyamensing, Southwark, South Philadelphia, and Kensington their vitality and distinctive flavor. In The Peoples of Philadelphia, the authors draw on census schedules, court records, city directories, and tax records as well as newspaper files and other sources to give a picture of the ways in which these less privileged groups of Philadelphians lived. The resulting twelve studies tell a fascinating story that often contradicts the commonly held view of Philadelphia. What emerges is a picture of Philadelphia radically different from the conventional portrait of a staid old city, corrupt and contented. The men and women of Philadelphia who emerge in these pages are anything but staid, and certainly not contented.

Author Biography

Allen F. Davis has published many books, including The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society and Spearheads for Reform: The Social Settlements and the Progressive Movement, 1890-1914. Mark Haller is the author of Eugenics: Hereditarian Attitudes in American Thought. Both are professors of history at Temple University.