Landscapes of Hope : Nature and the Great Migration in Chicago

Winner of the Frederick Jackson Turner Award Winner of the George Perkins Marsh Prize Winner of the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize "A beautifully written, smart, painstakingly researched account that adds nuance to the growing field of African American environmental history." --Colin Fisher, American Historical Review "A major work of history that brings together African-American history and environmental studies in exciting ways." --Davarian L. Baldwin, Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Uncovers the untold history of African Americans's migration to Chicago as they constructed both material and immaterial connections to nature." --Teona Williams, Black Perspectives "The way nature helped African-Americans endure the segregated spaces they inhabited in and around Chicago forms the subject of Landscapes of Hope...If in the South nature was associated with labor, for the inhabitants of the crowded tenements in Chicago, nature increasingly became a source of leisure." --Reinier de Graaf, New York Review of Books Between 1915 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of African Americans left the rural South to begin new lives in the urban North. In Chicago, the black population quintupled to more than 275,000. Most historians map the integration of southern and northern black culture by looking at labor, politics, and popular culture. An award-winning environmental historian, Brian McCammack charts a different course, considering instead how black Chicagoans forged material and imaginative connections to nature. The first major history to frame the Great Migration as an environmental experience, Landscapes of Hope takes us to Chicago's parks and beaches as well as to the youth camps, vacation resorts, farms, and forests of the rural Midwest. Situated at the intersection of race and place in American history, it traces the contours of a black environmental consciousness that runs throughout the African American experience. Winner of the Frederick Jackson Turner AwardWinner of the George Perkins Marsh PrizeWinner of the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize“A major work of history that brings together African-American history and environmental studies in exciting ways.”—Davarian L. Baldwin, Journal of Interdisciplinary HistoryBetween 1915 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of African Americans left the rural South to begin new lives in the urban North. In Chicago, the black population quintupled to more than 275,000. Most historians map the integration of southern and northern black culture by looking at labor, politics, and popular culture. An award-winning environmental historian, Brian McCammack charts a different course, considering instead how black Chicagoans forged material and imaginative connections to nature.The first major history to frame the Great Migration as an environmental experience, Landscapes of Hope takes us to Chicago's parks and beaches as well as to the youth camps, vacation resorts, farms, and forests of the rural Midwest. Situated at the intersection of race and place in American history, it traces the contours of a black environmental consciousness that runs throughout the African American experience.“Uncovers the untold history of African Americans'migration to Chicago as they constructed both material and immaterial connections to nature.”—Teona Williams, Black Perspectives“A beautifully written, smart, painstakingly researched account that adds nuance to the growing field of African American environmental history.”—Colin Fisher, American Historical Review“If in the South nature was associated with labor, for the inhabitants of the crowded tenements in Chicago, nature increasingly became a source of leisure.”—Reinier de Graaf, New York Review of Books In the first interdisciplinary history to frame the African American Great Migration as an environmental experience, Landscapes of Hope travels to Chicagos parks and beaches as well as youth camps, vacation resorts, and the farms and forests of the rural Midwest. Despite persistent racial discrimination and violence in many of these places, African Americans retreated there to relax and sometimes work, reconnecting with southern identities and lifestyles they had left behind. Between 1915 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of African Americans moved away from the South to begin new lives in the urban North. In Chicago alone, the Black population quintupled to more than 275,000 in a quarter century. Most historians map the integration of southern and northern Black culture through labor, religion, politics, and popular culture. Brian McCammack follows a different path, recapturing Black Chicagoans as they forged material and imaginative connections to nature. In the relatively prosperous migration years but also in the depths of the Great Depression, Chicagos Black communitywomen and men, young and old, working class and upper classsought out, fought for, built, and enjoyed natural and landscaped environments. No matter how crowded or degraded, green spaces provided a refuge for Black Chicagoans and an opportunity to realize the promise of nature and of the Great Migration itself. Situated at the intersection of race and place in American history, Landscapes of Hope traces the contours of a Black environmental consciousness that runs throughout the African American experience. Between 1915 And 1940, Hundreds Of Thousands Of African Americans Left Their Southern Homes To Begin New Lives In The North. Landscapes Of Hope Tells The Story Of Black Chicagoans' Environmental Lives During The Interwar Years And Undertakes A Broad Reassessment Of The Land's Significance For Black Migrants Nationwide. Drawing On Original Archival Research, The Book Uncovers A Completely New Side To Chicago--and The Lives Of Those Black Migrants Who Streamed Into It--that Scholars Have Seen Mainly Through The Lenses Of Labor, Religion, Politics, And Popular Culture. The Author Enriches These Narratives By Examining The Ways In Which African American Migrants Experienced, Imagined, And Shaped Natural And Landscaped Environments Between 1915 And 1940. From Crowded Tenements And Public Parks In Chicago To Vacation Resorts, Youth Camps, And Civilian Conservation Corps Camps In The Illinois And Michigan Countryside, Landscapes Of Hope Reveals Black Chicagoans Purposefully Cultivating Relationships With Green Spaces Across The Midwest.-- Introduction: Kinship With The Soil -- Part I. The Migration Years, 1915-1929. Booker T. Washington Park And Chicago's Racial Landscapes ; Black Chicagoans In Unexpected Places -- Part Ii. The Depression Years, 1930-1940. Playgrounds And Protest Grounds ; Back To Nature In Hard Times ; Building Men And Building Trees -- Epilogue: A Century Of Migration To That Great Iron City. Brian Mccammack. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Between 1915 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of African Americans left their Southern homes to begin new lives in the North. Landscapes of Hope tells the story of black Chicagoans' environmental lives during the interwar years and undertakes a broad reassessment of the land's significance for black migrants nationwide. Drawing on original archival research, the book uncovers a completely new side to Chicago--and the lives of those black migrants who streamed into it--that scholars have seen mainly through the lenses of labor, religion, politics, and popular culture. The author enriches these narratives by examining the ways in which African American migrants experienced, imagined, and shaped natural and landscaped environments between 1915 and 1940. From crowded tenements and public parks in Chicago to vacation resorts, youth camps, and Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Illinois and Michigan countryside, Landscapes of Hope reveals black Chicagoans purposefully cultivating relationships with green spaces across the Midwest."--Provided by publisher Between 1915 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of African Americans left their Southern homes to begin new lives in the North. Landscapes of Hope tells the story of black Chicagoans' environmental lives during the interwar years and undertakes a broad reassessment of the land's significance for black migrants nationwide. Drawing on original archival research, the book uncovers a completely new side to Chicago--and the lives of those black migrants who streamed into it--that scholars have seen mainly through the lenses of labor, religion, politics, and popular culture. The author enriches these narratives by examining the ways in which African American migrants experienced, imagined, and shaped natural and landscaped environments between 1915 and 1940. From crowded tenements and public parks in Chicago to vacation resorts, youth camps, and Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Illinois and Michigan countryside, Landscapes of Hope reveals black Chicagoans purposefully cultivating relationships with green spaces across the Midwest.-- Provided by publisher Contents Introduction: Kinship with the Soil Part I. The Migration Years, 1915–1929 1. “Booker T.” Washington Park and Chicago’s Racial Landscapes 2. Black Chicagoans in Unexpected Places Part II. The Depression Years, 1930–1940 3. Playgrounds and Protest Grounds 4. Back to Nature in Hard Times 5. Building Men and Building Trees Epilogue: A Century of Migration to That Great Iron City Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index In the first interdisciplinary history to frame the African American Great Migration as an environmental experience, Brian McCammack travels to Chicago’s parks and beaches as well as farms and forests of the rural Midwest, where African Americans retreated to relax and reconnect with southern identities and lifestyles they had left behind.