New Book, Edited by UB Faculty Members, Provides Comprehensive Look at City Before, During and After 1968 Riots
Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City Follows Landmark 2008 Conference
July 5, 2011
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City, a new collection of essays, analyses and other vital contributions edited by three members of the faculty of the University of Baltimore and published by Temple University Press, stands as the first comprehensive study of one American city four decades after a period of violent unrest that shook it to its core. The book is part of a larger public history project, "Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth," a living archive of oral histories, photos, art, and links to dozens of historical sources, including materials from an on-campus conference that took place in April 2008. The book and the website together are an invaluable teaching resource on cities, social unrest and racial politics in the 1960s. The project was the co-recipient of the 2009 Outstanding Public History Project Award from the National Council on Public History.
The book's editors—Jessica I. Elfenbein, associate provost and professor of History and Community Studies at UB and director of the Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth project; Thomas L. Hollowak, associate director for Special Collections at the University of Baltimore's Langsdale Library and creator of the website; and Elizabeth M. Nix, assistant professor in UB's Division of Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies, director of the University's Community Studies and Civic Engagement program and overseer of the collection of oral histories for the Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth project—gathered the work of several respected scholars to provide extensive context for the city's 1968 unrest. Chapters on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the days just prior to the rioting, on the city's racial and economic disparities, and on the expected and unexpected outcomes of the devastation are among the book's highlights.
"With extensive archival research and gripping oral interviews, Baltimore '68 offers a deeply informative study of the shattered dreams, bitter memories, and uneasy revitalization of one of America's great urban centers," said Bobby J. Donaldson, associate professor of history and African American studies at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. "This book serves as an example of academic scholarship, civic engagement, and community collaboration at its very best."
Carla Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, said, "These essays and primary accounts examine the roots of the broad spectrum of events that led to rioting in Baltimore following Martin Luther King's assassination and how these events shaped the social and economic fabric of today's Baltimore. I know it will be taken from library shelves for many years to come as a primary resource for historical study."
Learn more about the book here.
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