Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the Herbert H. Lehman Prize by the New York Academy of History.
In The Rise and Fall of Protestant Brooklyn, Stuart M. Blumin and Glenn C. Altschuler tell the story of nineteenth-century Brooklyn''s domination by upper- and middle-class Protestants with roots in Puritan New England. This lively history describes the unraveling of the control they wielded as more ethnically diverse groups moved into the City of Churches during the twentieth century.
Before it became a prime American example of urban ethnic diversity, Brooklyn was a lovely and salubrious town across the river from Manhattan, celebrated for its churches and upright suburban living. But challenges to this way of life issued from the sheer growth of the city, from new secular institutionsdepartment stores, theaters, professional baseballand from the licit and illicit attractions of Coney Island, all of which were at odds with post-Puritan piety and behavior.
Despit
Trade Review
The Rise and Fall of Protestant Brooklyn offers a sophisticated, nuanced history of Brooklyn's transformation into a vibrant, modern, urban community. It also speaks powerfully to the shameful anti-immigrant sentiment currently surging across the nation.
* Gotham, A Blog for New York City Scholars *
Table of ContentsPrologue: America's Brooklyn
1. Brooklyn Village
2. The City of Brooklyn"
3. On the Waterfront
4. Toward a New Brooklyn
5. Newcomers
6. Transformation
7. Acceptance, Resistance, Flight
Epilogue: Brooklyn's America
