A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)
"An important contribution to our understanding of the gendered construction of African American urban poverty."--Neue Politische Literatur"An excellent local study….The narrative of self-empowerment and persistent agency that Levenstein constructs of poor African American women defying all stereotypes in the face of crippling hurdles does not disappoint."--The Journal of African American History"Is it possible to write about poor women as active agents without fitting them within a social movement framework? . . . Levenstein has already achieved that balance in this important work. . . . A full understanding of African American poverty must include the women Levenstein so powerfully analyzes."--American Historical Review"Excellent. . . . Levenstein becomes a skilled storyteller and weaves narratives from her oral histories throughout the book to support the detailed analysis. . . . Does not disappoint."--Journal of African American History"A path-breaking account. . . . [Levenstein's] wide-ranging study of five public institutions suggests a pervasiveness, depth, and force of this phenomenon that historians have not recognized. The field of twentieth-century U.S. politics desperately needs more of her sustained analysis."--Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography"Vivid stories of individual women. . . . Each one of them offers an original and compelling interpretation of its subject. Tightly interconnected as they are, each could also stand alone as a major addition to the historiography of public institutions."--Journal of Social History"Challenges scholarship on black urban poverty. . . . Instructive to students of urban history, migration, race, gender, and poverty."--The Journal of American History"Levenstein's focus on the 1950s and 1960s serves to explore the roots of political and social activism embraced by so many younger black people in the subsequent decade. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice