Dissertation Information for Paul Manus O\'GradyNAME:
DEGREE:
DISCIPLINE:
SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Fully Complete Title: Vital arteries: A history of the streets of New York, 1783--1863 Abstract: This dissertation examines a transformation in perceptions of New York\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s streets in the period between 1783 and 1863. Using the streets as a focal point, this work explores the gradual evolution---at the level of both practice and conception---from streets existing as mere extensions of private property in the 1790s, to streets subsisting as a quintessential public space, the city\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s vital arteries, by the 1860s. Through an analysis of newspapers, government documents, travel accounts, diaries, and other sources, this work demonstrates that residents\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' experience and understanding of streets changed dramatically in this period as the city underwent seismic changes in the economic, social and political realms. Particular attention is given to street construction and maintenance, the institution of the municipal water supply, the use of streets as a conduit for various forms of transportation, efforts to impose order on the streets by the municipal government before and after the institution of the New York Police Department in 1845, and the use of the streets as an arena for politics (and the resulting parades, labor demonstrations and riots). By 1863, it is evident that streets had attained a wholly public character, but in an increasingly diverse city of many constituencies, the precise definition of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"public\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"public good\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" would remain contested. Since streets comprised the arena in which many crucial social conflicts and developments played out during this critical period of transformation, exploring New York from the standpoint of the streets proves an effective way to examine both the social and cultural history of this city and the texture of the early national and antebellum republic. |
MPACT Scores for Paul Manus O\'GradyA = 0 Advisors and Advisees Graphgenerating graph, please reload |
Students under Paul Manus O\'Grady
ADVISEES:
- None
COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None