William Donald Schaefer: A Political Biography Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are interested in the politics of American cities this marvelous biography of the four-term mayor of Baltimore should be on the top of your reading list. C. Fraser Smith, a veteran reporter for the Baltimore Sun, has used the life of William Donald Schaefer -- a lackluster ward politician who surprised almost everyone by becoming one of America's most successful big city mayors -- as a vehicle for examining the inner workings of Baltimore during the last half century. In doing so he opens up a window through which to view and better understand every American city. With a sharp eye for detail and a knack for compelling narrative, Smith guides us through the morass of city politics, introducing us up-close-and-personal to an array of interesting characters who, at one time or another, performed on center stage with Schaefer. They include members of the mayor's staff, party godfathers, business leaders, neighborhood activists, obscure but powerful civil servants, black political leaders, and owners of sports teams, to cite a few. In his ability to employ ordinary citizens to tell a city's story, one is reminded immediately of J. Anthony Lukas' Common Ground, the Pulitzer-prize winning dissection of Boston. The reader senses that Smith, as a reporter on city and state beats, knew personally and had earned the trust of most of the key players he interviewed. They felt comfortable revealing to him the most intimate stories and opinions.
Yet despite all its attention to the political context, the book stays true throughout to its basic purpose of creating a rich, reliable biography of a remarkable public servant. It will be as valuable to scholars of urban America as it will be enjoyable to persons wanting simply to immerse themselves in big city lore.

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A Vision for Girls: Gender, Education, and the Bryn Mawr School Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book very hard to put down. Anyone with an interest in women's history and education--and certainly anyone with a connection to the Bryn Mawr School--will find much to savor here. Bryn Mawr, a private girls school founded in 1885 in Baltimore, was the first school in the country that was designed to prepare girls for college, a revolutionary idea at the time. In fact, many families in late 19th-century Baltimore weren't quite ready for that idea. Hamilton's account of the struggles of the school's founders to stay true to their vision, their internal arguments over how much to accommodate the wishes of the public, and the way the school has adapted to changing times is fascinating. It's also interesting to see that some of the more recent debates within feminism (e.g., "difference" feminism vs. equity feminism) have roots that are over a century old. Despite Hamilton's tendency to repeat herself on occasion, the book is well worth reading and I highly recommend it.

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"To educate American girls and women in ways beyond the traditional has been a dangerous experiment that has challenged basic notions of female nature and has seemed to threaten the social order... One such bold venture in female education-the Bryn Mawr School of Baltimore, Maryland-is the subject of Andrea Hamilton's lively and well-researched book... In Hamilton's telling, the story of the Bryn Mawr School moves beyond its local particulars to illumine much about the history of American education and life... The importance of Hamilton's contribution is that she never loses sight of the complexity of the school and its relation to society. Her history of the Bryn Mawr School helps us understand aspects of the unique position held by American women in national social, intellectual, and cultural life."-from the Foreword by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz Baltimore's Bryn Mawr School was founded in the 1880s, the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States. Unlike other educational institutions at the time, the Bryn Mawr School championed intellectual equality of the sexes. Established with the goal of providing girls with an education identical to boys' in quality and compass, it endeavored to prepare girls to excel in a public sphere traditionally dominated by men.Narrating the history of the Bryn Mawr School, Andrea Hamilton'sA Vision for Girls examines the value of single-sex education, America's shifting educational philosophy, and significant changes in the role of women in American society. Hamilton reveals an institution that was both ahead of its time and a product of its time. A Vision for Girls offers an original and engaging history of an institution that helped shape educational goals in America, shedding light on the course of American education and attitudes toward women's intellectual and professional capabilities. (2007)

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Mary Elizabeth Garrett: Society and Philanthropy in the Gilded Age Review

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(More customer reviews)Mary Elizabeth Garrett: Society and Philanthropy in the Gilded Age is the biography of a truly remarkable female philanthropist and activist, whose life and work spanned the Civil War, the difficult Reconstruction, the heady Gilded Age, and the Progressive Era of the early twentieth century. An intelligent and strong-willed woman barred by social custom from following in the footsteps of her railroad mogul father, she worked tirelessly to promote women's rights, applying her wealth and status to advance her egalitarian vision. She contributed endowments to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on two unprecedented conditions: that women by admitted on the same terms as men, and that the school be graduate level. A champion of advanced education for girls, and a supporter of women's suffrage, Mary Elizabeth Garrett was a genuine force for change and worthy of serving as an inspiration to girls women a century later. Highly recommended.


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Mary Elizabeth Garrett was one of the most influential philanthropists and women activists of the Gilded Age. With Mary's legacy all but forgotten, Kathleen Waters Sander recounts in impressive detail the life and times of this remarkable woman, through the turbulent years of the Civil War to the early twentieth century. At once a captivating biography of Garrett and an epic account of the rise of commerce, railroading, and women's rights, Sander's work re-examines the great social and political movements of the age.As the youngest child and only daughter of the B&O Railroad mogul John Work Garrett, Mary was bright and capable, well suited to become her father's heir apparent. But social convention prohibited her from following in his footsteps, a source of great frustration for the brilliant and strong-willed woman. Mary turned her attentions instead to promoting women's rights, using her status and massive wealth to advance her uncompromising vision for women's place in the expanding United States. She contributed the endowment to establish the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with two unprecedented conditions: that women be admitted on the same terms as men and that the school be graduate level, thereby forcing revolutionary policy changes at the male-run institution. Believing that advanced education was the key to women's betterment, she helped found and sustain the prestigious girl's preparatory school in Baltimore, the Bryn Mawr School. Her philanthropic gifts to Bryn Mawr College helped tranform the modest Quaker school into a renowned women's college. Mary was also a great supporter of women's suffrage, working tirelessly to gain equal rights for women.Suffragist, friend of charitable causes, and champion of women's education, Mary Elizabeth Garrett both improved the status of women and ushered in modern standards of American medicine and philanthropy. Sander's thoughtful and informed study of this pioneering philanthropist is the first to recognize Garrett and her monumental contributions to equality in America. (2008)

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A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination Review

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(More customer reviews)Clay Risen's A Nation On Fire is a detailed account of the events leading up to, and the immediate aftermath of, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Although this would seem to be a well-covered topic, Mr. Risen points out that prior to his book's release, this period has never been given an in-depth, book-length treatment, but instead has been described in brief, often as part of larger historical works on the era, the civil rights movement, or Dr. King. In discussing the need for a thorough and detailed look at these pivotal few weeks, Mr. Risen points out both the immediate impact this event had on the nation, as well as the profound and dynamic long-term impacts on domestic policy, social attitudes, and the reshaping of political fault lines - impacts that continue to be felt up to this very moment. In a larger sense, this book does an exceptional job of portraying a snapshop of the nation at a pivotal moment, and on a smaller scale, the impacts that Dr. King's assassination had on several major metro areas, with particular focus on the riots in D.C. For that reason alone, anyone who has spent some time in the District will find this book particularly interesting. The massive riots in D.C. and Baltimore have become something of an historical afterthought outside of D.C. (and some would argue in D.C. as well), but the impact of the riots was so great as to result in the unprecedented situation of the military being brought in to briefly occupy our nation's capital.
So, it's pretty obvious that anyone with an interest in the civil rights movement, the `60's, or just contemporary history and politics, will likely get a lot out of this book. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't stress just how compulsively readable this thing is - make no mistake, this is no dry history lesson or academic tracing of a timeline. Clay is an impressive writer, and the book quickly becomes an addictive page turner. The events leading up to the assassination create an air of tragic tension and the detailed coverage of the riots and the response reads like a first-rate thriller.


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The Architecture of Baltimore: An Illustrated History Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're intersted in the development of East Coast architecture, this is an invaluable tool, particularly if you're familiar with the City of the Chesapeake Bay.

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