Demolition Means Progress: Flint, Michigan, and the Fate of the American Metropolis

399 Pages·2015·4.378 MB·English

by  Andrew R. Highsmith

Demolition Means Progress
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Demolition
Means Progress
Flint, Michigan, and the Fate of
the American Metropolis
andrew r. highsmith
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Andrew R. Highsmith is assistant professor of history at the University of California,
Irvine.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 05005- 8 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 25108- 0 (e- book)
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226251080.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Highsmith, Andrew R., author.
Demolition means progress : Flint, Michigan, and the fate of the American
metropolis / Andrew R. Highsmith.
pages cm — (Historical studies of urban America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-226-05005-8 (cloth : alkaline paper) — isbn 978-0-226-25108-0
(e-book) 1. Flint (Mich.)—History. 2. Flint (Mich.)—Economic conditions—
History. 3. Flint (Mich.)—Social conditions—History. 4. City planning—
Social aspects—Michigan—Flint. I. Title. II. Series: Historical studies of urban
America.
f574.f62h54 2015
977.4'37—dc23
2014045147
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
For Bobby, Asha, Mira, and Aneel

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
part i Company Town
1 City Building and Boundary Making 23
2 From Community Education to Neighborhood Schools 54
3 Jim Crow, GM Crow 78
4 Suburban Renewal 103
5 The Metropolitan Moment 121
part ii Fractured Metropolis
6 “Our City Believes in Lily- White Neighborhoods” 147
7 Jim Crow in the Era of Civil Rights 175
8 Suburban Crisis 200
9 The Battle over School Desegregation 222
10 “The Fall of Flint” 242
Epilogue: “America Is a Thousand Flints” 268
Acknowledgments 287
Abbreviations in the Notes 295
Notes 299
Index 365

Illustrations
Figures
I.1. General Motors’ Golden Carnival, 1954 3
1.1. Aerial view of “The Buick,” n.d., ca. 1925 27
1.2. Substandard working- class housing, n.d., ca. 1910 29
1.3. Restrictive housing covenant, 1945 33
1.4. Flint Masonic Temple Association minstrel show, 1944 36
2.1. Community education leaders, 1960 57
2.2. The Great Flint Sit- Down Strike, 1937 59
2.3. Mott Foundation adult education leafl et, n.d., ca. 1950 64
2.4. Racial segregation at Fairview Elementary School, 1960 75
3.1. Roscoe Van Zandt and fellow UAW members celebrate the victorious
Flint Sit- Down Strike, 1937 81
3.2. Black foundry workers at Buick, n.d. 83
3.3. “Bowl with the Ball of Fair Play” leafl et, 1950 90
3.4. Protest against employment discrimination at General Motors, n.d. 96
4.1. A sewer expansion project in the suburb of Davison, 1958 112
4.2. A modern residential subdivision in suburban Fenton, 1960 115
5.1. Aerial view of GM factories in Flint Township, 1954 125
5.2. Homes bordering a GM factory in Flint, n.d. 127
6.1. Industrial pollution in the St. John Street neighborhood, 1971 155
6.2. A dilapidated North End home, 1962 157
6.3. Floyd McCree speaking to voters, 1954 165