University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee
School of Education
Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies
The Milwaukee Community
Ed Pol 113-305
Spring 2013
Mon, Wed 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Room: EMS E170
Instructor: Joel McNally
Phone: 414-405-1636
E-mail: mcnallyj@uwm.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Required Textbooks available in the UWM Bookstore and elsewhere
Gurda, John (1999). The Making of Milwaukee. Third Edition.
Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, WI.
Jones, Patrick D. (2009). The Selma of the North: Civil Rights
Insurgency in Milwaukee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Course Description:
This course will provide students with an overview of the Milwaukee
community with a focus on the historical, economic, political, cultural and
racial events that have shaped Milwaukee. Special attention will be paid to
the city’s unique Socialist history, the city’s role in the US civil rights
movement and the effects of immigration and different racial, ethnic and
social groups on urban history.
Course Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to discuss
different cultural influences and economic conditions that have shaped
Milwaukee, describe the history and shifting roles of various racial and
ethnic groups within the city and analyze disparities in resources and
political power among such groups that affect the quality of life in
Milwaukee and other cities.
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Class Format:
This class will be taught through lectures, reading, group discussions,
classroom exercises, guest speakers, films and other materials.
Course Requirements:
Class Attendance (40 points)
Class attendance is required. In order to benefit from class discussions
and activities, the student must be present. Each unexcused absence will
result in a loss of 10 attendance points. An excused absence will be granted
for an emergency that causes you to miss class if you notify the instructor by
e-mail prior to class or as soon as possible thereafter.
Midterm Exam (50 points)
A midterm exam on Wednesday, March 13, will cover the required
readings and lecture materials in the first half of the course. The midterm
will include factual questions counting for 30 points and two essay questions
counting for 10 points each.
Final Exam (50 points)
A final exam on Thursday, May 16, will cover the required readings
and lecture materials in the second half of the course. The final will include
factual questions counting for 30 points and two essay questions counting
for 10 points each.
Two Student Research Papers (60 points each)
All students will be required to write two 6-9 page research papers
(excluding title page, table of contents, references, attachments, etc.). Papers
should include documentation of sources following the academic style of the
American Psychological Association. If you are not familiar with APA style,
you can get assistance from the UWM Writing Center in Curtin Hall 127 or
through short on-line tutorials on its website.
The first paper, due on Monday, March 4, should describe a
community organization working in Milwaukee dealing with issues affecting
a particular neighborhood or the community as a whole.
Organizations can be working on any important community issue,
including but not limited to: poverty, education, civil rights, immigration,
housing, criminal justice, the environment, neighborhood development,
youth involvement, hunger, community safety, etc. Choose something
you’re interested in yourself and the research will be a lot less like work.
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In addition to drawing upon published materials and media reporting
about the organization’s history and activities, papers also should include
interviews with organization leaders, volunteers or community residents
about the organization’s successes or failures and any issues or obstacles it
faces in achieving its goals.
For the second paper, due on Monday, April 29, you should focus on
a particular issue affecting Milwaukee today. You can expand upon the issue
at the center of your first paper or choose another.
The broad assignment is to take some topic we have discussed as a
part of Milwaukee’s history — immigration, unions, socialism, civil rights,
economic disparities, education, school desegregation, real estate practices,
suburbanization, policing and public safety, political leadership or some
other issue — and relate it to Milwaukee today.
How has the past influenced the present? How have concerns changed
for better or worse regarding your topic? Are we moving forward in some
areas or are we still stuck in the past? Have changes over time resolved some
issues or raised new complications? Have the issues changed in modern-day
Milwaukee as a result of changes in population, the economy, social
attitudes or other factors?
This is a research paper, not an opinion piece. You will need to
support your conclusions with facts and analysis from knowledgeable
sources.
You can draw upon academic studies, media reports and other
published materials to document changes in Milwaukee over time. As with
the first paper, the most valuable source for background and direction on
local issues may be talking directly with community leaders and experts.
Both papers must be neatly typed using a 12-point font, doublespaced, including a cover sheet. Source documentation and references
should be included.
Student Reflections (20 points each)
Twice during the semester, for 20 points each, students will be given a
week’s notice to write a two-page, double-spaced reflection giving their own
opinion, supported by facts and analysis, on an issue in Milwaukee’s history
we will be discussing in class.
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Course Grading System (300 points total)
A=260-300
B=230-259
C=200-229
D=170-199
F=169-below
Class Schedule and Required Reading
Wed, 1/23
Course overview. Requirements and expectations. Introductions. Class
discussion of perceptions of Milwaukee.
No advance reading assignment for the first class. After the first class,
students will be expected to have completed the advance reading before
coming to class and be prepared to discuss.
Mon, 1/28
In the Beginning: Exploiting Resources and Natives.
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 1: “Native Milwaukee.”
Wed, 1/30
Early Settlement and the Birth of Capitalism
Advance Reading: Gurda, Chapter 2: “City on the Swamp.”
Mon, 2/4
A Lasting Ethnic Influence, Part I
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 3: “Here Come the Germans.”
Wed, 2/6
A Lasting Ethnic Influence, Part II
Continuing discussion of Gurda, Chapter 3.
Mon, 2/11
Industrial Growth and the Bay View Massacre.
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 4: “Wheat, Iron, Beer and Bloodshed.”
Wed, 2/13
Dividing the State over Unions: From Gov. Rusk to Scott Walker.
Advance reading: Gurda handout: “A Man Who ‘Knows What He Knows’”
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Mon, 2/18
Labor Triumph and Political Corruption
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 5: “Triumph of the Working Man.”
Wed, 2/20
Homegrown Socialists and Progressives, Part I
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 6: “A Bigger, Brighter and Blander
Milwaukee.”
Mon, 2/25
Homegrown Socialists and Progressives, Part II
Continuing discussion of Gurda, Chapter 6.
Wed, 2/27
Milwaukee’s Strategy for Depression Survival
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 7: “Hard Times and Wartime.”
Mon, 3/4
Frank Zeidler, Milwaukee’s Last Socialist Mayor
Guest speaker: Anita Zeidler, daughter of the late Mayor Frank Zeidler.
First Research Paper Due
Wed, 3/6
Modern Milwaukee: Mayors Maier, Norquist and Barrett.
Advance reading: Gurda, Chapter 8: “An Exploding Metropolis.”
Mon, 3/11
Classroom review for Midterm.
Wed, 3/13
MIDTERM EXAM
NO CLASSES 3/18 OR 3/20 FOR SPRING BREAK
Mon, 3/25
Race and the GI Bill
Advance reading: Ira Katznelson handout, “White Veterans Only.”
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Wed, 3/27
The Great Migration and Milwaukee
Advance reading: Jones, Chapter 1
Mon, 4/1 and Wed, 4/3
CLASSES THIS WEEK WILL BE REPLACED BY A FIELD TRIP
WITH DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED LATER IN THE
SEMESTER.
Mon, 4/8
The Civil Rights Movement in America
No advance reading
Wed, 4/10
Early Civil Rights Protest in Milwaukee
Advance reading: Jones, Chapters 4 & 5.
Mon, 4/15
Police Tensions and the 1967 Civil Disturbance.
Advance reading: Jones, Chapter 6.
Wed, 4/17
The Struggle for Open Housing, Part I
Guest speaker: A major figure in the Milwaukee open housing marches.
Advance reading: Jones, Introduction and Chapter 7.
Mon, 4/22
The Struggle for Open Housing, Part II
No new advance reading.
Wed, 4/24
Milwaukee School Desegregation
Advance reading: Barbara Miner handout “Lessons from the Heartland.”
Mon, 4/29
The Privatization of Education
Advance reading: Barbara Miner handout “Vouchers Pass, Abandonment
Begins.”
Second Research Paper Due
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Wed, 5/1
Immigration and Milwaukee’s Latino Community
Guest speaker on current immigration controversies.
Mon, 5/6
Criminal Justice and the Community
Guest speaker: Kit McNally of the Milwaukee Community Justice Council.
Advance reading: Michelle Alexander handout, “The New Jim Crow.”
Wed, 5/8
Classroom review for final exam
THURSDAY, 5/16
FINAL EXAM
General Classroom Policies
Academic Misconduct: The University has a responsibility to promote
academic honesty and to deal effectively with instances of academic
dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and
representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources and for
crediting others’ academic endeavors.
Incompletes: An “incomplete” may be given in lieu of a final grade to a
student who has completed a course successfully until the end of the
semester but whom, because of illness or other unusual and substantiated
cause beyond the student’s control, has been unable to complete some
limited amount of term work.
Cell Phone Policy: Cell phones should not be used in class for phone calls,
texting, Internet browsing or any other purpose.
Food, Sleep and Outside Coursework: Students are required to devote
their time and energy during the class period to the work of the course.
Students should not use the time to work on assignments for other classes.
Being awake is a requirement for participation. Food should not be
consumed during class. Students may drink soft drinks, water, coffee, milk
or juice. All students are expected to clean up after themselves.
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Disruptive Classroom Behavior: Students are expected to conduct
themselves as mature adults. Everyone has a right to express his or her
opinions and students should be respectful of the opinions of others.
Sexual Harassment: UWM will not tolerate behavior between members of
the UWM community that creates an unacceptable working environment.
Accommodation of Religious Observances: Students will be allowed to
complete examinations or other requirements that are missed because of a
religious observance.
Grade Appeal Procedures: A student may appeal a grade on the grounds
that it is based on a capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor.
These procedures are available in writing from the respective department
chairperson or the Academic Dean of the College/School.
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