ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Any broad canvass of American urban history necessarily cuts across the lines of established disciplines and demands that the author seek help and criticism from many sources. I have been particularly fortunate in receiving assistance from many experts whose suggestions and comments have enabled me to deal with a range of topics far beyond the reach of conventional history.

John W. Shy and Kenneth A. Lockridge of the University of Michigan offered useful criticism of my views of the New England town. O. K. Christenson and his staff at the County of Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission ran a seminar for my benefit and assisted with advance reports and materials from their files; Milton C. Stark of the California Division of Highways, District #7, lent me office space and passed me along through the transportation research projects then in progress in Los Angeles; and Robert J. S. Ross of the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan brought his city planning research to bear on a criticism of the planning sections of the manuscript.

Several scholars have helped with the history of the economy and the national network of cities as it passed through successive revisions. I would like to acknowledge the readings and comments of Robert L. Heilbroner of the New School for Social Research, Peter G. Goheen and Jack Meltzer of the University of Chicago, Rich Rothstein of Northeastern Illinois State College, Franklin G. Moore of the School of Busi-

ness Administration here at Michigan, and four members of my department, William G. Rosenberg, John B. Sharpless II, and Phyllis V. and Lewis A. Erenberg.

Edward O. Laumann of the Michigan Sociology Department has borne patiently with my many attempts to write a comprehensive essay on migration and American urban culture, and several of these drafts have been improved by the comments and suggestions of Clyde Griffen of Vassar College, Stephan Thernstrom of the University of California, Los Angeles, and James Hennesey, S.J., of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. I was introduced to the literature of medical economics by Solomon J. Axelrod of the Michigan School of Public Health and his associates Eugenia S. Carpenter and Jack H. Tobias.

Two former colleagues from Washington University, Joseph Passonneau and Roger Montgomery, have continued to teach me about the American city. This time Joe has been instructing me about the logic of urban transportation and Roger has encouraged me to seek the widest definition for the rationale of the physical development of the city.

The photographic evidence, which for me is an essential source for the understanding of our urban past, has been made available through the gift of time and knowledge by many archivists and historians. The pictures published in this book are but a small fraction of the data which these collections opened up to me. I would like to acknowledge the help of John M. Cahoun of the history division of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Victor R. Plukas, historian of the Security Pacific National Bank, Los Angeles, Mason Dooley of the planning department of the City of Los Angeles, Harriett Blitzer of the Photographic Service of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Philip S. Benjamin, director of the Urban Archives Center, Temple University, Brenda Adams of the printing and visual arts division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Nancy Stutzman of the J. C. Nichols Company, Kansas City, and the staff of the National Archives and Records Service, the New York Regional Plan Association, and the prints division of the New York Public Library. I am particularly indebted to Charlotte LaRue of the photo library of the Museum of the City of New York and Leroy Bellamy of the prints and visual arts division of the Library of Congress, who have helped me on many occasions; Mary Frances Rhymer of the Chicago Historical Society, who offered both research and archival skills to aid me with my Chicago development problems; and the staff of the New-York Historical Society, who have be-

come outstanding urban historians in their own right. The professionals of the University of Michigan's photographic services have assisted me countless times, and the clarity of the maps derives from the skill of Garland Green of the Geography Department.

The writing of the book itself was enormously benefited by my colleagues here at the University of Michigan History Department, who made possible a semester's research leave during the winter of 1971 through the award of the department's Richard Hudson Professorship. Joan Blos gave up her own work to help with a rush deadline. I owe many thanks to editor Alice Gibson, who put in patient and energetic hours of queries, comments, and suggestions over the past three years as the book has progressed through successive preliminary forms and drafts. It owes much of its present clarity to her efforts.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Lyle, who lifted the heavy end of the family log during the past year when the demands of writing absorbed most of my time and energy.

S.B.W.
ANN ARBOR
APRILl, 1972