History Sidebar
5 FOLLOWERS
Writings on history and the production of history by David. David is a consulting historian doing oral histories, historical research, and historic preservation work.
History Sidebar
2d ago
It’s a thing. One example I’ve been sitting on for a while is the Montgomery County, Maryland, Planning Department’s study of racially restrictive deed covenants and housing discrimination. This screenshot from the agency’s 2023 report shows a discussion of a ..read more
History Sidebar
3w ago
If only this photo had been available in 2015 …. I would love to use it in my Decatur book. The image speaks to so many things about Decatur’s gentrified Oakhurst community specifically and the city generally ..read more
History Sidebar
3w ago
In 2023, the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission unanimously approved an application to demolish a historic building in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. The developer took that decision to the Pittsburgh Planning Commission for approval in an April 2, 2024 hearing. The ..read more
History Sidebar
1M ago
Buried deep inside my recent Pittsburgh City Paper cover story is a little bit about historic preservation: In his 1984 memoir Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman, the award-winning Pittsburgh-born author, made the prison the setting for his brother’s incarceration and ..read more
History Sidebar
2M ago
Our 10-year-old basset hound decided that we were getting up this morning at a little before five. I opened Facebook on my phone while moving between the bedroom and giving our 17-year-old cat her morning medicine. The first post that ..read more
History Sidebar
5M ago
I began writing about the history of numbers gambling in Pittsburgh in 2020. My earliest articles relied on decades of historical research and writing, much of it focused on the city’s Hill District. After several months of research and doing ..read more
History Sidebar
8M ago
On Wednesday Sept. 6, my article about an African American community event’s displacement appeared in an academic blog. By the end of the day, Decatur, Ga., blogger Dan Whisenhunt’s Decaturish.com website published two updates to a feature about the previous ..read more
History Sidebar
8M ago
The email that I received 11 days before this year’s annual reunion of Black residents in Decatur, Ga. was troubling: “I just wanted to let you know that the City is trying to get rid of Decatur Day.” I have ..read more
History Sidebar
1y ago
In 2003, Decatur, Ga., playwright Valetta Anderson, her partner Cotis Weaver, and several neighbors sued the City of Decatur to prevent the redevelopment of an apartment building into high-end townhomes. The lawsuit and conversation it started could have been a ..read more