Description

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To many Progressive Era reformers, the extent of street cleanliness was an important gauge for determining whether a city was providing the conditions necessary for impoverished immigrants to attain a state of "decency"--a level of individual well-being and morality that would help ensure a healthy and orderly city. Daniel Eli Burnstein's study examines prominent street sanitation issues in Progressive Era New York City--ranging from garbage strikes to "juvenile cleaning leagues"--to explore how middle-class reformers amassed a cross-class and cross-ethnic base of support for social reform measures to a degree greater than in practically any other period of prosperity in U.S. history. The struggle for enhanced civic sanitation serves as a window for viewing Progressive Era social reformers' attitudes, particularly their emphasis on mutual obligations between the haves and have-nots, and their recognition of the role of negative social and physical conditions in influencing individual behaviors.

About the Author

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Daniel Eli Burnstein is an associate professor of history at Seattle University.

Praise For…

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"Burnstein's interpretation of reform activities . . . rehabilitates the reputation of the Progressives and inspires readers seeking to reshape political debates over social issues."--Journal of Social History

"In this little book brimming with big ideas, the author seeks to draw lessons for our times by indicating. . . . the old Progressives' linkage of moral and family values to communitarian ends."--Historian

"The book raises good questions . . . about the challenges contemporary historians continue to face in making sense of the dual nature of reformers and reform movements."--H-SHGAPE

"Well researched, and at times both provocative and insightful, . . . this book will certainly be welcomed by political and urban historians studying this era."--Environmental History

"This compact study of Progressive sanitation reforms in New York City . . . . will appeal to historians interested in the complicated history of immigrants, reformers, and public health, as well as to those seeking inspiring examples of effective reform."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Provides a thorough account of efforts to improve sanitary conditions in New York City. . . . Next to Godliness succeeds in rehabilitating sanitary reformers, joining other recent work that returns to Progressivism in its pursuit of a new--or old--reform politics."--Journal of American History

"Burnstein has made a useful contribution to our understanding of Progressive Era municipal reform."--Urban Affairs Review