Foreword / by Alex Kotlowitz. -- Introduction to the 1993 edition. -- An A-B-C guide for non-Chicagoans. -- Prologue. Florence Scala. -- "The feeling tone". Lucy Jefferson ; Gene Willis ; Jan Powers ; Harriet Behrens ; Chester Kolar ; Elizabeth Chapin ; John Rath ; Rita Buscari. -- On the town. Kid Pharaoh ; Stan Lenard. -- "Did you see Lord Jim?" Dennis Hart. -- Two landladies, a cop, and the stranger. Eva Barnes ; Gladys Pennington ; Tom Kearney ; Carlos Alvarez. -- Nostos. George Drossos ; Lucky Miller ; Billy Joe Gatewood ; Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Parker ; Bonnie Dawson ; Benny Bearskin ; Sister Evelyn. -- Homeowner. Henry Lorenz ; Lew Gibson ; Mike Kostelnik ; Mrs. James Winslow ; Bob Carter. -- Homemaker. Therese Carter ; Helen Peters ; Diane Romano ; Barbara Hayes. -- Noblesse oblige. Mrs. R. Fuqua Davies. -- Ex-domestic. Lois Arthur. -- Executive suite. Bill Dellakamp. -- Celebrity. Terence Ignatius Boyle. -- Madison Avenue, Chicago. Ross Pelletier ; Charlie Landesfahr. -- Golden gloves. Jesus Lopez. -- Skilled hands, old and new. Anton Farber ; John Robison ; Andrew Bartok. -- Retired. Ed Criado ; Herb Gross ; Charles Wilhelm ; Valerie Bosard ; Clyde Fulton. -- "Search for delight" Barry Byrne. -- Teacher. Janice Majewski ; Judy Huff ; Marlene Dexter ; Nell Robison. -- Making it. Gene Willis, revisited ; Norma Blair and Horton Blair ; Bob Skinner ; Edward Gilroy, Jr. ; Frank D. Haley ; Phil Eagle. -- Fallaways. Dave Williamson ; Hal Malden. -- Grass rooters. Jim Campaigne ; Anne Grierson. -- The inheritors. Chick Marmor ; Bill Lahr ; Amber Ladeira ; Molly Rodriguez ; Frankie Rodriguez ; Dan Fowler ; Jimmy White ; Lily Lowell. -- Epilogue. Jessie Binford.
Division Street, Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history, established his reputation as America’s foremost oral historian and as “one of those rare thinkers who is actually willing to go out and talk to the incredible people of this country” (in the words of Tom Wolfe).
Viewing the inhabitants of a single city, Chicago, as a microcosm of the nation at large, Division Street chronicles the thoughts and feelings of some seventy people from widely varying backgrounds in terms of class, race, and personal history. From a mother and son who migrated from Appalachia to a Native American boilerman, from a streetwise ex–gang leader to a liberal police officer, from the poorest African Americans to the richest socialites, these unique and often intimate first-person accounts form a multifaceted collage that defies any simple stereotype of America.
As Terkel himself put it: “I was on the prowl for a cross–section of urban thought, using no one method or technique. . . I guess I was seeking some balance in the wildlife of the city as Rachel Carson sought it in nature. Revealing aspects of people’s lives that are normally invisible to most of us, Division Street is a fascinating survey of a city, and a society, at a pivotal moment of the twentieth century.
9781595580726
75407483
B68-02257
Social surveys--Illinois--Chicago. Cities and towns--Case studies.--United States