Vita
Vita
Mike Wallace
mwallace@jjay.cuny.edu
No Twitter, No Facebook, No Webpage
education
1973 Ph.D. Columbia University
Dissertation: "Ideologies of Party in the Antebellum Republic."
Sponsors: Richard Hofstadter, Eric McKitrick
1966 M.A. Columbia University
1964 B.A. Columbia College
teaching experience
2000- Distinguished Professor of History, John Jay College and Graduate Center, City University of New York
1971-1999 Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of History, John Jay College, City University of New York
1970-1971 Instructor of History, Franconia College
courses taught include
History of New York City
History of Crime in New York City
Violence in American History
American History Survey
Hollywood and History
Media and History
The 1960s
New York City in the 20th Century (Graduate Center Reading Seminar)
publications: books
Richard Hofstadter and Michael Wallace, eds., American Violence: A Documentary History (New York: Knopf, 1970).
Terrorism (New York: Arno, 1977).
Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996). / Winner of the Historic Preservation Book Prize for 1997
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 [with Edwin G. Burrows] (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). / Winner of 1999 Pulitzer Prize for History / Winner of 1998 New York Society Library Prize for Book of the Year / Winner of 1999 Brendan Gill Award from the Municipal Art Society / Book of the Month Club Selection / History Book Club Selection
A New Deal for New York (New York: Bell&Weiland/Gotham Center Books, 2002) [for reviews see www.gothamcenter.org/newdeal/reviews.shtml]
New York at 400 (New York: Running Press, Museum of the City of New York, 2009). [Historical Adviser].
A Narco History: How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the “Mexican Drug War.” (New York: OR Books, 2015). [With Carmen Boullosa]. [for reviews see http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/narco-history/][Translated into Spanish, German, Italian, and Chinese.]
Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017) [for reviews and interviews see http://www.gothamcenter.org/greater-gotham.html] / Winner of 2017 New York Society Library Prize for Book of the Year / 2017 Federal Hall Award for History (the first one given) / 2017 Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in New York History from the New York Academy of History / 2017 Victorian Society of New York Book of the Year Award]
publications: contributions to books
"Political Paternalism and Violence," in Philip P. Weiner and John Fisher, eds., Violence and Aggression in the History of Ideas (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1974).
"The History of the Democratic Party, 1793-1977," in Dizionario Critico Di Storia Contemporanea (Firenze: La Nuova Italia, 1977).
"Marxism and History," in Bertell Ollman, ed., The Left Academy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1982). [with Michael Merrill].
"Preserving the Past: Historic Preservation in the United States," in Susan Porter Benson, Steve Brier, Roy Rosenzweig eds., Presenting the Past (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986).
"The Politics of Public History," in Jo Blatti, ed., Past Meets Present (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Press, 1987).
"Rethinking Industrial Museums," in Robert Weible and Francis R. Walsh, eds., The Popular Perception of Industrial History: Essays from the Lowell Conference on Industrial History (Lanham, Md.: AASLH, 1988).
"Mickey Mouse History: Portraying the Past at Disney World," in Warren Leon and Roy Rosenzweig, History Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989).
"Changing Media, Changing Messages," in Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, ed., Museum, Media, Message (London: Routledge, 1995)
"Culture War: History Front," in Tom Engelhardt and Ed Linenthal, eds., History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past (Henry Holt, 1996).
"Presenting the Urban Past," in Elizabeth Frostick, ed., Making City Histories in Museums (Leicester University Press, 1998).
"Censoring History at the Smithsonian," in Kai Bird and Lawrence Lifschltz, Hiroshima's Shadow(Pamphleteer's Press, 1998).
“Preface,” to Peter Skinner, World Trade Center: Giant that Defied the Sky (Metro Books, 2002)
“John Hoskins Griscom,” in Carnes, Mark C., Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans who Shaped the Nation but Missed the History Books (Oxford, 2002
“New York, New Deal,” in Michael Sorkin and Sharon Zukin, eds., After the World Trade Center: Rethinking New York City (Routledge, 2002)
“Assorted Chapter Notes” for New York 1850-2000: The Events And People That Shaped The City (The New York Times Foundation) (2004)
"New York and the Draft Riots," in Jacobson, Mark, ed., The KGB Bar Reader (Nation Books, 2004)
“Stieglitz in Steerage,” in International History of Photography (El Equilibrista, forthcoming 2005)
"New York and the World: The Global Context," in Peter N. Carroll and James D. Fernandez, eds., Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War (New York University Press, 2007).
“Fresh Meadows Revisited,” in Thomas Beller, ed., Lost and Found: Stories from New York (Norton, 2009).
“Nueva York: the Back Story - New York City and the Spanish-Speaking World from Dutch Days to the Second World War,” in Edward Sullivan, Nueva York: 1613-1945 (New York Historical Society and Scala Press, 2010).
articles
"Changing Concepts of Party in the United States: New York, 1815-1828," American Historical Review, 74 (1968). Selected as a Bobbs-Merrill reprint. Also reprinted in, among other places: Michael McGiffert and Robert Allen Skotheim, eds., American Social Thought: Sources and Interpretations (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1972); Frank Otto Gatell, Paul Goodman, Allen Weinstein, eds., The Growth of American Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972).
"The Uses of Violence in American History," American Scholar (1971). Reprinted in, among other places: Nichoas Cords and Patrick Gerster, eds., Myth and the American Experience (New York: The Glencoe Press, 1973); Karl K. Taylor and Fred W. Soady, Jr., eds., Violence: An Element of American Life (Boston: Holbrook Press, 1972); Philip Whitten, ed., Readings in Social Problems (Guildford, Connecticut: Dushkin, 1973).
"The American Revolution: The Ideology and Psychology of National Liberation," Perspectives in American History, 6 (1972). [With Edwin Burrows]. Reprinted in, among other places: Robert J. Brugger, ed., Our Selves / Our Past: Psychological Approaches to American History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981).
"An Interview with William Appleman Williams," Radical History Review, 22 (1980). Reprinted in MARHO, ed., Visions of History (New York: Pantheon, 1984).
"Visiting the Past: History Museums in the United States," Radical History Review, 25 (1981), reprinted in Susan Porter Benson, Steve Brier, Roy Rosenzweig eds., Presenting the Past (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986).
"Mickey Mouse History: Portraying the Past at Disneyworld," Radical History Review, 32 (1985).
"Interview with Nicaraguan Historians, Radical History Review 33 (1985).
"Script for Slide Show on the History of Wall Street," Time Travels: New York City Public History Project (funded by the New York Council for the Humanities) (1986).
"A Short History of Wall Street," Pamphlet for the New York City Public History Project (1987).
"Ronald Reagan, Ellis Island, and Popular History," Newsletter of the Organization of American Historians (1987).
"Hijacking History: Ronald Reagan and the Statue of Liberty," Radical History Review, 36 (1987).
"Ronald Reagan and the Politics of History," Tikkun (1987).
"Industrial Museums and the History of Deindustrialization," The Public Historian, (1987).
"Two Philadelphia Stories," In These Times (July 8-21, 1987).
"The Future of the Past," History News (1989).
"Exhibiting Controversy: A Round Table," Museum News (November/December 1989).
"William Appleman Williams: An Obituary," The Nation, 250:14 (April 9, 1990).
"Boat People: A Review of the Ellis Island Museum," Journal of American History (December 1991).
"History Musems and the Prison of the Past," Culturefront 1:1 (May 1992).
"Razor Ribbons, History Museums, and Civic Salvation," Radical History Review (1993).
"Serious Fun: Reflections on Disney's America," The Public Historian (Fall 1995).
"On the Warpath," Museums Journal (1995)
"The Battle of the Enola Gay," Museum News (1995)
"The Battle of the Enola Gay," Radical Historians' Newsletter (1995).
"Die Schlacht um die Enola Gay: Szenen aus dem amerikanischen Kulturkrieg," Blatter fur deutsche und internationale Politik (1995)
"New York and the Nazis," The Reading Room, Issue 7 (2007)
“The Lion and the Crab,” History News 65:1 (2010).
“Another Ruckus, Another War,” New York Times, in Room for Debate discussion on “What a Mosque Says About New York” (2010) [http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/08/05/a-mosque-and-new-york-city/another-ruckus-another-war]
“Nueva York Hispano, Enrevista con Mike Wallace,” Letras Libres (2010). [reprinted in Fey Berman, ed., Mexamérica: Una Cultura Naciendo (Ediciones Proceso, 2017)].
“How the Cartels were Born,” Jacobin (March 16, 2015). [with Carmen Boullosa].
“Del Caballo Al Automóvil: Cuando Nueva York Se Motorizó,” Este Pais, #322 (Febrero 2018), 11-14
book reviews
Review of Anthony M. Platt, ed., The Politics of Riot Commissions, 1917- 1970, and David Boesel and Peter H. Rossi, eds., Cities under Siege, in Commonweal, 97 (October 20, 1972).
Review of Richard Buel, Securing the Revolution, in Political Science Quarterly (1973).
Review of Richard Brown, Strain of Violence, in William and Mary Quarterly (1976).
Review of Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right, and James Reed, From Private Vice to Public Virtue, in Feminist Studies, 5 (1979). [with Elizabeth Fee].
Review of Peter Karsten, Patriot- Heroes in England and America: Political Symbolism and Changing Values over Three Centuries, in Journal of American History (1980).
Review of Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, in Monthly Review (1980).
Review of Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., Preservation Comes of Age, in Technology and Culture (October 1982).
Review of Toby and Gene Glickman, The New York Red Pages, in In These Times (February 6-12, 1985).
Review of New York City Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution, Where the Experiment Began: New York City and the two Hundredth Anniversary of George Washington's Inauguration, in The Public Historian(1990).
Review of Max Page, The Creative Destruction of Manhattan, 1900-1940, in Civilization (December 1999/January 2000).
Review of Ralph Blumenthal, The Stork Club in The New York Times (2000)
“Panorama and Pointillism on 9/11,” Review of Out of the Blue: The Story of Sept. 11, 2001, New York Times(August 29, 2002).
“Green, Rocky Road,” Review of Books on Bronx Ecology, New York Times (August 17, 2003).
“Combing the Ashes of Another New York Disaster,” Review of Triangle: The Fire that Changed America, New York Times (October 3, 2003).
“Babylon on the Subway,” Review of books on Times Square, New York Review of Books (2004)
“Wall Street over the Centuries,” Review of Everyman a Speculator, The Nation (2005).
conference papers, lectures, media appearances, op-eds, etc.
"The Uses of Violence in American History," American Historical Association (1969).
"Political Paternalism and Violence," International Society for the History of Ideas' Seminar on Violence (1972).
"A Psychohistorical Perspective on the American Revolution," Columbia University Seminar on American Civilization (1973).
"American Revolutionary Leaders: A Comment," Connecticut Historical Society (1974).
"On Lynching," Perspectives on American Violence and Aggression Seminar of Clemson University and the South Carolina Committee for the Humanities (1975).
"Are Americans Overeducated?" CUNY-in- Crisis Teach-In (1975).
"The History and Political Economy of the City University of New York," Radical History Forum (1974).
"Should Revolutionary History be Rewritten?" American Studies Association (1975).
"Historical Perspectives on New York's Fiscal Crises," Radical History Forum (1975).
"The Spirit of '76," State University College at Geneseo (1976).
"Whatever Happened to the Spirit of '76?" Hartwick College (1976).
"Edward Bellamy," Johns Hopkins University (1977).
"A Critical Overview of U.S. History," Theology in the Americas Conference, Marymount College (1978).
"The Historical Profession Today," Theology in the Americas Conference, Marymount College (1978).
"The Politics of the Early National Period: A Comment," Organization of the American Historians (1978).
"Late Nineteenth Century U.S. Social Movements," Johns Hopkins University (1978).
"The History of History Museums," Smithsonian Institution (1981).
"The Social Responsibilities of Historians," American Historical Association (1981).
"Christopher Columbus: Another Look," Radio Broadcast, WBAI-FM, NYC (1982).
"Thanksgiving Day Revisited," Radio Broadcast, WBAI-FM, New York City (1982).
"Ronald Reagan and History," Radio Broadcast, WBAI-FM, New York City (1982).
"Reflections on Public History," Minnesota Historical Society (1982).
"Public Historical Interpretations of the 18th Century," Conference on Popular Interpretations of History sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Council for the Humanities, Tarrytown, N.Y. (1982).
"The Reception of Marxism by the U.S. History Profession: A Comment," Organization of American Historians(1983).
"Innovative Methods of Teaching History to Undergraduates, Conference on Shared Curricular Concerns of High Schools and Colleges, New School for Social Research (1983).
"Violence in American History," Conference on Peace and Justice, Dominican Reflection Center, Tarrytown, New York.
"Public History in the U.S.A.," Association for the Understanding of China, Beijing, People's Republic of China (1983).
"The History of the U.S. History Profession," Association for the Understanding of China, Beijing, People's Republic of China (1983).
"An Overview of American History," Department of History, Beijing University, Beijing, People's Republic of China (1983).
"U.S. History, 1898-1984," Department of History, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China (1983).
"The Politics of the U.S. Historical Profession Today," Japanese Association for the Study of U.S. History, Chiba University, Tokyo, Japan (1983).
"Reminiscences of Mike Wallace on Columbia 1968," in Student Movements of the 1960s Project, Columbia Oral History Collection [interviewed by Alessandra Lorini] (1983).
"The Pilgrim Fathers Revisited," Radio Broadcast, WBAI-FM, New York City (1984).
"History at Disneyworld," Public History Program, New York University (1984).
"Reflections on History Museology," Public History Program, New York University (1984).
"Historicide: Notes on the Murder of History in American Culture," Socialist Scholars Conference (1984).
"Mouseketeering the Past: History at Disneyworld," Radio Broadcast, WBAI- FM, New York City (1984).
"Revisiting the Past: Current Thoughts on Public History," Past Meets Present Conference (1984).
"Capitalism and Food: A Comment," What's Cooking? Restaurant Culture of the Lower East Side (1984).
"A Tour of Wall Street," Past Meets Present Conference (1984).
"A Tour of the Intrepid," Past Meets Present Conference (1984).
"Rethinking Industrial Museums," Lowell Conference on Industrial History, (1985).
"The History of New York City: An Overview," (with Edwin Burrows), American Historical Association Convention, (1985).
"The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and American Historical Consciousness," Organization of American Historians Convention, (1986).
"Is American Culture 'Historicidal'?", New York Institute for the Humanities Seminar (1986).
"The Past and Future of New York City," Socialist Scholars Conference (1986).
"Presenting the Past at Ellis Island," Garden State Immigration History Consortium (1986).
"Media Representations of History," Interview for CBC Radio (1986).
"Ronald Reagan as Public Historian," History and the Public Conference, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1987).
"Popular History Presentations in the U.S.," Metro-International Fulbright Scholar Program, New York City (1987).
"Progress Talk: Museums of Science, Technology and Industry: A Comment," Collections and Culture: Museums and the Development of American Life and Thought, The Wilson Center (1987).
"Creating a 'Common Past': The Symbols of Nationalism: A Comment," American Studies Association Convention(1987).
"From Sailing Ships to Skycrapers: New York City, 1819-1919," South Street Seaport Museum After Hours Lecture Series (1988).
"The Future of the Past: A Keynote Address," American Association of State and Local History (1988).
"The Great Railroad Strike of 1877," participant in televised discussion of the American Social History Project (1988)
"History and the Presidential Elections," adviser to PBS program aired on public television (1988).
"From the Edge to the Center of the World: 300 Years of New York City," Brecht Forum Lecture (1989).
"Museums and the Challenge of Diversity," Hagley Museum and Library (1990).
"Mickey Mouse History," Interview for CBC Radio (1991).
"Changing Media, Changing Messages," A keynote address for Museum, Media, Message: The Third International Conference in Museum Studies, University of Leicester (1993).
"Razor Ribbons, History Museums, and Civic Salvation," A keynote address for Reflecting Cities: An International Symposium on City Museums to Inaugurate an International Association of City Museums, The Museum of London (1993).
"The Battlefields of Memory," Keynote address to National Park Service Cultural Resource Managers, Harper's Ferry (1994)
"Enolamouse: Disney's America and The Battle of the Enola Gay," Organization of American Historians (1995).
"The History of Crime in New York City," Provost's Lecture, John Jay College (1995).
"Power and Place: Preservation and the Politics of Community," Preserving History/Constructing Community, School of Architecture, University of Virginia (1995).
"The Politics of Public Memory," Keynote Address to Annual Convention, Seattle, of Council of Public History(1996).
"Public History and the 1996 Presidential Campaign," National Arts Club (1996).
"Preservation and Politics," Buell Center, Columbia University (1996).
"Narratives, Landmarks, and Public History," Municipal Art Society
"History and Political Myth in the United States," Faculty of Social Science, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand (1997)
"Power, History, and Memory," Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India (1997)
A Historian Complains about the Complaints Made About Ric Burns’s New York History, www.tompaine.com (12/10/1999)
“The World of the Artisans,” talk for the Art and the Empire City exhibit, Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000).
“The Crash of ‘29,” New York Historical Society (February 20, 2001)
“Edith Wharton’s New York,” The Lotos Club (April 18, 2001).
“A Comparison of New York City and Buenos Aires,” University of Buenos Aires (May 30, 2001)
“The History of New York City’s Infrastructure,” Talk (and panel with Jacques Robertson) at Congress for New Urbanism (June 8, 2001).
“The Roaring Twenties,” Talk for the American Association of Retired People,” CUNY Graduate Center (June 11, 2001).
On Camera interview for Shaping America, Dallas TeleLearning (September 2001)
“New York and the Caribbean Connection,” Latino New York: History and Politics, Idenity and Culture, Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies (October 2001)
“Letter proposing a Manhattan Project style solar power initiative,” New York Times (October 23, 2001).
“The Fragile City: ‘These Fantasies Have Been Horribly Realized,’” [op ed on 9/11 requested by] The New York Times (September 16, 2001). [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/the-fragile-city-these-fantasies-have-been-horribly-realized.html?scp=2&sq=mike%20wallace%20fantasies&st=cse]
“Moderator and Participant, The ‘New’ New York City Skyline, Gotham Center (October 29, 2001).
“Interview with Martin Scorsese,” Gotham History Festival (2001).
“Looking Ahead, Looking Back,” Workmen’s Circle Penn South Branch (2001).
“Interview with Richard D. Heffner, Open Mind, Public Television (November 2001) [Http://www.thirteen.org/openmind/history/the-big-apple-now-and-then/1472/
“New York in the Second World War,” Talk at New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers(November 1, 2001).
“A History of Ground Zero,” CUNY Honors College (January 28, 2002)
“Transfiguration: A Rock thru the Centuries,” Church of the Transfiguration, Colloquium: A Journey through the History of Lower Manhattan (February 2, 2002).
Remarks at a City Hall Press Conference Regarding Former Mayor Giuliani's Papers (February 6,2002) < http://www.gothamcenter.org/alerts/giuliani/conference/wallace.shtml>
“The Giuliani Papers,” Op-Ed for New York Daily News (February 2002).
“The Giuliani Paper Caper,” Op-Ed for Newsday (February 2002).
“Remarks at a Hearing, Held by the City Council Governmental Operations Committee, Regarding Former Mayor Giuliani’s Papers” (February 20, 2002) <http://www.gothamcenter.org/alerts/giuliani/council/hearingremarks.shtml>
“New York in 2050,” New School University (March 11, 2002)
“The Future of New York City,” Socialist Scholars Conference (April 13, 2002)
"Getting it Right: An Agenda for Action,” Women’s City Club Conference on New York Rebuilds: Are We Getting It Right (April 23, 2002).
“Policing the City,” Conference on New Visions of the European City: Paris-New York, NYU, (April 25, 2002).
“High Points and Low Moments in Wall Street,” Talk at Sotheby’s (July 18, 2002).
“Reflections on 9/11,” Talk at Conference on Building Memories: The Future of September 11, Pace University(September 2002).
“The State of the Historical Discipline,” Talk for City University Faculty Senate (October 31, 2002).
“Real Estate and New York City’s Future,” Talk for Lambda Alpha, New York University (October 18, 2002)
“Rethinking New York’s Future,” Talk to the Trustees of the Municipal Art Society (November 14, 2002).
“Rethinking New York’s Future,” Talk to the Trustees of the Municipal Art Society (November 14, 2002).
“A New Deal for New York,” Talk to Cosmopolitan Club (November 19, 2002).
“Introduction” and “Keynote Address” to Conference on New York and the New Deal at CUNY Graduate Center, organized by Gotham Center for New York City History and the Ford Foundation (November 22, 2002)
“New York and the New Deal,” Talk to Revson Fellows at Columbia University (December 4, 2002).
“Madison Square Mayhem,” Op Ed for New York Times (January 11, 2003).
“Conversation with Pete Hamill,” 92nd Street Y (January 22, 2003)
“Lower Manhattan Update and New New Deal,” Talk at Rector’s Forum, St. Bartholomew’s Church (June 15, 2003).
“A New Deal for New York,” Keynote address for Resisting the Permanent War Economy: Imperatives for a New New Deal for our Cities, a conference co-sponsored by Local 32BJ, SEIU and The Five Borough Institute(June 20, 2003)
“Give My Regards to Nevsky,” Talk for Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia (July 3, 2003).
“Writing Gotham,” Talk for Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia (July 7, 2003).
“New Deal Economics Today,” Economist Forum Meeting co-sponsored by NYU and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (July 17, 2003).
“Looking Forward,” Talk at Wagner College (October 21, 2003)
“The Future of New York City,” talk to the New Democracy Project (December 4, 2003).
“New York City and the Civil Rights Movement,” Talk at Provost Wilson’s Lecture Series, John Jay College(February 2004).
“That First Day [of the New York City Subway]: Pomp and Then the Populace, New York Times (March 28, 2004).
“Columbia trains New York’s Corporate Elite, 1865-1917,” Talk for 250th Anniversary series "Our Past Engaged: Four Turning Points in Columbia's Recent History," Columbia University (April 7, 2004)
“Visions of New York City’s Future During World War II and Today,” The Abraham S. and Paulette Smith Eisenstadt Lecture in American Historical Writing at the CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences at The Graduate Center (April 21, 2004).
“Brooklyn’s Cultural Comeback,” Talk at Brooklyn Public Library (May 2004)
“New York City at War: The Home Front,” Talk at New York Society Library (June 3, 2004)
“Reflections on New York City History, Talk for 40th Reunion of the Class of 1964,” Columbia University (June 5, 2004).
“Thomas Addis Emmet,” Talk for Emmet Family Reunion, introduced by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., New-York Historical Society (June 25, 2004).
“Childe Hassam and New York” Acoustiguide presentation for Hassam exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Art (July 2004)
“Central Park Anniversary,”Interview with Roger Smith for CBS Morning News (August 2004)
“History of Political Conventions in New York,” Interview for MSNBC (August 2004)
"Imagining the Future of New York," Talk at the New School (August 18, 2004).
“Ground Zero Past and Present,” Interview on Jim Lehrer Newshour (September 11, 2004).
“New York in the Second World War,” Talk at New York Labor History Association, United Federation of Teachers (September 23, 2004)
“The Future of New York City,” Talk in Distinguished Speakers Program, Farmingdale State University(October 29, 2004)
“Business Class Hero,” Review of New-York Historical Society Exhibition on Alexander Hamilton, an on-line pamphlet at Gotham Center for New York City History website (www.gothamcenter.org/hamilton).
“That Hamilton Man,” Review of New-York Historical Society Exhibition on Alexander Hamilton, New York Review of Books (2005).
"Transformative Cities," Talk at Center for Place Culture and Politics, CUNY Graduate Center (December 17, 2004).
Talking Head on history of the United Nations for PBS Special, Workshop for Peace (aired 2005).
"The UN Comes to New York," Talk at the United Nations (2005).
"Gotham and the Spanish Civil War," Talk at King Juan Carlos Center, NYU (October 7, 2005).
Historical commentary on New York in the 1930s, on DVD of Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2006).
Talking head on PBS special Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock (2006), a documentary by Transportation Alternatives.
"The War at Home Over the War Abroad: New York Culture Wars on the Eve of World War II," the Thomas Paine Memorial Lecture at CUNY Graduate Center (February 1, 2006)
"New York City: 1890-1960," Talk for Queens Museum of Art (October 16, 2006).
"Mike Wallace über New York 1939-1941," Interview with Alexander Kluge, DCTP Television, Prime-Time/Spätausgabe (December 3, 2006) [Replayed on BBC, excerpted in Der Spiegel].
Host and Presenter, New York City Book Awards 2006, New York Society Library (May 3, 2007).
Interview on New York Fiscal Crisis, BBC - TV (2007).
“Predictions for 2008" [in which I predicted, all too presciently, a “cardiac arrest of credit markets shocked into seizure by subprime screwups,” and “a global financial perfect storm,” Gotham Gazette (2007) [http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20071224/202/2388]
"New York and the Spanish Civil War," Keynote Address for Conference launching Museum of the City of New York Exhibition, Facing Fascism, New York Academy of Medicine (March 24, 2007)
"New York and the Spanish-speaking World," Talk in Tertulia at the Cervantes series, Instituto Cervantes(May 25, 2007).
"New York in World War II," Talk for Teaching American History Grants program, Gotham Center (May 29, 2007).
"New York and the Nation," Talk for Teaching American History Grants program, Gotham Center (June 2, 2007).
"City Room," Answering Questions for the Inaugural Session of the blog City Room, New York Times (June 2007). <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/mike-wallace-historian>
"The History and Future of Brooklyn," Talk for Brooklyn Public Library (September 29, 2007).
Participant in "The Future Face of New York, panel discussion with Majora Carter, Daniel Liebeskind, Bill McKibben, Michael Sorkin, Martin Filler, and others, for NYC & Company and House and Garden's Design Week. (October 18, 2007).
“Brooklyn and Newark,” talk to Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers-Newark (2007)
"From Gotham to Nueva York," talk at Conference on Iberia and the Americas: Contacts and Migrations, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Columbia University (April 26, 2008).
Talking Head on PBS American Experience Grand Central (2008).
Interview with Telerama (April 12, 2008) [in French]. <http://www.telerama.fr/monde/avec-le-maire-giuliani-la-ville-a-ete-nettoyee-tout-est-devenu-se,27561.php ag>
"Gotham and Second World War," Keynote Address of "New York City and State in Depresion and War" Conference at Columbia University's Herbert H Lehman Center (June 5, 2008).
Interview on New York City's Industrial History, for Secrets of New York series, NYC TV and PBS (2008)
Interview on New York World's Fair 1939/40 for Shanghai TV (2008).
Interview on New York in the 1970s, for BBC Radio 4 (2008).
"Food Fights: the History of Food and the History of New York City," Talk at Seamen's Church Institute(September 25, 2008).
“The Lion and the Crab,” Plenary Address to American Association of State and Local History Annual Meeting (2009). [podcast at www.gothamcenter.org]
“A History of New York City’s Involvement in Financial Crises, from Alexander Hamilton’s Day to the Current Implosion,” a Talk to the Top Management and Chief Economists of Goldman Sachs (2009)
“Ticker Tape Parades in New York History,” CBS-TV [National] (2009)
“Why Study History?” talk to History Day assembly, Museum of the City of New York (2009)
“New York in the Second World War,” talk to General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen (2009).
“Nueva York - an Exhibition in Progress,” New-York Historical Society (2010)
“The Making of Nueva York,” talk at Museo del Barrio (2010)
“Turning Points in American History,” Teaching American History Lecture (2010)
“Nueva York, Critical Reflections,” talk at King Juan Carlos Center (NYU) (2010).
"Nueva York, an Illustrated Presentation of the Exhibition," Harvard Club (2010).
“The Past and Future of Coney Island,” talk and moderator, Gotham Center for New York City History (2010).
“Nueva York, Some Historical Considerations,” Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton University (2011).
“On the Necessity of Archives,” talk at Irish American Historical Society (2011).
"The Day Before 9/11," BBC Radio (2011).
"Remembering September 11 Ten Years Later," El Periodico [Barcelona] (2011).
"The Impact of 9/11," Globo TV [Brazil] (2011).
“The Skyscrapering of New York,” talk for University of North Carolina (2011).
Interview for BAM150, film for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (2011)
“Notes on Predecessors to Occupy Wall Street,” Gotham Center for New York City History Website. (2011).
“Newt Gingrich: Historian?” Gotham Center for New York City History Website. (2011).
“New York and the New Deal,” Museum of the City of New York. (2012).
“Occupy Wall Street: Past and Future,” lecture for Hot Topics, Cool Research series at John Jay College. (2012).
Interview for Founding Generation film, John Jay College. (2012).
“Predecessors in New York of Occupy Wall Street,” a talk in Union Square to members of Occupy Wall Street.” (2012)
“1965-1975: the Context for John Jay’s first Decade,” lecture at John Jay College. (2012).
“The Skyscrapering of Lower Manhattan,” lecture for National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy,” Federal Hall National Memorial (2012)
“Infrastructure and the City: The Historical Background,” Business and the City: Designing, Building, and Funding Infrastructure: Hurricane Sandy as Inspiration for a ‘New’ New York, Fordham Graduate School of Business Administration (2013) http://www.bnet.fordham.edu/about/video_gallery/Business_City_hurricane_sandy/index.asp
“New York City and WW2,” New York Historical Society, C Span (2013)
http://www.c-span.org/video/?312109-1/world-war-ii-new-york-city
“The History of Activism in New York City”, CUNY TV (2013). http://www.cuny.tv/show/studywiththebest/PR2002315
a note on Gotham
After Gotham’s publication in November 1998, I gave talks -- most of them on particular aspects of New York City history that would appeal to the audience in question -- at: the Smithsonian Institution, the National Arts Club, the Spence School, the South Street Seaport Museum, the New York Historical Society, the Colony Club, the Museo del Barrio, the Chapin School, the Harvard Club, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Buell Center at Columbia University, the Miami Book Fair, the New York Society Library, the New York Public Library, the Queens Borough Public Library, Irish American Historical Society, American Museum of Natural History, the Knickerbocker Club, the University Club, the Cornell Club, the American Bar Association, the Historic House Trust, the Marble Collegiate Church, the Cosmopolitan Club, Municipal Art Society, the Brooklyn Heights Association, Brooklyn Historical Society, American Studies Association, and the Staten Island Historical Society. As well as several Barnes and Noble, Borders, and local bookstores.
I've also been interviewed for or talked on: Jim Lehrer’s News Hour, BBC World TV, BBC World Radio, Brazilian TV, Terry Groce's Fresh Air on National Public Radio, CNN Financial News, Dan Rather's magazine show on CBS, Gabe Pressman on WNBC, Public Interest on National Public Radio, Michigan Public Radio, Illinois Public Radio, Northern California Public Radio, Book Notes on C-Span, Sam Roberts Show on NY-1 (three times), WINS, Bloomberg Radio, Bob Grant Show on WOR, Mike Feder Show on WBAI, Metro View Show on CUNY-TV, Lenny Lopate Show on WNYC, Joey Reynolds Show on WOR, Australian Broadcasting Company, Nation Radio, Union Settlement Chat Room, three different production companies working on films for the History Channel, and another three documentaries for Discovery, The Learning Channel and PBS. .
I've been interviewed for print stories as well, in: the New York Times, New York Stories, PSC Clarion, Chronicle of Higher Education, CUNY Matters, Time Out New York, Columbia Spectator, Brooklyn Heights Press, Newsday, Deseret News, New York Daily News, Bergen Record, The Times of India, and H-NET (on line), among many others.
Gotham has been reviewed in, among many other places, The New York Times Book Review (cover review), The New Yorker, Time Magazine, The Times of London (by former Mayor Ed Koch), Culturefront, The Observer (London), H-Net Reviews, Choice, Metropolis, The Independent (London), ForeWord, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, New York History, Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 1998, Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, The Weekly Standard, The New York Observer, Bloomsbury Review, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Criterion, National Review, Time Out New York, Book of the Month Club Views, History Book Club Editors’ Choice, Baltimore Sun, Amazon.Com, Sacramento Bee, Parade, Deseret News, Cincinnati Enquirer, New York Post, The Guardian, NRC Handelsblad (Amsterdam), Times Higher Education Supplement (London), and The American Enterprise
Gotham was also honored with a proclamation from the City Council of New York.
a note on Greater Gotham
Three months after its October 2017 publication, Greater Gotham had been reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, the New York Review of Books, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, City Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Curbed NY, National Public Radio Books, AM New York, BBC, WAMC, New York Journal of Books, American Scholar, Architectural Digest, Literary Hub, Bowery Boys Bookshelf, The New Yorker, Architectural Record, Berkshire Eagle, Columbia, The Street, The Economist, and it had been excerpted in the Paris Review and Literary Hub. GG was also selected as one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, Publishers’ Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Errol Louis’ Inside City Hall (NY1.com).
I have been interviewed (and the exchange often podcast) for the Wall Street Journal, Charlie Rose Show, Tony Guida's NY, New Books Network, CUNY Book Beat, Kirkus, New York Times Book Review (Pamela Paul podcast), ShelfAwareness, The Leonard Lopate Show, The Brian Lehrer Show, Errol Louis’ Road to City Hall (NY1), and by Phillip Lopate for BOMB Magazine.
I have given talks at the New York Public Library (in conversation with Jelani Cobb of the New Yorker, broadcast on C-Span, followed up by Cobb’s New Yorker piece, “Reading ‘Greater Gotham’ and Reviewing New York’s Historic Monuments). The event at the Gotham Center in the CUNY Graduate Center (in conversation with Sam Roberts), was introduced by Provost Joy Connolly; of the 1,000 who reserved only 600 managed to get a seat. Other venues included the New York Harbor Conservancy (at Federal Hall), the Brooklyn Historical Society (introduced by City Council Member Brad Lander), Chicago Public Library, Atlanta History Center, Smithsonian Institute, National Churchill Library, Quail Ridge Bookstore, Seaport Museum, Skyscraper Museum, and the Miami Book Fair. Still to come were talks at the Century Association, Grace Church School (Bowery Alliance of Neighbors), 192 Books, Historic Districts Council, The New School (Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation), The Center for Worker Education (CUNY Division of Interdisciplinary Studies), SVA Theater (Open House New York), the Municipal Archives, and the Museum of the City of New York (in conversation with Nell Irvin Painter).
fellowships, grants & honors
1961-1962 Columbia University Presidents Fellow
1963-1964 Herbert H. Lehman Fellow
1974 City University Faculty Research Scholar
1976 Rabinowitz Foundation Grant for $6000
1977 Visiting Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
1980 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for $52,823.
1984 Resident, Cummington Community for the Arts
1984 New York Council for the Humanities -- Time Travels
1984 Kaplan Fund -- Wall Street Pamphlet
1986 Resident, Blue Mountain Center
1993 National Endowment for the Humanities College Teaching Fellowship
1994 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
2000 Guggenheim Fellow
2001 Center for Scholars and Writers (NYPL) Fellow
2002 Award for Outstanding Support of Archives, by Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York
2002 “I Love an Ethical New York” Award, from Common Cause/NY
2017 New York Society Library Prize for Book of the Year
2017 Federal Hall Award for History (the first one given)
2017 Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in New York History from the New York Academy of History
2017 Victorian Society of New York Book of the Year Award
2017 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award of Phi Beta Kappa
professional membership & activities
Fellow, Society of American Historians
Member, American Historical Association.
Member, Columbia University Seminar in American Civilization.
Member, Columbia University Seminar in Working Class History.
Member, Committee for Research on Socialism and Democracy.
Manuscript Reviewer, American Philosophical Association.
Manuscript Reviewer, Winterthur Portfolio.
Manuscript Reviewer, Journal of American History.
Consultant, American Working Class History Project.
Consultant, Institute for Labor Education and Research.
Consultant, Institute for the Study of Filmed History.
Member, New York Institute for the Humanities Seminar on the New Right.
Member, New York Institute for the Humanities Seminar on Commercial Culture.
Member, New York Institute for the Humanities Seminar on Constructing American Culture.
Consultant, South Street Seaport.
Consultant, Museum of the City of New York.
Consultant, Brooklyn Historical Society.
Consultant, Morris-Jumel Mansion.
Consultant, The Encyclopedia of New York City (Yale University Press and the New York Historical Society).
Grant Evaluator, National Endowment for the Humanities.
Consultant, Rufus King Manor.
Fellowship Evaluator, City University FRAP Awards Program
Consultant, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, on designing a Pittsburgh History exhibit
Consultant, Stonewall History Project, funded by Rockefeller Foundation
Consultant, New York Historical Society.
Consultant, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Consultant, Mass Transit Street Theater (under a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities).
Consultant, Steel River Productions
Consultant, Middlemarch Films
Senior Historical Advisor and talking head for Steeplechase Films, on Ric Burns' New York: A Documentary History for public television.
Consultant and talking head for Sensational Cities, a tv film for A&E
Consultant and talking head for Public Enemies, a tv film
Consultant and talking head for Downtown Productions
Consultant and talking head for History Channel
Consultant and talking head for The Learning Channel
Sponsor, Cutting Research Institute.
Manuscript Reviewer, William & Mary Quarterly.
Member, Society of American Historians
Consultant, Western Reserve Historical Society
Consultant, Brooklyn Historical Society, for Brooklyn Works exhibition.
Member, Ad Hoc Tenure Review Committee, Harvard University
Consultant, Brooklyn Navy Yard Center
Consultant, National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy
Consultant, Downtown Alliance
Chief Historian, Nueva York, an exhibition on New York City's relations with the Spanish Speaking World over the last 400 years, New York Historical Society (2010). [for reviews see: http://www.gothamcenter.org/forums/nueva-york.shtml]
Principal Historical Consultant, New York in World War II, New York Historical Society exhibition (2014).
editorial & organizational activities
Editor, Radical History Review (1973-2000)
Director, Radical History Forum (1973-1984)
Producer, Radical History Radio [WBAI] (1982-1984)
[For list of Forums see “A Conversation about the Radical History Review”: Former and Current Collective Members Reminisce,” Radical History Review, 79 (Winter 2001), 15-47.]
Founder, Gotham Center for New York City History (2000)
[for publications, talks, conferences, etc.: www.gothamcenter.org]
personal
Born July 22, 1942, in New York City
miscellaneous
Photographs for Hope Cooke's Seeing New York (Temple University Press, 1995)
Board of Directors, Urban Assembly (2004-Present)