Wade in 1985

Richard Clement Wade (July 14, 1921 in Des Moines, Iowa – July 18, 2008 in Manhattan, New York) was an American historian and urban studies professor who advised many Democratic politicians and candidates. As a historian, he pioneered the interdisciplinary application of social science techniques to the study of urban history and promoted cities as an important academic subject.

Early Life

Although born in Des Moines, Iowa, Wade grew up in Winnetka, Illinois. He attended New Trier High School and was a tennis star. He matriculated at the University of Rochester, where as a student-athlete, he participated in mulitple sports while earning a bachelor's and master's degree in history.[1]

Career

Academics

Wade continued his graduate education at Harvard University, where he was mentored by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.. After obtaining his PhD, he re-wrote his dissertation and published it as The Urban Frontier. Meanwhile, he started a teaching career, first at the University of Rochester, followed by Washington University in St. Louis, University of Chicago, and the graduate center of the City University of New York.[2]

In 1971 Wade was named a distinguished professor of history at CUNY's Graduate Center. In 1974-1975 Wade was the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University.

Wade was a co-founder and the first president of the Urban History Association. "He started a movement," said his former student Kenneth T. Jackson. "There are hundreds of books on cities now, and in a sense he is their grandfather. The only reason I took urban history was because of him; I had never heard of such a thing."[1]

Wade was a close friend of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., with whom he shared an office at the Graduate Center.

Politics

Wade was also active in politics. In addition to advising Adlai Stevenson, he worked for Robert Kennedy's 1964 US Senate Campaign and for George McGovern in his Democratic primary for President in 1972. In 1991, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Wade to be chairman of New York State's Commission on Libraries.[1]

Personal life

Prior to his third and final marriage to Liane Wood-Thomas, Wade was married to Louise Carroll Wade of Eugene, Oregon, and Cynthia Hyla Whittaker of New York.[1]

Death and legacy

Wade died at his home in Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York. His wife, Liane Wood-Thomas Wade, survived him.[1]

Ohio Valley History created the Richard C. Wade Award and announced that a first recipient would be named in 2009.[2]

Views

His first book The Urban Frontier (1959) was a challenge to Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier thesis, asserting that the catalysts for western expansion were the Western cities like Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Cincinnati, not the pioneer farmers.

In The Urban Frontier, Wade summarized the claims that scholars had made for the importance of the city in American history. The cities were the focal points for the growth of the West, especially those along the Ohio River and Mississippi River. The cities, especially Boston were the seedbeds of the American Revolution. The rivalry between cities, such as between Baltimore and Philadelphia, or between Chicago and St. Louis, stimulated economic innovations and growth, especially regarding the railroads. The failure of the South to develop an urban infrastructure significantly weakened it during the American Civil War, especially after its border cities of Baltimore, Washington, Louisville, and St. Louis refused to join the Confederacy. The cities were fonts of innovation in democracy, especially in terms of building powerful political organizations and machines; they were also the main base for reformers of what those machines built, becoming the home base for important immigrant groups, especially the Irish and the Jews. Cities were the strongholds of labor unions in the 19th and 20th centuries (although no longer true in the 21st century). See Richard Wade, "The City in History: Some American Perspectives," in Werner Z. Hirsch, ed., Urban Life and Form (1963) pp. 59–77. In "Slavery in the Cities" Wade undermined a common understanding that slavery is a purely agrarian labor system emphasizing the importance of the South’s commercial cities.[3]

Works

  • The Urban Frontier: The Rise of Western Cities, 1790-1830 (1959) read online
  • Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (1964)
  • Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis (1973) (with Harold Melvin Mayer) OCLC 301295200

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Grimes, William (July 25, 2008). "Richard Wade, 87, Urban Historian, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Stradling, David (2008). "In Memoriam: Richard C. Wade". Ohio Valley History. 8 (4).
  3. ↑ Caves, Roger W. (2005). Encyclopedia of the City. London: Routledge. p. 515. ISBN 978-0415862875.
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