Dallas: The Making of a Modern City

by Patricia Evridge Hill

From the ruthless deals of the Ewing clan on TV's "Dallas" to the impeccable customer service of Neiman-Marcus, doing business has long been the hallmark of Dallas. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, Dallas business leaders amassed unprecedented political power and civic influence, which remained largely unchallenged until the 1970s. In this innovative history, Patricia Evridge Hill explores the building of Dallas in the years before business interests rose to such prominence (1880 to 1940) and discovers that many groups contributed to the development of the modern city. In particular, she looks at the activities of organized labor, women's groups, racial minorities, Populist and socialist radicals, and progressive reformers—all of whom competed and compromised with local business leaders in the decades before the Great Depression. This research challenges the popular view that business interests have always run Dallas and offers a historically accurate picture of the city's development. The legacy of pluralism that Hill uncovers shows that Dallas can accommodate dissent and conflict as it moves toward a more inclusive public life. Dallas will be fascinating and important reading for all Texans, as well as for all students of urban development.

Genres: History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hill's book is a deeply insightful and scholarly rescue operation. Dallas' history of progressive reformers, labor activists, and socialists has all but been forgotten. This study tells their remarkable story and explains how a unified and organized group of elites displaced--and in some cases, destroyed--them to make Dallas a city of and for business. Essential reading for anyone interested in Dallas, local histories of labor, or how power is consolidated and used.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dallas has many myths about itself, and Patricia Hill's history seeks to turn that on its head by digging into the ways it's different than what you hear repeated throughout many accounts of its past. If you're looking for a full history, this isn't it, but it's an essential supplement to what's out there, discussing the failed utopias, the motivations behind the myths, race relations, socialism and labor movements, and the unique role women have had in shaping the city, decades before the women's suffrage movement.

[Preston Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to learn about how shifts in power between the elite and the lower classes shaped the city. It also contains lots of general history with some wit thrown in there. Well written, scholarly, and insightful.

Has lots of acronyms which can get confusing. This book is somewhat a dry and read; it will require lots of focus.

[Not · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah blah socialists
Blah blah unions
Blah blah
Blah