Ready to start a new chapter in your life?
The Greater Astoria Historical Society will start a new book club in September.
The theme is “Exploring Social Class in New York City,” and all are invited.
Free and monthly, the discussions will happen via Zoom at 7 pm always on a Monday night. To join, send an email to Debbie Van Cura at [email protected].
On Sept. 18, the group will break the ice with Deborah Hopkinson’s Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York 1880-1924. Based on oral histories, this publication tells the stories of five immigrant families that hope to achieve the American Dream.
Here’s the rest of the schedule.
Oct. 30, Clifton Hood’s In Pursuit of Privilege: A History of New York City’s Upper Class and the Making of a Metropolis. This report contends that — from the 1700s to today — upper-class New Yorkers have struggled to create a distinct world guarded against outsiders, even as economic growth and opportunity has enabled others to try to gain entrance.
Nov. 27, Stephen Birmingham’s “Our Crowd:” The Great Jewish Families of New York. The Loebs, Goldmans, Sachs, Seligmans, and Guggenheims were among the Jewish families that left Germany for New York in the 19th century. They quickly made their way from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side, but despite their wealth, they had trouble joining the High Society.
Dec. 18, Joshua B. Freeman’s Working-Class New York: Life and Labor since World War II. With cheap and easy-to-use mass transit, plenty of high-quality jobs in small businesses and factories, affordable public housing, and healthcare for all, New York City was a great place for the aspiring middle class to live in the years after World War II.
Jan. 29, Lee Conell’s The Party Upstairs. This novel takes place in a building on the Upper West Side. Throughout the course of a day, a building super and his daughter try to navigate the power structures and socioeconomic worlds where they live and work.
The GAHS book club is sponsored by Humanities New York. Any views, findings conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Images: Library of Congress