Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2021·United States

Motor City Green: A Century of Landscapes and Environmentalism in Detroit by Joseph Stanhope Cialdella

T. G. McCarthy

Michigan Historical Review

Urban Farm DB summary

Joseph Stanhope Cialdella's book, "Motor City Green," describes how Detroit residents maintained various relationships with nature, including growing plants and food in their backyards and vacant lots, throughout the city's 130-year history. The book presents a series of episodes, from 1890s vacant lot programs to the Detroit Urban League's 1920s efforts to encourage gardening among African American residents and 1930s summer camps, which defined ideas about urbanism, nature, and relationships among residents.