In pursuit of privilege : a history of New York City's upper class & the making of a metropolis /

In pursuit of privilege : a history of New York City's upper class & the making of a metropolis /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Hood, Clifton, author.
Imprint:	New York : Columbia University Press, [2017] ©2017
Description:	1 online resource (xviii, 488 pages) : illustrations
Language:	English
Subject:	Upper class -- New York (State) -- New York -- History. Elite (Social sciences) -- New York (State) -- New York -- History. Rich people -- New York (State) -- New York -- History. Civilization. Economic history. Elite (Social sciences) Manners and customs. Rich people. Upper class. New York (N.Y.) -- Civilization. New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- History. New York (N.Y.) -- Economic conditions. New York (State) -- New York. History.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12368489

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:	History of New York City's upper class and the making of a matropolis
ISBN:	023154295X 9780231542951 0231172168 9780231172165
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index. Print version record.
Summary:	"Clifton Hood traces the history of the elite class of New York City and the institutions they created in their relentless pursuit of privilege. While they were responsible for the creation of intuitions such as Columbia University, the New York Public Library system, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and provided skilled leadership in eras of immense turmoil, the idea of a privileged class clashes with the American democratic ideal. And, in fact, this upper class clashed with the rising professional class of bankers, lawyers, and other executives who increasingly rose in prestige and power as time rolled on. In Pursuit of Privilege traces the history of this elite class over two centuries, focusing on decades of upheaval and great change (such as the wars of the 1780s, 1860s, 1940s and the urban upheaval in the 1820s and 1970s), and argues the upper class was not born in the Gilded Age, but that the late nineteenth century was one of many periods where the elites wielded great power and influence and profoundly shaped, for better and for worse, the history of New York and America."--Provided by publisher.
Other form:	Print version: Hood, Clifton. In pursuit of privilege. New York : Columbia University Press, [2017] 9780231172165

Table of Contents:

Introduction: The upper class is a foreign country
"The best mart on the continent:" The 1750s and 1760s
Uncertain adjustments: The 1780s and 1790s
Immense wealth: The 1820s & beyond
All for the union: The 1860s
A dynamic businessmen's aristocracy: The 1890s
The ways of millionaireville: The 1890s
Making spaces of their own: The 1940s
The anti-elitist elite: the 1970s & beyond
Conclusion: The limits of anti-elitism.