Book Talk and Discussion on Race, Real Estate, and Education: Inventing Gentrification in Philadelphia, 1960-2020
Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 5-6:30pm, The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
With author Edward M. Epstein and guests Jerry Davis and Amy Orr, neighborhood residents and research participants in the book.
Introduced by Julia McWilliams, Co-Director, University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies Program
Author introduction by Elaine Simon, former Co-Director, University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies Program
Co-sponsored by Temple University Press and the University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies Program
Description:
Race, Real Estate, and Education is about the connection between efforts to change K-12 schools and Philadelphia’s transformation from an industrial city into one focused on tourism, higher education, and medicine. It focuses on the redevelopment of parts of West Philadelphia as “University City” during the 1960s, in part through the demolition of the Black Bottom, but also through improvements to public education in the more affluent sections of the neighborhood. Author Edward M. Epstein will be in conversation with members of the community who experienced these transformations and whose testimonies are in the book.
In his book, Epstein outlines the citywide context for West Philadelphia’s remake. He recounts the precedents for University City in the redevelopment of Society Hill. He also looks at 1960s-era attempts to correct the segregation, overcrowding, and authoritarian management throughout the School District of Philadelphia. As the West Philadelphia Corporation, a proxy for the universities and hospitals, initiated gentrification efforts in its neighborhood, the local community resisted and protested, causing the project to fail. The effort was revived with spectacular success, however, with the launch of the well-funded Penn Alexander School in 2001. The result has been a rapid increase in housing costs and a drain in the area’s Black population.
Race, Real Estate, and Education shows how the pursuit of urbanist ideals sometimes deepens neighborhood injustice. Epstein’s exploration of whether Philadelphia’s overall approach was beneficial or misguided presents a cautionary tale.
About the author:
Edward M. Epstein is the Alan J. Lee Director of Penn’s Teachers Institute of Philadelphia. He is coauthor of Race, Gender, and Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations. Epstein received his Ed.D. from Penn’s Graduate School of Education and has taught courses there on university-community engagement. He is also founder of the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence program, which offers studio space to West Philadelphia in exchange for service to the community.
Admission is FREE