Bulldozer : demolition and clearance of the postwar landscape

Bulldozer Demolition and clearance of the postwar landscape

Francesca Russello Ammon

Book - 2016

Although the decades following World War II stand out as an era of rapid growth and construction in the United States, those years were equally significant for large-scale destruction. In order to clear space for new suburban tract housing, an ambitious system of interstate highways, and extensive urban renewal development, wrecking companies demolished buildings while earthmoving contractors leveled land at an unprecedented pace and scale. In this pioneering history, Francesca Russello Ammon explores how postwar America came to equate this destruction with progress. The bulldozer functioned as both the means and the metaphor for this work. As the machine transformed from a wartime weapon into an instrument of postwar planning, it helped re...alize a landscape-altering "culture of clearance." In the hands of the military, planners, politicians, engineers, construction workers, and even children's book authors, the bulldozer became an American icon. Yet social and environmental injustices emerged as clearance projects continued unabated.This awareness spurred environmental, preservationist, and citizen participation efforts that have helped to slow, though not entirely stop, the momentum of the postwar bulldozer.

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Subjects
Bulldozers > History > 20th century.
Published
New Haven ; London : Yale University Press [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Francesca Russello Ammon (author)
Physical Description
xiii, 383 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780300200683
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: A Culture of Clearance
  • Part 1. Bulldozers at War
  • 1. "A Dirt Moving War": Engineers and Seabees as World War II Heroes
  • 2. Prime Movers: Equipment Manufacturers Prepare for Postwar Prosperity
  • Part 2. Bulldozers at Work
  • 3. Grading Groves and Moving Mountains: Suburban Land Clearance in Orange County, California
  • 4. "Armies of Bulldozers Smashing Down Acres of Slums": Urban Renewal Demolition in New Haven, Connecticut
  • 5. "The Intricate Blending of Brains and Brawn": Engineering the Postwar Highway Boom
  • Part 3. Bulldozers of the Mind
  • 6. Unearthing "Benny the Bulldozer": Children's Books and Tonka Trucks
  • 7. Bulldozers as Paintbrushes: Earthworks and Building Cuts in Conceptual Art
  • Conclusion: Toward a Culture of Conservation
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

Ammon (city and regional planning, Univ. of Pennsylvania) has penned a surprisingly engrossing story about an unlikely topic. For Ammon, the bulldozer is the physical artifact at the center of a culture that embraced "widespread destruction as a means of achieving progress." Ammon's analysis of seemingly disparate topics effectively makes her point: land clearance and destruction was widely accepted, even celebrated, as the basis of many US "achievements" until environmentalists and other social activists reexamined the consequences of such massive land clearance projects. First, the author examines WW II military land clearance efforts as preamble to myriad postwar projects. She then offers three case studies of postwar clearance and destruction: suburbanization in Orange County, California; pre-renewal demolition in New Haven, Connecticut; and the creation of the Interstate Highway System. Finally, Ammon examines the broader culture of demolition represented in children's books and toys, and in art. She is particularly attuned to the cultural significance of visual imagery: the generous inclusion of photographs, illustrations, and advertisements allows the author to share compelling primary sources with her readers, while her careful reading of many of them is an integral component of her persuasive argument. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --Anne E. Krulikowski, West Chester University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review

In today's world of intricate robotic machinery, towering construction cranes, and complex farm equipment, the lowly bulldozer no longer attracts much fanfare. Yet, according to University of Pennsylvania professor Ammon, who puts the earthmoving machine at the center of this absorbing history of American postwar construction, the bulldozer was once a heroic icon in popular culture. The author first takes the reader back to WWII and the exploits of the U.S. Navy's Seabees, who used thousands of the machines to build airbases and clear away bombed-out ruins. After the war, the bulldozer became the workhorse in massive highway construction and urban-renewal projects across America. The ubiquitous popularity of the earthmovers and their stalwart operators quickly spread to movies, magazine covers, and even children's books featuring anthropomorphized bulldozers painted bright yellow. Ammon is unsparing, however, in showing how the bulldozer's reputation later plummeted due to unsightly suburban sprawl and unjustly displaced minorities. Her work will appeal to readers interested in unusual perspectives on history, city planning, architecture and construction, and all who grew up idolizing the legendary machine.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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