Inside Newark

ROBERT CURVIN authored Inside Newark while a visiting scholar at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He passed away in 2015. The New York Times said he was "a fiercely loyal advocate for Newark who never gave up on his troubled city and devoted a scholarly career to alleviating urban poverty."   Dr. Curvin was a co-founder of the Newark chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, successfully lobbied to integrate construction jobs in the early 1960s, earned a doctorate from Princeton, helped make Kenneth A. Gibson the first black mayor of a major Northeast city when he won election in Newark in 1970, and was a Ford Foundation official. He also served on the editorial board of The New York Times for nearly six years and was a dean at the New School in Manhattan.

"Curvin's associations and key figures, extensive interviews and institutional memory mesh forcefully and lend amplitide to the narrative. Anyone who resides in or near Newark, or once did, or feels like a stakeholder in the great urban outcome should dwell deeply on his journey."(Star-Ledger) "[Curvin] offers readers an insider's view of Newark politics and policy development. At times his narrative resembles a memoir, so personal are some of his observations. Nonetheless, his candor is refreshing, sincere, and well informed." (Journal of Urban Affairs) "Robert Curvin's aggressive research, candid narration, and unflinching judgments leave you informed, sobered, and guardedly optimistic that a once beleaguered city's search for transformation is at last well underway. Inside Newark is a book in the great tradition of Steffens's The Shame of the Cities." - David Levering Lewis (Pulitzer Prize recipient for the biography of W.E.B. Du Bois) "At once deeply personal and probing, Bob Curvin's brilliantly illuminating journey into Newark's contemporary life and history sets a high standard for an insider's view of a complicated and troubled urban landscape. That he is one of the nation's most prescient humanists and activists makes Curvin's Inside Newark essential reading. A triumph!" - Clement Alexander Price (professor of history, Rutgers University, Newark) "Bob Curvin’s masterful analysis shows how one of America’s greatest cities has dealt with a convergence of challenges during the past half century. He combines powerful reminiscences,  strong community voices, a grasp of complex political entanglements, and unique personal insight to produce a detailed and intimate account of Newark’s struggle for survival."  - Lisa Keller (Purchase College (SUNY)) "Curvin's associations and key figures, extensive interviews and institutional memory mesh forcefully and lend amplitide to the narrative. Anyone who resides in or near Newark, or once did, or feels like a stakeholder in the great urban outcome should dwell deeply on his journey."(Star-Ledger) "Curvin's associations and key figures, extensive interviews and institutional memory mesh forcefully and lend amplitide to the narrative. Anyone who resides in or near Newark, or once did, or feels like a stakeholder in the great urban outcome should dwell deeply on his journey."(Star-Ledger) "[Curvin] offers readers an insider's view of Newark politics and policy development. At times his narrative resembles a memoir, so personal are some of his observations. Nonetheless, his candor is refreshing, sincere, and well informed." (Journal of Urban Affairs) "[Curvin] offers readers an insider's view of Newark politics and policy development. At times his narrative resembles a memoir, so personal are some of his observations. Nonetheless, his candor is refreshing, sincere, and well informed." (Journal of Urban Affairs) "Robert Curvin's aggressive research, candid narration, and unflinching judgments leave you informed, sobered, and guardedly optimistic that a once beleaguered city's search for transformation is at last well underway. Inside Newark is a book in the great tradition of Steffens's The Shame of the Cities." - David Levering Lewis (Pulitzer Prize recipient for the biography of W.E.B. Du Bois) "Robert Curvin's aggressive research, candid narration, and unflinching judgments leave you informed, sobered, and guardedly optimistic that a once beleaguered city's search for transformation is at last well underway. Inside Newark is a book in the great tradition of Steffens's The Shame of the Cities." - David Levering Lewis (Pulitzer Prize recipient for the biography of W.E.B. Du Bois) "At once deeply personal and probing, Bob Curvin's brilliantly illuminating journey into Newark's contemporary life and history sets a high standard for an insider's view of a complicated and troubled urban landscape. That he is one of the nation's most prescient humanists and activists makes Curvin's Inside Newark essential reading. A triumph!" - Clement Alexander Price (professor of history, Rutgers University, Newark) "At once deeply personal and probing, Bob Curvin's brilliantly illuminating journey into Newark's contemporary life and history sets a high standard for an insider's view of a complicated and troubled urban landscape. That he is one of the nation's most prescient humanists and activists makes Curvin's Inside Newark essential reading. A triumph!" - Clement Alexander Price (professor of history, Rutgers University, Newark) "Bob Curvin’s masterful analysis shows how one of America’s greatest cities has dealt with a convergence of challenges during the past half century. He combines powerful reminiscences,  strong community voices, a grasp of complex political entanglements, and unique personal insight to produce a detailed and intimate account of Newark’s struggle for survival."  - Lisa Keller (Purchase College (SUNY)) "Bob Curvin’s masterful analysis shows how one of America’s greatest cities has dealt with a convergence of challenges during the past half century. He combines powerful reminiscences,  strong community voices, a grasp of complex political entanglements, and unique personal insight to produce a detailed and intimate account of Newark’s struggle for survival."  - Lisa Keller (Purchase College (SUNY))

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: About NewarkChapter 2: Winds of ChangeChapter 3: The Collapse of the MachineChapter 4: Rebellion and City PoliticsChapter 5: Political Mobilization in Black NewarkChatper 6: The Arrival of Black PowerChapter 7: The Dancing MayorChatper 8: Black Mayor on a White HorseChapter 9: Pity the ChildrenConclusion: The Search for TransformationNotesBibliography