June 12, 2023

Ten Must-Read Books for Juneteenth 2023

June 19th, or Juneteenth, commemorates the 1865 proclamation for the freedom of enslaved people in Texas, but it also has come to broadly celebrate Black American culture and the continuing fight by Black Americans for liberation and equality. The books...

October 13, 2020

Announcing the Winner of the Sixth Annual Columbia University Press Distinguished Book Award

Columbia University Press, in conjunction with the Office of the Provost of Columbia University, is pleased to announce that A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America by Lance Freeman is the winner of the sixth annual Columbia...

August 18, 2020

Video: Lance Freeman on “What makes Harlem Special?”

 “In A Haven and a Hell, Lance Freeman seeks to amplify the relationship between ‘the ghetto’ as a place, policy, and idea and as a black experience, source of resistance, and community. Using multiple places and narratives, this book...

June 5, 2020

We Stand in Solidarity with All Those Peacefully Protesting Injustice

Columbia University Press strongly condemns the unjust killing of George Floyd and the deaths of many who went before him. We protest the systemic racism that plagues our country, and we must dedicate ourselves to eradicating it. We stand in...

April 2, 2020

Join Lowell Frye on a Tour of Our UAA 2020 Virtual Exhibit Booth

Hello, and welcome to Columbia University Press’s virtual booth for the Urban Affairs Association conference! My name is Lowell Frye, and I’m an associate editor here at the press, acquiring books in urban studies. I’m thrilled to be able to...

February 7, 2020

Book Excerpts! A Haven and a Hell, Banking on Freedomand Threatening Property

This week, we have explored Black life in the context of property and finance through the scholarship of Lance Freeman, Shennette Garrett-Scott, and Elizabeth A. Herbin-Triant. Today, we invite your to grab a warm drink and settle into a cozy...

February 6, 2020

Book Talk: Black Life and White Supremacy in Property, Finance, and the City

 We are continuing our feature of Lance Freeman, Shennette Garrett-Scott and Elizabeth A. Herbin-Triant today with this book talk moderated by Ansley T. Erickson, co-editor of Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community. Watch their...

February 5, 2020

Q&A: A Conversation About the History of U.S. Property Restriction and Finance After the Civil War

Take a walk today and look around. Observe the people strolling through the parks and neighborhoods. Chances are, they vary in background and cultural heritage, but this was not always the case. To kick off Black History Month, Noni Carter...

March 26, 2019

New Book Tuesday! Rewriting Indie Cinema, Residual Futures, Threatening Property, and More!

Our list of new books is now available! Rewriting Indie Cinema Improvisation, Psychodrama, and the Screenplay J. J. Murphy What Is Japanese Cinema? A History Yomota Inuhiko. Translated by Philip Kaffen. Residual Futures The Urban Ecologies of Literary and Visual...

February 28, 2019

Lance Freeman on the History of the Ghetto in Black America

“Ghettos, which conjure up images of abandoned buildings, crime, and decay, would hardly seem to be something to celebrate in the original spirit of Woodson’s Negro History week. But whatever the popular stereotypes, ghettos were and continue to be more...

December 13, 2018

Lance Freeman on A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America

 “A Haven and a Hell is a highly-accessible and necessary book for a broader and richer understanding of urban Black America.” ~Marcus Anthony Hunter, coauthor of Chocolate Cities: The Black Map of American Life Today we are featuring a guest post from Lance...