Richard C. Wade

Richard Clement Wade (1921 – 2008) was an American urban studies professor and an advisor to many Democratic politicians and candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy. His unique approach to social science studies put an emphasis on cities. His book, The Urban Frontier (1959), challenged Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis, asserting that the catalysts for western expansion were the western cities like Pittsburgh, Louisville and Cincinnati, not the pioneer farmers. Other books include: Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (1964), Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis (1973) (with Harold Mayer)

Photo: Larry C. Morris / New York Times

Articles by this Author

How The Media Seduced And Captured American Politics, February/March 1983 | Vol. 34, No. 2

A noted historian argues that television, a relative newcomer, has nearly destroyed old—and valuable—political traditions

America’s Cities Are (mostly) Better Than Ever, February/March 1979 | Vol. 30, No. 2

Today’s city, for all its ills, is “cleaner, less crowded, safer, and more livable than its turn-of-the-century counterpart,” argues this eminent urban historian. Yet two new problems are potentially fatal. …

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