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LECTURE ADDRESSES SUBURBAN SEGREGATION

“Segregated suburbs reconfigured American politics, culture, and society,” says Paige Glotzer, Assistant Professor of the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The national expert will elaborate on her thoughts with her presentation “Segregated Suburbs and the History of the United States” 2:00 p.m. on October 18 in the Convocation Hall at ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº in Romeoville. The event is free and open to the public. Visit  to register for the event.

In this lecture, Dr. Paige Glotzer traces their history beginning in the late 19th century and explores how early financial connections to slavery and empires shaped the imperatives of developers to turn to segregation. These developers experimented with planning and forged relationships with officials who codified these decisions into enduring policies, such as redlining. The legacy of redlining—as well as the lasting popularity of suburbs—continues to impact lives not just in the United States but around the world.  

Glotzer, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, has spent much of her professional career studying the history of housing segregation in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2020, she published How the Suburbs Were Segregated: Developers and the Business of Exclusionary Housing, 1890-1960. The book “charts how the real estate industry shaped residential segregation, from the emergence of large-scale suburban development in the 1890s to the postwar housing boom.” Glotzer’s work has been featured in the Journal of Urban History, Public Seminar, The CityLab, and Time.

The legacy of Jim and Mary Clare Sczepaniak lives on through scholarships, ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº enhancements and now, the James P. ’60 and Mary C. Sczepaniak Lecture Series presented by the ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº History Department. Visit for more information about Jim Szczepaniak.  

The James P. ’60 and Mary C. Sczepaniak Lecture Series is being presented as a part of ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº’s Arts & Ideas Program providing cultural and educational programming for students and the community. A portion of the Arts & Ideas events is sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Contact artsandideas@lewisu.edufor further information. 

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