The first ever comprehensive history of this troubled city, the book includes more than 250 photographs amd images of the people and events that shaped East St. Louis. Andrew Theising, a professor of political science at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, examines the city's past from the prominent role it played in the growth of 19th century industrial America to its presently depleted state. For Theising, East St. Louis is more than just a river city suburb; it is an example of industry creating and then abandoning a city, and it is also one of the most misunderstood cities in America.

Depicts the early history of East St. Louis, which was officially established in 1861.

Urban poverty, along with all of its poignant manifestations, is moving from city centers to working-class and industrial suburbs in contemporary America. Nowhere is this more evident than in East St. Louis, Illinois. Once a thriving manufacturing and transportation center, East St. Louis is now known for its unemployment, crime, and collapsing infrastructure. Abandoned in the Heartland takes us into the lives of East St. Louis’s predominantly African American residents to find out what has happened since industry abandoned the city, and jobs, quality schools, and city services disappeared, leaving people isolated and imperiled. Jennifer Hamer introduces men who search for meaning and opportunity in dead-end jobs, women who often take on caretaking responsibilities until well into old age, and parents who have the impossible task of protecting their children in this dangerous, and literally toxic, environment. Illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs showing how the city has changed over time, this book, full of stories of courage and fortitude, offers a powerful vision of the transformed circumstances of life in one American suburb.

Comprised of facsimile reproductions of excerpts from: History of East St. Louis, by Robert A. Tyson (1875); Saint Louis : the future great city of the world, by Logan Reavis (1876); History of St. Clair County, Illinois (1881); Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, and, History of St. Clair County (1907); Standard atlas of St. Clair County, Illinois (1901); Directory of the city of East St. Louis, St. Clair County, Illinois (1893); East St. Louis directory (1887); Ordinances of the city of East St. Louis, St. Clair County, Illinois (1884).

"Examines the beginnings of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, from 1861 to 1906, when St. Louis was the fourth-largest city in the United States"--Provided by publisher.

". . . a well-researched and thoughtful inquiry into the circumstances and social forces producing one of the most violent of twentieth-century American race riots." -- American Historical Review "His work fills a serious gap in the history of racial violence in the United States. Never before analyzed by sociologists in the way that the Chicago and Detroit riots were, the East St. Louis riot outranked both as measured by the number of deaths." -- American Journal of Sociology