How the Automobile Transformed the American Metropolis

Please join us at the May 10, 2018 Fettuccine Forum for a discussion led by Professor Emeritus Michael Ebner, Distinguished Lecturer from the Organization of American Historians, about how the rise of the automobile reflects trends in technology, labor, and capitalism that affected the development of our nation’s infrastructure and shifts in demographic and social patterns.

Professor Ebner will explore Americans’ embrace of the automobile, how it contributed to growth in the suburbs, the rise of shopping centers, and “road trips” to distant mainland vacation destinations.  

Professor Ebner will also consider the future of the automobile. As we move into the twenty-first century, many of the same variables will likely remain relevant. But how they coalesce with those unforeseen influences—and exactly what form it takes— remains to be seen. 

Michael H. Ebner is the James D. Vail III Professor of History Emeritus at Lake Forest College, where he taught from 1974 to 2007. He is best known as the author of the prizewinning Creating Chicago's North Shore: A Suburban History (1988). He has taught in the U.S. Department of Education's Teaching American History initiative in Florida, Minnesota, Illinois, and Virginia and also served as project director of Creating a Geographically Extended Class at Lake Forest College, underwritten by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Ebner is the recipient of awards—as a mentor, as a teacher, and for public service—from the American Historical Association, the Chicago Tribune, the City College of New York, and Lake Forest College, and is a life trustee at the Chicago History Museum. He is currently completing a book entitled “Metropolitan Revisions: Storylines from American History.”

WHEN & WHERE
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Doors open at 5:30 PM
Presentation begins at 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers, Boise City Hall

About the Fettuccine Forum
The Fettuccine Forum is produced by the Boise City Department of Arts & History. Support from the Office of the Mayor, Boise State Public Radio and the Department of History at Boise State University all make the Forum possible. Lively and informal, the Fettuccine Forum invites the public to interact with politicians, artists, historians, activists, advocates and professionals in an effort to promote good citizenship through discussion and education.