The University of Chicago Press, 2026.
In his new book, Garden Apartments: The History of a Low-Rent Utopia, Joshua B. Freeman explains how a form of multifamily housing with idealistic roots became a ubiquitous model dwelling, promoted by both public entities and private developers. Freeman rescues garden apartments—typically low-rise, multifamily residences that enclose or are surrounded by landscaped gardens—from their invisibility in the American landscape and details their outsized influence on housing and social policy as they helped upgrade living standards for working people.
Joshua B. Freeman
Joshua B. Freeman is distinguished professor of history emeritus at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the author of American Empire: The Rise of a Global Power, the Democratic Revolution at Home, 1945–2000; Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World; and Working-Class New York: Life and Labor Since World War II.
The video begins with a brief introduction by Museum Director Carol Willis, followed by Freeman's presentation. A short Q&A with the audience concludes the program.