Kenneth T. Jackson

American historian at Columbia — author of Crabgrass Frontier (the definitive history of American suburbanization) — who has spent 60 years documenting New York City through the Encyclopedia of New York City and other projects.

Creates the definitive history of American suburbanization — Crabgrass Frontier traces how federal policies (mortgage interest deduction, interstate highways, FHA redlining) created American suburbia as a policy artifact rather than an organic result of consumer preference.