About the Book
Home ownership is central to the American dream, and Realtors(R) are its agents, there to make the dream a reality. Telling the story of the rise of the Realtors(R), Jeffrey M. Hornstein presents a lively history of the evolution of real estate brokerage in twentieth-century America. He describes how real estate agents turned what was, at the turn of the last century, not a particularly reputable occupation into a respected profession, and then expanded the market for their services by cultivating the connection between home ownership and middle-class status. At the same time, he explains how real estate brokerage became a predominantly female profession, providing many women with a means of financial independence following the Second World War. Hornstein draws on trade journals, government documents on housing policy, demographic data, and examinations of fictional accounts of real estate agents.
He chronicles the early efforts of real estate brokers to establish their profession by claiming an expertise; creating local and national boards, business practices, ethical codes, and educational programs; and working to influence laws from local zoning ordinances to national housing policy. A Nation of Realtors(R) is a unique history of the development of a profession and its enormously successful effort to make the owner-occupied, single-family home a key element of twentieth-century American identity.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. "Doing Something Definite": The Emergence of Real Estate Brokerage as a Career, 1883–1908 12
2. Real Estate Brokerage and the Formation of a (National) Middle-Class Consciousness, 1907–1915 28
3. Character, Competency, and Real (Estate) Professionalism, 1915–1921 53
4. Applied Realology: Administration, Education, and the Consequences of Partial Professionalization in the 1920s 84
5. The Realtors Go to Washington: Enshrining Homeownership in the 1930s 118
6. "Rosie the Realtor" and the Re-Gendering of Real Estate Brokerage, 1938–1950 156
7. Domesticity, Gender, and Real Estate in the 1950s and Beyond 185
Conclusion 201
Appendix 207
Notes 209
Bibliography 233
Index 247
About the Author :
Jeffrey M. Hornstein is District Organizing Coordinator for Local 32BJ of the Service
Employees International Union in Philadelphia. He has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland.
Review :
"persuasively demonstrates [that Realtors] have permanently inscribed the American middle class with the virtues of ownership and professionalism." Times Literary Supplement "A Nation of Realtors(r) will be an instant classic. It is a brilliant window into the cultural politics of the real estate industry, the best study we have of Realtors(r), and an incisive analysis of the making of the modern American middle class. Jeffrey M. Hornstein's writing sparkles with an unusually sophisticated and accessible theoretical engagement of his archival sources."--- Daniel J. Walkowitz, co-editor of Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space "An ingenious and illuminating interpretation of a topic that is at the center of middle-class life in the twentieth-century United States but that historians have somehow managed to overlook until now. The 'American dream' will never look quite the same in the light of Jeffrey M. Hornstein's fine book."--Jackson Lears, author of Something for Nothing: Luck in America and editor in chief of Raritan "A Nation of Realtors(r) will be an instant classic. It is a brilliant window into the cultural politics of the real estate industry, the best study we have of Realtors, and an incisive analysis of the making of the modern American middle class. Jeffrey M. Hornstein's writing sparkles with an unusually sophisticated and accessible theoretical engagement of his archival sources."--Daniel J. Walkowitz, coeditor of Memory and the Impact of Political Transformation in Public Space trying to decide whether or not to join the women's movement."--Patrice Gaines, The Crisis "Readers looking to expand their cultural understanding or research into the topic will find this book very useful and enlightening."--Margot Considine, Altar Magazine "Sisters of all stripes who want to make a difference during these challenging political times will find guidance (and cautionary tales!) in one of the first historical overviews of the black feminist movement... Essential reading."--Evelyn C. 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