Date of Award

Spring 2012

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

American Studies

First Advisor

Scott Tang

Second Advisor

Davarian Baldwin

Abstract

Phoenixville, PA was a thriving industrial town located on the Schuylkill River, thirty miles outside of Philadelphia. After almost a century of success in the steel and iron markets, the factory and town suffered great hardship during the deindustrialization of the 1970s and 1980s. The community of Phoenixville had stayed strong throughout social and cultural shifts from the founding of the town, and they knew this era would be another struggle. In the late 1980s, the community and local government banded together and decided that Phoenixville needed a change in identity. No longer able to be an industrial center, Phoenixville shifted into a mecca of arts and entertainment.This revitalization has rejuvenated the economy of Phoenixville in the past two decades and the town is continuing on a path towards success. The power of the community and the support of local and state government drove Phoenixville towards change and is the key in the success of the revitalization.

Comments

Senior thesis completed at Trinity College for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in American Studies.

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