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Liberty Boulevard

Carpenter, Susan Streeter

Abstract Details

2005, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : English and Comparative Literature.
Liberty Boulevard is a historical novel set in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1968. The primary characters are radical activists, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), increasingly aware of how the Vietnam war, the racism of Cleveland police, the poverty of inner city neighborhoods, and their own alienation as students are all part of the sick “system” which must be overthrown. Inspired by the Columbia University students’ takeover, they plan to ignite the revolution in Cleveland. Ivy Barcelona, a twenty-year-old Case-Western Reserve student, adds the local draft resistance to her militant activities. Her boyfriend, Chuck Leggit, is putting himself through school at Cleveland State. After a lucrative summer bank job proves demeaning, he drops out to work full-time for revolutionary change - thus losing his draft deferment. With Jane Revard, the third major character, he starts an underground newspaper. Jane is twenty-five, a seasoned activist who has worked on Ban the Bomb campaigns, registered voters in Mississippi, visited Hanoi on a peace mission, and helped organize a Welfare Rights group. She has also developed feminist consciousness which she transmits to Ivy. Cleveland’s popular African American mayor, Carl B. Stokes, has calmed the black community after the King assassination and garnered financial support from Cleveland businesses. But in July, a lethal shoot-out between police and a small black nationalist group leads to widespread distrust of Stokes and a polarized city. Ivy, Jane, and Chuck are caught in the cross-fire. Before there is time to reflect on this experience of violent near-revolution they are in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, running from tear gas and police clubs. In the fall of 1968, some of their movement comrades decide to “bring the war home“ and become urban guerillas. Ivy, Jane, and Chuck decide against violence – each for different reasons. They go separate ways, questioning, confused, scared, and uncertain about the future.
Michael Griffith (Advisor)
480 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Carpenter, S. S. (2005). Liberty Boulevard [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1122389263

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Carpenter, Susan. Liberty Boulevard. 2005. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1122389263.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Carpenter, Susan. "Liberty Boulevard." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1122389263

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)