From Diversity to Unity is a community study of settlement and adaptation of Southern and Appalachian migrants to the neighborhood of Uptown Chicago. Oral histories, community newspapers, and secondary sources reveal the human experience of urban migration.

This social history and community study documents the events surrounding the attempt by community members, activists, and VISTA architects to resist the planned construction of a community college in the neighborhood of Uptown. The planner and architect are seldom envisioned as advocates for the urban poor. However, during the 1960s, New Left planners and architects began working with marginalized groups in cities to design alternatives to urban renewal projects. This was part of a national advocacy planning movement that was taking shape in urban areas like Chicago. Inspired by critics of...