"I Come To The Garden": Changing Ethnic Relations In Garden City, Kansas

• Published in: Urban anthropology and studies of cultural systems and world economic development Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 303 - 320
• Main Author: Stull, Donald D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brockport, N.Y The Institute, Inc 01-12-1990; Institute for the Study of Man
• Subjects: Communities; Ethnicity; Gardens; Hispanics; Intergroup Relations; Kansas; Plants; Population Growth; Race relations; Refugees; Retirement communities; Urban agriculture; Urban anthropology; Urban Development; Urban gardens
• ISSN: 0894-6019

During the 1980s, Garden City was the fastest growing community in Kansas. Its growth was fueled by the opening of two large beef packing plants, which attracted large numbers of Anglo, Hispanic, and Southeast Asian workers. In 1988 it was selected for inclusion in the Ford Foundation's Changing Relations Project, which examined interaction between newcomers and established residents in six communities across the country. This article traces the changes in Garden City's economy from the trailherds of the 1870s to the opening of the world's largest beefpacking plant in 1980. It presents the community's response to rapid growth and Anglo attitudes toward growth and increasing ethnic diversity. The article reviews the goals and methodology of the six social scientists who studied Garden City for more than two years and introduces a collection of five essays presenting some of their findings.