Admission to all events is free of charge, donations are welcome.

Bay View welcomes Dr. Marcia Chatelain for a week of American Experience lectures and discussions based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. Fast-food outlets such as McDonald’s are ubiquitous in the United States, offering reliably standardized, affordable, and convenient meals even in places where no other dining opportunities exist. During the Civil Rights era, they offered welcoming spaces to people who traditionally had been excluded from “whites only” restaurants. Expanding McDonald’s franchises in black neighborhoods helped grow black entrepreneurship, and local outlets were important nodes for civil rights organizing. However, most of the jobs they offer are entry-level with little or no potential for career growth; much of the wealth they generate goes outside the neighborhoods where they are located, and the food is often criticized as unhealthful.

How should we understand this most iconic of American brands? How does the wider fast-food industry relate to today’s crucial social, economic, and health challenges? Dr. Chatelain will examine this mixed legacy through the week of keynote lectures and tent talks. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Chatelain is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her searching but sympathetic exploration of this topic will help us understand how “fast food is about more than just food.”