DePaul University professor James Wolfinger, who has written extensively about race and politics in 20th century America, can provide a historical perspective on Philadelphia politics as well as the national political scene to journalistic discussions during the presidential primary.

Wolfinger, an assistant professor of history and education at DePaul, is author of the recently published book, “Philadelphia Divided: Race and Politics in the City of Brotherly Love,” and is currently working on a history of black Chicago titled, “Building the Black Metropolis.”

“Philadelphia’s story reveals much about the course of 20th century American politics. By analyzing racial tensions in the workplaces and neighborhoods of ordinary Philadelphians from the 1930s to 1950s, it demonstrates the limits imposed on liberalism from below,” Wolfinger said.

“Philadelphia Divided” illuminates the rise of racial conservatism in the urban North and shows that the Republican Party played a key role in undermining liberalism as early as the 1930s in the urban North.

“Scholars typically argue that the Republicans began using race to polarize the parties in the 1960s,” Wolfinger said. “But what my book shows is that race became a key component of northern urban politics decades before that.”

DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, not-for-profit university in the Midwest. The university’s mission emphasizes academic excellence, community service, access to education and respect for the individual.