Both of us viewed our fields with unique perspectives, informed by our daily experiences and by occasions of history we saw firsthand. Sadie Alexander saw the Great Depression up close, and the real-life impact of disparities in labor market opportunities.
I was fascinated by the same questions decades later and felt a renewed urgency as I watched the fallout of the Global Financial Crisis from the heart of industrial Michigan. I first noticed the once-unimposing campus food bank when lines of students began to form at its doors.