Dan Kerr received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University and his B.A. from Carleton College . His dissertation, "Open Penitentiaries: Institutionalizing Homelessness in Cleveland , Ohio," focuses on the social and structural aspects of homelessness and situates the present-day phenomenon in its historic context. In addition to his primary research, Kerr specializes in the fields of environmental history, urban social history, African-American history and oral history. He has made an active effort to make his research accessible and relevant to those who promote social justice in the community.
"Open Penitentiaries" unsettles the category of homelessness by emphasizing the fluidity over time between such categories as the employed and the unemployed and the housed and the unhoused. Rather than focus on the narrow history of “the homeless,” the dissertation provides a close reading of the historical interactions of: (1) neighborhood real estate markets; (2) urban development strategies; (3) the criminal justice system; (4) the casual labor market; (5) the distribution of relief; and (6) homeless institutions as they have evolved from 1877 through the millennium. What emerges from this analysis is a social history of capitalism in Cleveland, Ohio.
While Kerr's dissertation is largely based on traditional archival research, thematically it has been heavily influenced by the research he conducted in the Cleveland Homeless Oral History Project. Since 1996 he has formally interviewed close to 200 homeless people and has organized and conducted dozens of workshops and meetings in the shelters and drop-in centers of Cleveland , Ohio . This work led Kerr to develop a video interview project on Public Square in downtown Cleveland and a weekly radio show. Both of these projects are discussed in detail in his article, “‘We Know What the Problem Is': Using Oral History to Develop a Collaborative Analysis of Homelessness from the Bottom Up,” in Oral History Review, Winter/Spring 2003.
Kerr has played a significant role the movement to organize day laborers in Cleveland , Ohio . He was a founding member of the Day Laborers' Organizing Committee and the Cleveland Community Hiring Hall. Additionally he helped found the Cleveland chapter of Food Not Bombs. In recognition of his efforts, he has been awarded the Allison Bonagura Award for Rank-and-File Activism from the Cleveland chapter Jobs with Justice and an award of recognition for his grass roots activism from the Greater Cleveland Empowerment Center.
Selected Publications:
"Countering Corporate Narratives from the Streets: The Cleveland Homeless Oral History Project," in Oral History and Public Memories, eds. Paula Hamilton & Linda Shopes (accepted for publication from Temple University Press).
Daniel Kerr and Chris Dole, “Cracking the Temp Trap: Day Laborers' Grievances and Strategies for Change in Cleveland , Ohio,” Labor Studies Journal, Winter 2005.
“‘We Know What the Problem Is': Using Oral History to Develop a Collaborative Analysis of Homelessness from the Bottom Up,” Oral History Review, Winter/Spring 2003.
Daniel Kerr and Chris Dole, “Challenging Exploitation and Abuse: A Study of the Day Labor Industry in Cleveland,” a report prepared for Cleveland City Council, September 4, 2001.
“A Complete Perfect Nothingness: Oral Histories of Three Homeless Men and an Oral Historian on Cleveland 's Public Square," David Michalski, ed., Streetscapes 99, Fall 1999.
In Other Publications and in the News:
Michael Riordan, An Unauthorized Biography of the World: Oral History on the Front Lines (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2004).
Joshua Greene, "Temporary Gains: Community Hiring Hall Offers an Alternative to Low-Paying Private Temp Agencies," The Free Times, April 20, 2005.
Thomas Francis, "Temp or Tantrum: Day Laborers Bite Back at the Hand that Feeds Them," The Scene, March 12, 2003.
Michael O'Malley, "Temporary Workers Gain Political Support," The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 5, 2001
Michael O'Malley, "Long Days, Low Pay Unfair, Homeless Temps Say," The Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 26, 2001.
Josh Greene, "Heartbreak Hotel: Dark Days and Lonely Nights at the Jay Hotel, Cleveland 's Last Flophouse," The Free Times, March 28, 2001.
Josh Greene, "Temporary Insanity: Dangerous Work, Low Pay, No Future - Caught in the Jaws of the Temp Labor Industry," The Free Times, February 7, 2001.
Laura Putre, "Curry Duty: Food Not Bombs Cooks Up a Revolution," The Scene, February 1, 2001.