Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research staff
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
© 2006
6120 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
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Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Title: Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection
Dates: 1940s-1950s
Collection number: P-004
Creator:
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
Collection Size:
2.5 linear feet (6 document boxes; 1 flat box)
200 online items
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Abstract: The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection is comprised of 225 black and white photographs, which
were produced by the Los Angeles Housing Authority during the 1940s and 1950s. These photographs depict images of public housing
projects such as Elysian Park Heights (Chavez Ravine), Rose Hill Courts, Pueblo del Rio, Aliso Village, Hacienda Village,
William Mead Homes, Estrada Courts, Ramona Gardens, Basilone Homes and Rodger Young Village. Also included in the collection
are photographs of public housing officials Frank Wilkinson and Howard Holtzendorff, housing advocate Monsignor Thomas O'Dwyer,
and municipal officials including Los Angeles Mayors Fletcher Bowron and Norris Poulson. Additionally represented here are
powerful images of Los Angeles slum conditions during the 1940s.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is available for research only at the Library's facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library indicating the nature of their research
query prior to making a visit.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single
copies of any portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed only with the express written
permission of the Library's director. It is not necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection. P-004. Southern California Library for Social Studies
and Research, Los Angeles, California.
Consult repository.
The digitization of the Southern California Library's Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection was
part of the California Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP), a multi-year program supported by the U.S. Institute
of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California
by the State Librarian. Leveraging the infrastructure of the California Digital Library, the LHDRP explores a model to aggregate,
preserve, and provide permanent public access to local history materials maintained by California cultural heritage institutions
via a single statewide online access point.
During the project year (2005-2006), the Southern California Library's entire collection of Housing Authority of the City
of Los Angeles photographs was digitized and placed online. Additional related materials held by the Library include the Charlotta
Bass Papers, Civil Rights Congress Los Angeles Chapter Records, J. Walter Cobb Papers, South Central Los Angeles Documentation
Project Collection, Frank Wilkinson Papers, and the California Eagle Photograph Collection.
During the Depression era, the City of Los Angeles was in the throes of a severe housing crisis. The need for affordable and
decent housing was acute, as overcrowding was common, and deteriorated and substandard housing were widespread. Such urban
conditions were not limited to Los Angeles, causing concern in cities across the nation.
In response to this crisis, the Roosevelt administration established the United States Housing Authority in 1937 to develop
low-cost public housing which sought to alleviate overcrowding in inner cities and replace deteriorated housing in depressed
areas. Soon thereafter in 1938, the City of Los Angeles established its own local program, the Housing Authority of the City
of Los Angeles (HACLA).
Under the 1937 Federal Housing Act, HACLA constructed ten (10) public housing projects in Los Angeles: Aliso Village, Avalon
Gardens, Estrada Courts, Hacienda Village, Pico Gardens, Pueblo del Rio, Ramona Gardens, Rancho San Pedro, Rose Hill Courts,
and William Mead Homes.
The outbreak of World War II boosted defense-related manufacturing in Southern California and drew a multitude of unemployed
workers to the surrounding areas. This created a shift in Los Angeles housing needs from sheltering the poor to housing defense
workers, military families and veterans. Permanent public war housing projects were constructed and managed by HACLA, including
Channel Heights, Dana Strand Village, Normont Terrace, Portsmouth Homes, and Wilmington Hall Cottages. Many temporary public
war housing projects were also established, such as Banning Homes, Corregidor Park, Imperial Courts, and Jordan Downs. Finally,
projects like Basilone Homes, Keppler Grove and Rodger Young Village were constructed specifically to house war veterans.
Public housing construction continued post-war under the 1949 Federal Housing Act. In Los Angeles this meant the development
of Mar Vista Gardens, Nickerson Gardens, San Fernando Gardens, and extensions to several previously existing housing projects.
However signs of discord between public housing advocates and members of the real estate industry were evident and growing
stronger with the completion of each new project. In an effort to curtail the growth of public housing, public housing opponents
painted it as 'creeping socialism' and 'one step this side of Communism' in local media and public meetings. During the McCarthy
era, this strategy proved extremely effective. Several housing project developments, including Elysian Park Heights (Chavez
Ravine), were canceled and employees of HACLA, such as Frank Wilkinson, were labeled as Communists, suspended and eventually
fired.
With the decline of pubic housing in the 1950s, Los Angeles began a shift, and an eventual separation, of public housing from
urban redevelopment. The City experienced a move from community development to corporate development, a move which has significantly
shaped its urban landscape of today.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Photograph Collection is comprised of 225 black and white photographs, which
were produced by the Los Angeles Housing Authority during the 1940s and 1950s. These photographs depict images of public housing
projects such as Elysian Park Heights (Chavez Ravine), Rose Hill Courts, Pueblo del Rio, Aliso Village, Hacienda Village,
William Mead Homes, Estrada Courts, Ramona Gardens, Basilone Homes and Rodger Young Village. Also included in the collection
are photographs of public housing officials Frank Wilkinson and Howard Holtzendorff, housing advocate Monsignor Thomas O'Dwyer,
and municipal officials including Los Angeles Mayors Fletcher Bowron and Norris Poulson. Additionally represented here are
powerful images of Los Angeles slum conditions during the 1940s.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
Wilkinson, Frank, 1914-2006
Holtzendorff, Howard
Bowron, Fletcher, 1887-1968
Poulson, Norris, 1895-1982
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Pacoima (Los Angeles, Calif.)
San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Housing
Housing developments
City planning
Community centers
Municipal services
Quonset huts
Veterans
Soldiers' homes
Photographic prints