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Covenants: Race and Housing in the 1940s

Jeffrey D. Gonda

in Unjust Deeds: The Restrictive Covenant Cases and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement

Chapter one introduces the litigants in the covenant cases against the backdrop of the housing crisis that seized the nation during the 1940s. A widespread shortage of decent homes compounded the ... More

Chapter one introduces the litigants in the covenant cases against the backdrop of the housing crisis that seized the nation during the 1940s. A widespread shortage of decent homes compounded the tensions wrought by mass migration and an intensifying rights-conscious debate over access to homeownership. This chapter argues that the shortage of decent shelter forced the housing issue to the forefront of African Americans’ civil rights concerns and that restrictive covenants stood at the center of the ensuing fight. Exploring the processes of covenant breaking and enforcement, the chapter also illustrates the impact that racial restrictions had in the lives of black home-seekers and what they meant to both black and white communities.Less

Mr. and Mrs. Builder

Richard Harris

in Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914-1960

By 1949, there had been a boom in owner-building across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Owners accounted for a third of all new houses and a quarter of all dwellings of any kind, which were ... More

By 1949, there had been a boom in owner-building across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Owners accounted for a third of all new houses and a quarter of all dwellings of any kind, which were often being constructed outside city limits. Homesteading was taking place everywhere, in clustered developments and scattered locations. Despite the scarcity of building materials, the Canadian and U.S. governments helped to revive the building industry, the latter through a new Veterans Emergency Housing Program. Once they realized the magnitude of the amateur building boom, consumer magazines began to cater to owner-builders by offering assistance in the form of plans and tips. Newspapers, publishers, and plan companies did the same. Together, they convinced consumers that house construction was not as complicated as it sounded, that “anyone can build a house.” The idea caught on among amateur builders frustrated by the postwar housing shortage.Less

Evolving agendas in rural housing

Madhu Satsangi, Nick Gallent, and Mark Bevan

in The rural housing question: Community and planning in Britain's countrysides

Early reviews are important for they reveal how concerns for rural housing, rural economies and rural communities have evolved over the last century. However, these concerns, traceable in a variety ... More

Early reviews are important for they reveal how concerns for rural housing, rural economies and rural communities have evolved over the last century. However, these concerns, traceable in a variety of inquiry spots, have become more sophisticated, more focused on the link between communities and economies and less concerned with superficial state of housing stock. However, they failed to become sophisticated enough, missing the bigger picture and failing to spot the housing shortages after the nationalisation of development rights and the creation of a comprehensive system of land-use planning. This chapter reviews and charts the trajectory of concern over the last century. It provides samples of key inquiries from the different parts of Britain, examines their main concerns and considers the extent to which they addressed ‘rural fundamentals’. Did they advance understanding of the rural housing question, or did they instead generate lists of actions that governments might take to placate sections of the rural population, like using sticking plasters for gaping wounds?Less

The Growth in Property Ownership by African Americans in Harlem

Kevin McGruder

in Race and Real Estate: Conflict and Cooperation in Harlem, 1890-1920

This chapter discusses the increased property ownership of blacks in Harlem. From 1910 to 1920 the African American residential presence in Harlem continued to grow, pushed both by the movement of ... More

This chapter discusses the increased property ownership of blacks in Harlem. From 1910 to 1920 the African American residential presence in Harlem continued to grow, pushed both by the movement of black New Yorkers from the midtown Manhattan neighborhoods and by the dramatic increase in blacks moving to New York after 1914. Racial restrictions on housing in Manhattan meant that many of these new residents came to Harlem, where they exacerbated a housing shortage that was being felt citywide. The late 1910s saw a significant rise in black property ownership. The close proximity of the apartment buildings purchased by blacks in Harlem, the acquisition of two full blocks of townhouses by African Americans, and the publicity about these purchases in the publication New York Age solidified the perception among African Americans that Harlem was a community in which the African American residents owned a significant amount of property. By the end of the decade, almost two-thirds of the blacks in Manhattan lived within the four assembly districts that spanned Harlem. Within these districts, African Americans accounted for approximately 22 percent of the population.Less

The housing squeeze

in Extending Themselves: User Initiated Transformations of Government-built Housing in Developing Countries

This chapter discusses the following: the scale and nature of the housing shortage; housing adjustment theory; housing stress, shocks, and triggers; the choice between moving and improving; household ... More

This chapter discusses the following: the scale and nature of the housing shortage; housing adjustment theory; housing stress, shocks, and triggers; the choice between moving and improving; household size and composition; increase in housing space; increase in house size through transformation; habitable space; proportion of space that is habitable; occupancy rates of main households; space and rooms occupied before and after transformation; and increase in space per person through transformation.Less

Personal tales

Lynne Attwood

in Gender and Housing in Soviet Russia: Private Life in a Public Space

This chapter draws on the memories of Soviet citizens themselves, presenting the results of a series of in-depth interviews with people who, between them, lived through the full range of Soviet ... More

This chapter draws on the memories of Soviet citizens themselves, presenting the results of a series of in-depth interviews with people who, between them, lived through the full range of Soviet housing possibilities. Interviews were carried out in Moscow and St. Petersburg between March 2002 and May 2006, with a total of sixteen people. All but one of the respondents had experience of communal living. The neighbours were the most important and, usually, the most difficult aspect of life in the communal apartment. Violence was sometimes a problem in communal apartments. It is suggested that women who were unable to find husbands in the post-war decades might live their entire adult lives in hostel accommodation. The move to the single-family apartment made child care a more pressing issue. The importance of housing, and the ways in which the housing shortage distorted people's intimate lives are shown.Less

Housing and urban renewal: the case of Germany

Jürgen Friedrichs, Rolf Müller, and Wendelin Strubelt

in Renewing Europe's housing

The two post-war German states were founded in 1949. In the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), policy was dominated initially by the shortage of housing following the war. Population increase ... More

The two post-war German states were founded in 1949. In the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), policy was dominated initially by the shortage of housing following the war. Population increase led in the 1960s and 1970s to the building of many new single family houses and large peripheral housing estates. Plans to demolish older houses in inner city areas were criticised, leading in the 1970s to a popular movement against further destruction. From 1971 to 1990 a programme co-financed by the FRG and the constituent states (Länder) supported housing renewal in older inner city areas and historic towns; and was followed from 1999 by the Social City programme, focussing on deprived neighbourhoods. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) faced similar housing problems to the FRG but chose different strategies to deal with them. New industrialised housing was constructed, and existing housing neglected. By 1988, only 9 per cent of housing in the GDR was in ‘good condition’. After reunification in 1990, renewal became a primary focus for urban policy in the former GDR: inner cities were redeveloped and system-built housing estates renewed or demolished. Demand for private housing led to suburbanisation. In 2005, the federal government began the further decentralisation of housing responsibilities to the Länder, including support for modernising the housing stock as part of the urban renewal process.Less

Introduction

in Black 1919: Riots, Racism and Resistance in Imperial Britain

This chapter investigates various themes that lay behind the port riots. These are the broader economic and social context of the riots, contested understandings of national identity and ... More

This chapter investigates various themes that lay behind the port riots. These are the broader economic and social context of the riots, contested understandings of national identity and ‘Britishness’, the vagaries of life in Britain's seaports, theories of crowd behaviour, and an evaluation of the effects of racist thought within sections of British society. General demonstrations of post-war resentment across many sections of British society were in the large seaports specifically focused on job and housing shortages. The cultural dimension of shared identities and common experiences among black people in the ‘black Atlantic’ world contributed to the debate on identity and the inter-connectedness of colonial and metropolitan experience. The riots in 1919 erupted in poverty-stricken port communities and were frequently presented by poorly unionised workers. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in the book is given.Less

“Adventure … Begins at Home”

in Of War and Men: World War II in the Lives of Fathers and Their Families

This chapter examines the challenges faced by the veterans with the housing shortage in the U.S. in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It explains that during this period, the U.S. experienced a period ... More

This chapter examines the challenges faced by the veterans with the housing shortage in the U.S. in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It explains that during this period, the U.S. experienced a period of high inflation and most jobs were available in metropolises. It highlights the importance of G.I. Bill in helping veterans send their children going to school and in purchasing property with little or no down payment. This chapter also discusses the success of William J. Levitt in the real estate business.Less

A Zelig of the American Cultural Economy

Richard Harris

in Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914-1960

The rise of the home improvement industry was made possible by the collective prosperity that brought more people into the middle class. Although most property owners had always tried to maintain ... More

The rise of the home improvement industry was made possible by the collective prosperity that brought more people into the middle class. Although most property owners had always tried to maintain their homes in decent repair, they could now afford to steadily improve them through modernization, alterations, or additions. Lumber dealers began to be patronized by consumers and were forced to diversify, thus severing some of their established ties with the lumber trade. The level of urban home ownership soared, and a home improvement industry emerged, propelled by the postwar housing shortage and a do-it-yourself boom. One of the lessons of the emergence of home improvement is that the markets are determined not only by consumers, industry, and the state, but also by the media.Less