Public Housing, Racial Policies, and Civil Rights: The Intergroup Relations Branch of the Federal Public Housing Administration, 1936-1963
Public housing at the federal level was introduced in 1937 and was intended to provide public financing of low-cost housing in the form of publicly-managed and owned multifamily developments. This collection includes directives and memoranda related to the Public Housing Administration's policies and procedures. Among the documents are civil rights correspondence, statements and policy about race, labor-based state activity records, local housing authorities' policies on hiring minorities, court cases involving housing decisions, racially-restrictive covenants, and news clippings. The intra-agency correspondence consists of reports on sub-Cabinet groups on civil rights, racial policy, employment, and Commissioner's staff meetings.