Public Housing in Cleveland: A History of Firsts
BROWSE ALL IMAGES IN THIS COLLECTION
Map of existing and planned public housing projects in Cleveland, 1961
Valleyview public housing project looking towards Public Square, 1940.
Children drawing at Lakeview Terrace public housing project, 1940.
Housing arithmetic for World War II housing shortage, 1946.
Main Avenue Bridge in the foreground with Lakeview Terrace public housing project in the background, 1941.
CMHA residents protest lack of security guards, 1974.
Arguably, Cleveland is the birthplace of public housing. Ernest J. Bohn pushed for the development of public housing, which led to Cleveland being the home of many national public housing firsts. This list includes, but is not limited to, the first public housing law, first public housing authority (Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority), and the first federal housing project. See a timeline of events.
This exhibit documents the visual history of the development of public housing in Cleveland using photographs from the Cleveland Press Collection.
For Further Study:
- From The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
- Books
- Do I dare disturb the universe? : from the projects to prep school by Charlise Lyles (Faber & Faber, ©1994)
- Genius in public housing : an anthology/writings from residents of Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Cleveland, Ohio (Gregory Pub. Co., ©1998)
- eBooks
- Promises of Power: a political autobiography by Carl B. Stokes (©1974) [p. 123-124 in particular deal with the CMHA and public housing]
- Websites:
- The Genius of Public Housing - Online video
- HUD Interactive Timeline
Credits and Appreciation:
This website is the practicum project of Library and Information Science student, Caitlin Gelin-Milan. She would like to thank the Michael Schwartz Library staff in Special Collections, the Digital Production Unit and Library Systems for their help and guidance.
