Atlanta’s 1940s War on Slums

LeeAnn Lands, Kennesaw State University

Local anti-slum programs operated independently of, alongside, and in concert with the various federal housing initiatives that surfaced in the mid-20th century. Code enforcement, for example, was a key local contribution to the anti-slum movement, though enforcement was at times inconsistent. And, as World War II ramped up and put federal housing plans on hold, local initiatives promoted the housing interests of war workers and later returning GIs. In the post-war era, as wartime conditions abated, local housing initiatives continued, at times operating independently of and at times directly supporting federally funded slum clearance and housing development projects. This study documents how, beginning in the early 1940s, Atlanta’s leaders prioritized and implemented Atlanta-authored anti-slum initiatives as they debated the role of federally led housing rehabilitation, slum clearance, and – despite the city’s historic role in establishing public housing – federally subsidized low-cost housing. And it details the ways in which propertied interests – and rental property owners in particular – exploited and sometimes waylaid anti-slum efforts. In this way, this study adds to our understanding of locally initiated low-cost housing efforts. Additionally, by exposing the workings of Atlanta’s leaders during this critical period, the study reveals how an emerging Sunbelt regime attempted to balance the demands of private enterprise with the benefits offered by urban planning and federal urban programs. Moreover, by detailing resistance to anti-slum efforts, the study exposes the workings and character of an often messy and at times exploitative private, low-cost rental housing market.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 36. Mapping Atlanta's Historical Geographies of Race, Class, and Justice II