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Proquest Dissertations A social experiment in Greenbelt, Maryland: Class, gender, and public housing, 1935-1954 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Kerns, Jennifer K. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 11/10/2021 08:24:20 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280110 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illusfrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overiaps. ProQuest Informatior. and LeumlnQ 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600__ ® UMI A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT IN GREENBELT, MARYLAND: CLASS, GENDER, AND PUBLIC HOUSING, 1935-1954 by Jennifer Karen Kems A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2002 UMI Number: 3060988 ® UMI UMI Microform 3060988 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and teaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADCATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Jennifer Karen Kems entitled ^ Social Experiment in Greenbelt, Maryland: Class, Gender, and Public Housing, 1935-1954 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dr. Kar^ Anderson i '~)(Xll x> Dr. fibi^il Van^Sl^fc DilT"^ ly^'^ Icj ? Dr. Sarah Deursch Date ' Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Dissertation Director Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers imder rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED^ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work in this dissertation could not have been done without the help, support, and advice of a great many people. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I acknowledge and thank some of the colleagues, friends, and family who have so readily given me their time and good will. The director of this dissertation, Karen Anderson, is a wonderful model of academic and intellectual pursuit. During my first years as a graduate student, I was awed by Karen's keen insight into the complex issues of women's history; I continue to be so. 1 thank Karen for her careful guidance of this project, as well as of my graduate career. I also thai\k Sarah Deutsch for her kind willingness to join my committee on short notice and despite the press of other duties. Her amazing insight and background were priceless additions to this project of which I am very grateful. Abigail Van Slyck's acute interpretations into the social history ardiitecture prompted this project in the first place. I thank her for inspiring this project and for her thoughtful comments on the work. I could have never achieved my goals as a historian and graduate student without these three brilliant individuis to whom I owe a great debt. I also want to thank the following institutions for their aid in this project: the City of Greenbelt, the Greenbelt Museum, the Greenbelt Public Library, the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, the Franldin and Eleanor Roosevelt Research Institute in Hyde Park, New York, and the University of Maryland College Park Library. I was also fortunate to work v^th extraordinary faculty members of Arizona's Department of History. I thank Laura TabUi, Katherine Morrissey, Sharla Fett, Jack Marietta, Reeve Huston and Patrick Miller for honing my skills and aiding in my becoming a professional historian. I am particularly thankful to have worked with Maureen Fitzgerald, an intellectual inspiration and thankfully, a good friend. University of Arizona graduate students who have specially afforded me their generosity, encouragement and friendship are Lori Speagle, Sherri Goldstein Cash, Vicki Cook, Andrea Peake, Peter Alter, Cathleen Dooley, Deborah Marlow, Mark Miller, Michael Rembis, Tim Boyle and Sharon Bailey -Glasco. 1 want to thank Megan Taylor-Shockley in particular for reading my dissertation at the final stages of this process. Her insight was invaluable. I am lucky enough to have too many friends to name in this acknowledgement. I must, however, name Jermifer Oman and Kate Demeester for carefully reading and commenting on this project at a time when I desperately needed help "seeing" the words. Thank you! Lastly, I must thank my wonderful extended family for their long-term support of me. Specifically, I must recognize my parents, Joe and Vicki Kems, who have been exception^y supportive of me during this process. They always told me that I could achieve anything I wanted; I owe the fact that I actually completed this dissertation to tfieir support. Finally, I thank my partner Eric Robison for love, laughter, friendship, shared dreams and his steadfast belief in me. This Dissertation is Dedicated to: My Partner. Eric Robison & My Father and Mother, Joe and Vicki Kerns 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 8 ABSTRACT 9 INTRODUCTION: GREENBELT TOWNS AS THE SOLUTIONS TO AMERICA'S CLASS TENSIONS 11 CHAPTER 1: CREATING AND CONDUCTING THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT IN GREENBELT 41 Theorizing the Ideal Community 41 Understanding the Problem 50 Addressing the Problem through Federal Intervention 55 The Planning 60 The Controversial Aspects of Greenbelt 65 The Construction of Greenbelt as Employment for Relief Labor 69 Greenbelt is for Families 78 The Town Welcomes Residents 79 CHAPTER 2: THE CHILDREN OF GREENBELT: A FOCUS OF REFORM 85 Naming the Problem 91 A Town Plan for Children 99 Creating Privacy and Protecting Innocence 114 Beneficiaries 120 The Education of Greenbelt Children 131 Civic and Recreation Activities as Alternatives to Juvenile Delinquency 135 Get to the Children, and You Will Get to the Parents 144 Success: Representations of Planners' Achievements 147 CHAPTER 3: (RE)CONSTRUCTING MOTHERHOOD IN GREENBELT 152 Tenant Selection: Finding the Future Mothers of Greenbelt 156 Architecture and Town Planning 168 Administering Domesticity 178 Teaching Motherhood and Domestic Skills 184 Greenbelt has a Baby Boom 198 CHAPTER 4: PROMOTING QTIZENSHIP AND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION IN GREENBELT 201 The Town Plan and Community Cohesion 212 The Organizations in Greenbelt 229 Consumerism and Cooperation 245 Independence in Greenbelt 250 Civic Pride 254 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS-Continued CHAPTER 5: GREENBELT DURING WORLD WAR TWO AND BEYOND 258 Design and Town-Plan of the Defense Section: Reform Subsides 264 The Original Residents Respond 271 Women and Work during the War 278 Gender, Employment, and Visions for the Post-War Commvmity 287 The Elimination of Recreational Programs 292 Persistence in Gendering the Community 297 Temperance 300 The Question of Juvenile Delinquency 303 EPILOGUE: THE FEDEBIAL GOVERNMENT OFnCIALLY ABANDONS GREENBELT 310 WORKS CITED 334 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1,1, "Greenbelt, Plan, Greenbelt, MD" 41 Figure 1.2, "Resettlement Administrator R.G. Tugwell Examines Foundations of Houses Under Construction at Greenbelt, MD" 49 Figure 1.3, "The President, Dr. Tugwell, and Dr. Alexander at Greenbelt, Maryland" 65 Figure 1.4, "Men leaving work at Greenbelt, Maryland" 69 Figure 1.5, "Men Receiving their Paychecks" 74 Figure 1.6, Untitled Photograph of African-American Male Laborer 76 Figure 1.7, "Men Arriving to Work" 77 Figure 2.1, "Threshold to Home" 96 Figure 2.2, Resettlement Administration Publication Photographs 101 Figure 2.3, "Children at Greenbelt" 108 Figure 2.4, "Underpass. Greenbelt, Maryland" 112 Figure 2.5, "Underpass at Greenbelt, Maryland" 112 Figure 2.6, "Mrs. Atkins Putting Ann to Bed in her Room" 119 Figure 2.7, Statue by Lenore Thomas 151 Figure 3.1, "Residents of Greenbelt" 166 Figure 3.2, "Greenbelt Maryland Home with Flowers" 173 Figure 3.3, "Clothesline in Greenbelt" 174 Figure 3.4, "Interior of Kitchen.
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