Making, Preserving, and Redeveloping Public Housing in the United States

Making, Preserving, and Redeveloping Public Housing in the United States DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Patrick R. Potyondy Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2016 Dissertation Committee: Steven Conn, Advisor Lilia Fernández Clayton Howard David Staley Copyrighted by Patrick R. Potyondy 2016 Abstract Although a negative reputation still weighs down America’s public housing as a whole, its New Deal incarnation proved to be generally successful. The history of Columbus, Ohio’s first development Poindexter Village illustrates this. Initially, the project’s construction displaced an established neighborhood; it continued the racial segregation already in place. In response, the black residents formed a strong community, in spite of the challenges facing them. All this solidified into a stout base around which contemporary public history activists rallied in an attempt to save the place from destruction. In the end, they could not save the entirety. Nonetheless, they sparked interest in its history from the Near East Side neighborhood and community stakeholders from across the entire city. They show, in short, how much the public remains invested in its history and the history of public housing. Poindexter Village is only one such example of this; it was public housing that worked. From its opening in 1940, it became a bulwark of the black Near East Side, a social anchor institution for the otherwise neglected African-American community. Soon after moving in, they made a strong community based upon shared values, mutuality, and safety. In later years, as former residents and community stakeholders looked back upon the place’s history, their history, they expressed a deep, abiding connection to the place, founded upon that positive historical memory. In this, Poindexter Village is not unique. Communities across the United States have also valued their own public housing ii developments that either once were or still are home. Over thirty such “projects” have achieved listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Using an array of sources, the following chapters ask a series of inter-related questions: what type of a neighborhood existed prior to Poindexter Village? What type of community did public housing residents make? What aspects of the architecture and urban planning did residents make use of and engage? Why, in sum, were so many people so passionately dedicated to preserving Poindexter Village and its history? This case study led to me to inquire if, where, why, and how public housing developments were preserved and commemorated nationally. Chapter 1 describes the neighborhood formation and conditions prior to the construction of Poindexter Village. It highlights not only the substandard housing that dominated the area between the turn of the century and 1940, but also the racial segregation that black residents both resisted and made use of. Chapter 2 examines the planning and construction of Poindexter Village during the 1930s. Primarily utilizing primary sources of policymakers and professionals, Columbus’ first public housing project tied into international design trends and aspirations of the Progressive Era. Ultimately, they set the stage for the successful community formation that residents themselves made, which is recounted in Chapter 3. Based upon what people saw as their shared values, common bonds, and a sense of communal safety, Poindexter’s residents created a strong, vibrant community that served as a core basis for positive memories down the road. iii The dissertation next turns to recent efforts to preserve and redevelop New Deal era public housing. Chapter 4 recounts the proposed demolition of the Village in 2008 and how local community stakeholders responded the following years. Although unable to reverse the tide completely, former residents sustained a type of public history activism long enough that proved captivating for residents across Columbus to be drawn into preserving the place’s history. Activists successfully altered a multi-million urban redevelopment scheme and in so doing, show that urban planning organizations ignore community input at their peril. Finally, Chapter 5 pulls back for a broader view to analyze why thirty-three public housing developments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Combined, Chapters 4 and 5, challenge the elite-dominated nature of historic preservation in the United States. iv Dedication For my mother, father, sister, brother, and life-partner. v Acknowledgments For students to achieve anything, they need to call on the support and expertise of their teachers, time and time again. I want to first thank Steve Conn for serving as my advisor over six years of graduate education—I grew immeasurably during my time. I also want to thank Lilia Fernández for being another huge influence on my thinking. She was always willing to read another draft or offer an independent study. I also need to thank Clay Howard and David Staley, not only for serving on this dissertation committee but for making it so much better and thoughtful than it otherwise would have been. Many other professors educated me during my time at Ohio State, and they also deserve my great thanks: Paula Baker, Kevin Boyle, Nick Breyfogle, Theodora Dragostinova, Susan Hartmann, Robin Judd, Stephanie Shaw, and Richard Ugland, Judy Wu. I was also lucky enough to have several excellent professors during my undergraduate time: Peter Boag, Ralph Mann, and Ginger Guardiola of history, Jennifer Bair of sociology, and Cheryl Higashida in English helped me professionally while also revealing ways to better understand the world. Many thanks, again, for all of your time and energy. As such, I was lucky to belong to a great cohort of Americanists at Ohio State’s History Department, and these friends deserve special thanks. Mark Boonshoft read countless drafts of anything I put in front of him, asked hard questions, encouraged me to make my work better, and was always willing to get a drink when I needed one. Members vi of the Dissertation Alliance—“DA” for short—kept me going as well. Delia Fernández, Hideaki Kami, Adrienne Winans, and Leticia Wiggins provided sharp insights, tireless edits, and, perhaps most importantly, great conversation. Wendy Soltz’s excellent editing made each chapter better, but she also deserves special thanks for helping conceive of the entire research project in the first place. Conversations with Emily Arendt, Joe Arena, and Tyran Steward made me a better student, teacher, and intellectual. Karen Roberts, now of the Ohio History Connection, also made the overall project better in several ways, whether critiquing my ideas or now facilitating the donation of the project’s oral histories. Cristina Benedetti helped collect oral histories, which added to the research considerably. Jim Bach saved me on more than one occasion from the impenetrable OSU bureaucracy, while also always being available for a good chat. And the folks of the weekly pickup soccer games I played throughout my time here were a perfect, fun, and necessary stress relief. A huge thanks to all of you. In the phrasing of one of my professors, historians are scroungers, looking for any and all sources in an attempt to reconstruct the past. Countless individuals have aided my meandering research efforts during this project the last few years. For sharing their expertise and time, I am grateful to the staff members at the institutions I visited in person or contacted electronically. Specifically, I want to thank Justin Cook of the Ohio History Connection; Randy Black of the Historic Preservation Office of the City of Columbus; Trudy Bartley, Penney Letrud, and Deidre Hamlar of Partners Achieving Community Transformation; Bob Clark of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum; Holly Reed of the National Archives & Records Administration; and Bryan vii Brown and Shellie Zaayer of the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority. The staff of all the state historic preservation offices often proved incredibly helpful in responding to my requests. Moreover, this dissertation would not have been possible without the many individuals who willingly gave their time to record their oral histories: Randy Black, Leslie Bridges, Justin Cook, Oretha Edwards, Steven “Paco” Grier, Calvin L. Hairston, Marilyn A. Kendrick, Rick Livingston, Cynthia Mastin, Horace “Ike” Newsum, Chief Baba Shongo Obadina, Julie Marie Whitney Scott, Roland Stepney, Daniel Sturkey, and Laura Tompkins. I also owe a special debt to the members of the Coalition for the Responsible and Sustainable Development of the Near East Side and the Poindexter and the James Preston Poindexter Foundation. Not only have they worked tirelessly to highlight and preserve local history; they have helped me in my efforts, especially Julialynne Walker, S. Yolanda Robinson, and Horace “Ike” Newsum. My thanks to you all. Perhaps most important of all, I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of my family. Although she won’t be there at my graduation, I continuously draw inspiration from my mom, Monica, both to excel academically and to be a better person. My dad, John, has always been supportive in so many ways. And I’m lucky enough to have not one but two older siblings who helped me grow: Lena and Eric can’t know just how much I owe them. My extended family, too, has been the best in direct and indirect

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