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Housing letter
Currently on display
Not a part of the official Smithsonian Collection
In true bureaucratic spirit, the telegram protesting the demolition of homes and business along the Congress Expressway route was forwarded to the Housing and Home Finance Agency. The agency responded, in a letter dated the day before evictions were to begin, that the highway was a local issue and should be taken up with the local housing expediter.
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Physical Description |
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Letter. Response from Housing and Home Finance Agency, September 24, 1948 to Telegram.
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Details |
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Credit: | Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration
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History |
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The first highway project the City of Chicago elected to undertake was the West route, from the Loop straight through the West Side industrial area, and low income and slum neighborhoods. Using plans that were developed back in the 1920s and 1930s, the city took advantage of its expanding powers of eminent domain to condemn, acquire, and demolish a wide swath of residential, commercial, and industrial properties all along the 8 mile route by 1950.
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Related People, Places, and Events |
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Place of Use
Chicago, Illinois
Related Event
Highway Construction
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