Join Dr. Chris Stacey for a discussion about the early years of public housing in Chicago. In 1937, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) was established as a state-charted institution. The CHA was a municipal not-for-profit corporation, governed by commissioners who were appointed by the Mayor of Chicago. The CHA was initially governed and run by Progressive housing reformers who sought to use public housing to rescue poor families from slum conditions. This is a tale about how the CHA was deeply influenced by federal guidelines on site selection, tenant selection, and the cost of building housing projects, which ultimately determined the course of public housing in Chicago throughout the 20th Century.
RSVP: https://chicago.alumni.columbia.edu/history_of_chicago_origins_of_the_chicago_housing_authority