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Records of the National Capital Housing Authority

(Record Group 302)
1916-63 (Bulk 1934-63)
71 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

• 302.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  
• 302.2 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL HOUSING AUTHORITY 1934-63 75 lin. ft.
  
• 302.2.1 General records
  
• 302.2.2 Records of the Executive Director
  
• 302.2.3 Records of the Assistant Executive Director
  
• 302.2.4 Records of the Director of Management
  
• 302.3 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL) 1916-38 474 images
  

 302.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: As an independent agency by EO 9344, May 21, 1943.

Predecessor Agencies:

• The Authority (1934)
  
• Alley Dwelling Authority (1934-43)
  

Functions: Provided low-rent housing in the District of Columbia by slum clearance. Constructed temporary housing for defense workers and military personnel during World War II.

Abolished: Effective July 1, 1974, by the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (87 Stat. 779), December 24, 1973.

Successor Agencies: National Capital Housing Authority, Government of the District of Columbia.

Finding Aids: Katherine H. Davidson, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National Capital Housing Authority," NC 41 (Dec. 1963).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the National Capital Housing Authority in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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 302.2 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL HOUSING AUTHORITY
1934-63
75 lin. ft.

History: An independent agency, designated "The Authority," established by the District of Columbia Alley Dwelling Act (48 Stat. 930), June 12, 1934, to engage in slum reclamation in squares containing inhabited alleys. Renamed Alley Dwelling Authority by EO 6868, October 9, 1934, which designated its membership and outlined its functions. Redesignated National Capital Housing Authority, 1943. SEE 302.1.

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 302.2.1 General records

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1935-49. Administrative records, including housing surveys, and reports on housing applications, inspections, and conferences, 1935-51. Interagency correspondence, 1934-47. Records relating to the low-rent housing program, 1941-51. Policy and procedural guides, 1946-55. Site case files, 1934-57.

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 302.2.2 Records of the Executive Director

Textual Records: Subject file, 1934-63. Speeches, statements, and related records, 1935-45.

Slides (11 images): Housing conditions, used in an address by Executive Director John Ihlder, 1949 (CS). SEE ALSO 302.3.

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 302.2.3 Records of the Assistant Executive Director

Textual Records: Subject file, 1934-49.

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 302.2.4 Records of the Director of Management

Textual Records: Records relating to the postwar disposition of temporary and mobile housing units and upward movement of high income tenants from subsidized housing, 1945-51. Management and audit reports, 1945-51. Minutes and summaries of meetings of the section supervisors' staff, Division of Operations, 1945-51.

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 302.3 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1916-38
474 images

Photographs (400 images): Inhabited alleys, substandard housing, and low-rent housing in DC; housing in Maryland and Virginia suburbs of DC, and in New York City; and a 1935 ceremony, attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, to mark the beginning of the demolition of DC substandard alley housing, 1916-41 (DC).

Lantern Slides (74 images): Interior and exterior views of poor housing and newly constructed low-rent housing; floor plans; and DC maps showing alley housing, 1935-38 (LS).

SEE Slides UNDER 302.2.2.

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Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.

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