The National Housing Act of 1934

The National Housing Act of 1934. Urban Renewal in Asheville. During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the National Housing Act of 1934 as part of the New Deal. The Housing Act created low-cost home buying, farm buying, home improvement, and farm improvement loans for White people. Homeownership replaced job income as the primary way for middle-class and lower-middle-class White families to amass wealth., Meanwhile, the Housing Act's unequal policies undermined Black property values and evicted millions of Black people from their homes. The Housing Act authorized seizing and demolishing homes and businesses that it called "blighted." Nationwide, segregated Black neighborhoods made up the majority of areas targeted for destruction. The Housing Act called for replacing homes, one-for-one, with rental public housing units., The East Riverside Urban Renewal Project in Asheville targeted the Black-majority Southside neighborhood. The homes of half of Asheville's Black residents were demolished. Roads were re-routed. The majority of Black residents were moved into public housing., (captions) , Top: The Isaiah Rice Collection of photos presents images of Black home and community life in Asheville from the 1950s through the 1970s. In this candid photo, a family gathers around their kitchen table to share a meal (ca. 1960). Isaiah Rice Photograph Colection, D. Hiden Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of Asheville, Asheville, NC, 1950 Public housing was first introduced in the United States during the 1930s to meet the crisis of the Great Depression. Hillcrest Public Housing Complex opened in 1959 for Blacks in need of housing. Aerial view of Hillcrest (1950). Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina, 1960 The Southside neighborhood was a historically Black neighborhood in Asheville before urban renewal devastated the neighborhood in the name of progress. Southside residents on Southside Avenue (ca. 1960s). Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina, 1970 The Isaiah Rice Collection of photos presents images of Black home and community life in Asheville from the 1950s through the 1970s. In this posed photo, a family is gathered outdoors during a celebration. (ca. 1970s). Isaiah Rice Photograph Collection, D. Hiden Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, 2023 Marcell Proctor, President of River Front Development Group (RFDG), and Caroline Mitchell RFDG's Executive Director, photographed at RFDG's headquarters at the historic Berry Temple. Mr. Proctor grew up in Lyman Hollow in Asheville's Southside neighborhood. His parents lost their home during urban renewal. Mr. Proctor co-founded River Front Development Group, a nonprofit community development corporation, to advocate for affordable housing and improved living conditions for all people. Photo by William Hornaday courtesy of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County