Found in the Archives

by fdrlibrary, posted in Found in the Archives

FDR and Housing Legislation

FDR in Pittsburgh, PA at the Terrace Village Housing Project dedication.
October 11, 1940

September 1, 2012 marked the 75th anniversary of the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act, a piece of late-New Deal legislation that reflected the government’s recognition of adequate housing as an important societal need.

This law established the United States Housing Authority (USHA), which provided $500 million in loans for low-cost housing projects across the country. To Franklin Roosevelt, adequate housing was not just a need, but a right. The Wagner-Steagall Housing Act of 1937, along with other New Deal housing and mortgage initiatives, brought greater economic security to hundreds of thousands of Americans.

For more information on the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act, including documents and photographs from the FDR Library’s archives, please visit: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/housing.html