Washtenaw-Sherwin Homes, 1946-1953

(An earlier version of this article was published on the site in 2015.)

When WWII veterans returned home, they faced a severe housing shortage.  One government remedy was to repurpose housing built for war workers into inexpensive rentals for returning soldiers and their families. Areas identified for temporary housing were typically government-owned and sparsely developed. And this is how a series of pre-fab homes ended up in an undeveloped park in West Ridge.

Current Aerial image of Rogers Park showing the 
location of the temporary veterans housing in red. 

During WWII, the demand for housing to support the war effort jump-started the prefabrication industry, which had long promised mass-produced, inexpensive homes.  Wartime contracts sometimes resulted in cities appearing practically overnight.  A memorable example is Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where 75,000 people were housed and employed to process the uranium needed for the Manhattan Project.  At the end of the war, these homes (and similar ones across the country) were considered surplus and made available as emergency housing for returning veterans.  Residential structures from Oak Ridge actually ended up in Chicago's Hanson Park area.

 
In the West Ridge neighborhood, the Chicago Board of Education (which built the nearby Rogers School in 1936) leased a 10-acre plot to the Chicago Housing Authority, which received City of Chicago funding to prepare the site and install utilities.  But it was not clear sailing.  Mayor Edward Kelley sought greater Federal reimbursements, freezing the program in the summer of 1946 until he was satisfied that the Federal Government would provide additional financial support. 

Although the area was sparsely developed, nearby residents were not pleased.  They didn't see temporary housing as a good way to increase property values, and they knew the area would soon attract private development.  They petitioned CHA to choose another site but were reassured that all temporary housing for veterans would be demolished within three years. The project moved forward.

Chicago Park District photo with the Washtenaw-
Sherwin veterans' housing in the far distance (1947). 
Accessed through the Explore Chicago Collections at 
https://explore.chicagocollections.org/image/chipublib/247/nk37s08/

Soon, twenty panelized buildings relocated from Seneca, Illinois, and Evansville, Indiana stood on the formerly vacant land south of Rogers School.  Twenty-five feet wide and 116 feet long, each one-story barrack-like structure accommodated six families.  To allow the installation of demountable residences, Kelly's City Council had also waived the Chicago Building and Fire Codes.  

The temporary housing program also had a racial component.  Of the returning veterans, 20% were black. Previously, CHA based its racial policy on the Neighborhood Composition Rule, which meant that public housing observed the predominant racial makeup of the surrounding area.  In 1946, this was changed to support a policy of integration.  Several of the integrated developments attracted anger and violence from surrounding white residents, including those near Midway Airport, Fernwood Park, and Edison Park.  It's unclear whether the Washtenaw-Sherwin Homes were integrated, but it seems unlikely. A change in leadership from Mayor Kelly to the less racially progressive Martin Kennelly likely also affected the CHA policy.  In the end, approximately half of the temporary veterans' housing projects were integrated.

Temporary housing for veterans on the Midway
Plaisance near the University of Chicago campus (1951).
Accessed through the Explore Chicago Collections at
https://explore.chicagocollections.org/image/uchicago/94/xw48d8k/
 

In 1947, the Chicago Park District took the opportunity to acquire some of the surrounding land, and by 1950 a new 20-acre park had been established to the east.  

Despite CHA's promises, the trailers weren't removed until 1953.  By then, the homes had far outlived their design life, and many seemed unlikely to survive another Chicago winter. CHA moved remaining eligible families to permanent housing, and staff helped others find units in private developments. The underlying 10 acres were then absorbed into an expanded Rogers Park.

Collective memory of the temporary homes seemed to quickly fade.   In 1957, the Chicago Park District awarded a contract to further develop the park.  A Tribune article noted that the property had been used as a golf driving range, truck gardens, and a site for greenhouses.  But it doesn't mention buildings that housed 120 veterans and their families for seven years.

Of the twenty-three sites used for temporary veterans' housing in Chicago, very little evidence remains.  But while I was putting together the map for this post, I realized the large linden trees in the park sit between the north and south halves of the development, and perhaps they were planted to give the veterans and their families a sense of beauty and stability.  So maybe that's a small nod to history for those who know to look for it.

Map of Eighteen Remaining Temporary Housing Projects in 1951. Five trailer projects had already been demolished. Most sites were on the city's periphery. (Data from "Favor Razing of Temporary Vets Housing" noted below, with some intersections corrected/updated.)

Selected Sources

Bowly, Devereux. 2012. The Poorhouse: Subsidized Housing in Chicago. 2nd ed. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. https://search.worldcat.org/title/801409203.

"Start Housing Projects this Week to Aid GIs," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 24, 1946, 152. https://www.newspapers.com/image/195831593/

"Vet's Housing Work is Slowed by Shortages," Chicago Tribune, April 7, 1946, 31. https://www.newspapers.com/image/371987881/

"Kelly Predicts U.S. Will Pay Funds for Veterans' Homes," Chicago Tribune, June 18, 1946, 3. 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/372442339/

 "City to Speed Opening of 724 Homes for Vets," Chicago Tribune, June 27, 1946, 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/372476724/

"Here's Why Vets are Still Homeless," The Chicago Star, July 20, 1946, 16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/897873435/

"Favor Razing of Temporary Vets Housing," Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1951, 45. https://www.newspapers.com/image/370098790/

"Pontiac Homes, A Jalopy of a Village, Junked," Chicago Tribune, November 2, 1952, 197. 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/203768769/

"Rogers Park Contract Let for $246,177," Chicago Tribune, September 1, 1957, 85. 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/371297078/

Veteran's Housing in West Ridge, 1946-1947



A few months ago I wrote about an example of Defense Housing in Rogers Park built for war workers in 1942.  These were the result of strict Federal guidelines permitting only defense-oriented projects to receive priority use of building materials.  With the end of the war in sight by 1944 the country began to prepare to absorb about 16 million returning veterans.  These soldiers had left in the middle of a decade-long housing shortage, and would be returning to all parts of the country, not just areas that had benefited from wartime construction. 

Below is a draft of an article intended for the upcoming issue of AREA Chicago.  It will probably change a bit once I get comments from the editors.

In September of 1946 the Chicago Tribune printed an article announcing plans for a 92 unit development intended for WWII veterans on 3.6 acres on Ridge Avenue, north of Devon. At the time this was a sparsely developed area, dotted with the single family frame houses and small truck farms which comprised much of the early character of West Ridge.

The architect was listed as Edwin H. Mittelbusher of Howard T. Fischer & Associates, Inc. Mittelbusher served as the Assistant Chief Architect for the Chicago office of the Federal Housing Administration from 1940 to 1945. Howard Fisher was the founder of General Housing, Inc. and pioneered the development of pre-fabricated housing. He served as the director of the development board of industrial housing for the National Housing Agency in 1946-1947. In short, this development was designed by people skilled at working within a bureaucracy.



Damen-Ridge Garden Apartments, 1946.  Perspective view from Ridge looking Northwest.

The project itself consists of eight two-story brick veneer buildings with hipped roofs arranged around green inner courts. The outer courts accommodate parking areas. The buildings are a restrained version of the Colonial Revival, with modern touches, such as concrete sun shades on the first floor corners and entrance stairs illuminated with large glass block windows. They were constructed as a combination of 4 and 5 room rentals. This project was initiated under the Veteran's Emergency Housing Program (VEHP), but between the time these buildings were planned and when they were completed the VEHP became functionally obsolete.

The Veterans Emergency Housing Program was developed and proposed by Wilson Wyatt, former mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, at the direction of President Truman. The initial goal was to create 2.7 million housing units within two years to serve veterans, many of whom returned to crowded conditions and shared housing situations. To accomplish this wartime price and wage controls were intended to be maintained and priority was given to housing development through a series of initiatives. The bill establishing the VEHP was signed into law in May of 1946.

Six months later Republicans took control of Congress and eliminated much of the economic controls, resulting in a sharp increase in costs in response to pent-up demands. The program had been responsible for over 1 million housing starts in 1946, but many stood half-constructed due to shortages of building materials. Soon a home that would have sold for $6000 in 1945 was priced at $8,000. This was at a time when many veterans were marrying and beginning a family. Rather than buy a home at an inflated price many chose to find rental housing. This is the era reflected by the buildings in West Ridge constructed specifically for the returning veterans.


2212-30 W. Farwell and 2213-31 W. Morse, 1946.

The construction of these brick buildings was advertised in the Chicago Tribune in November of 1946.  The architects and builders are listed as Charles and Arthur Schreiber, who established their firm in 1938 and later went on to design many modernist structures in the Southwest.  These 4 and 5 room rentals were intended to accommodate 74 veteran families.  They are similar to earlier courtyard buildings in the neighborhood, but with large sunken courts and parking along the alley.  The restrained details, portal windows, and limestone door surrounds suggest the Moderne style, which lent itself to construction on a budget. 

6102-6122 N. Hamilton, 1947.

In February of 1947 the Chicago Tribune published an article about these three buildings, which were constructed as cooperative housing for veterans and designed by architect Clarence Johnson. They're traditional in form and ornamentation, including decorative entrances, corner quoins, water tables and limestone details. These are located on wide lots but are quite shallow due to the cemetery immediately west. The cooperative ownership structure is unusual, and the article claims that this is one of Chicago's first cooperative apartment developments. Titles to these buildings were conveyed to a corporation, and each veteran buyer purchased shares of that corporation. Cooperative ownership was (and is) rare in Chicago, and has been largely eclipsed by condominium ownership. Of the three developments examined here, this is the only one which wasn't intended as a straight rental property.

While I don't intend this to be a comprehensive look at veteran's housing in Chicago (or even in West Ridge), it does provide some examples of the types of development which were feasible immediately following WWII. And in some ways it sets the stage for the suburban explosion of the 1950s, when affordable single family homes became widely available, changing the character of the American landscape.

Sources

1. The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, 1956. Accessed online at http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/Wiki%20Pages/1956%20American%20Architects%20Directory.aspx
2. Chicago and Evanston Vet Apartment Units Approved. Chicago Daily Tribune; Sept. 8. 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. NA
3. Work Started on Three New Flat Buildings. Chicago Daily Tribune; Nov.10, 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. 43
4. Finish Homes in Early Vets’ Co-op Project. Chicago Daily Tribune; Feb. 23. 1947. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. WA.
5. To Hear Only Thunder Again: America’s World War II Veterans Come Home. Mark D. Ellis. Lexington Books, 2001. Accessed through Google eBooks.
6. The Veterans Emergency Housing Program. William Remington. Law and Contemporary Problems, Vo. 12, No. 1, Housing (Winter, 1947), pp. 143-173. Accessed through JSTOR.