Urban Renewal Exhibit Collection

On July 15, 1949, President Harry Truman signed into law the Housing Act of 1949. He promised “decent homes in wholesome surroundings for low-income families now living in the squalor of the slums.” However, in its 25 years of existence, the federal urban renewal or “slum clearance” program failed to meet Truman’s objective. In the hands of local officials, the program instead focused on revitalizing downtown commercial districts and boosting property tax revenue. Many of the residents Truman had hoped to help were instead hurt--by the loss of homes, businesses, and community institutions. By the end of the program in 1974, targeting and clearance of Black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods had made segregation and overcrowding worse. 

These photographs were collected by researcher David Hochfelder for use in his exhibit, Urban Renewal in New York State.

This collection also includes the inventories of Urban Renewal project records as created by David Hochfelder in 2024.  About 35 municipalities in New York State (out of 91 communities that had Urban Renewal projects) retained their urban renewal records. 28 municipalities made their records available for project staff to create folder-level inventories. Some municipalities refused to grant access because of privacy issues about those affected by urban renewal projects (Syracuse, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Archives) or interagency Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) exemptions (White Plains). Others (Rome, Watervliet) did not respond to follow-up queries after project staff submitted FOIL requests to view their records.  Project staff were able to create inventories for 48 municipalities (including the holdings of the New York State Archives) consisting of a combination of municipal records and records held at public libraries and historical societies.