Today I thought I’d write a little about the U.S. Census, one of the sources I’ve been using in my research on Washington Square Village, a middle-income housing complex now owned by NYU. I specifically want to talk about using the Census as a visual tool, and how it can be used to discuss the design of Washington Square Village, and how construction of the complex and others like it affect neighborhoods.
When Washington Square Village was proposed in 1957, it was designed as a “superblock” style development, like other low and middle-income housing projects such as the Lillian Wald Houses in the Lower East Side, completed in 1949. This meant that a large section of land, multiple square blocks, was to be cleared and replaced with massive apartment buildings set in a green space. Washington Square Village, when it was built, would take up three entire blocks. Greene and Wooster Streets, which once ran through the site, became driveways, and the complex is now bordered by LaGuardia Place (formerly West Broadway), Mercer Street, West 3rd Street, and Bleecker Street.
While I am still researching the reasons why Washington Square Village specifically was built, we can use the histories of other developments to help us understand why low and middle income superblock complexes were built elsewhere in New York City.
One big reason why middle-income housing developments were seen as particularly necessary in the 1950s was that a lot of families were reacting to rising city rents and the popularity of the automobile by moving out of New York City to the suburbs, where they could have affordable houses and more space, all accessible by car. Some developers felt that brand-new, spacious apartments in desirable areas would provide an incentive for middle-class families to keep living (and spending money, paying taxes, etc.) in the city.
Low-income housing projects had their own sets of motivations attached. For instance, since the late 19th and early 20th century, reformers had consistently criticized the conditions in which the poor, especially immigrants, were forced to live. There was a lack of understanding about what caused “slum” conditions, and these were often seen as a result of the failure of immigrants to assimilate, or evidence of moral failings that needed to be fixed. Eventually, “slum-clearance” movements arose with the goal of clearing tenements and using the land either to house the poor in acceptable conditions or, as in the case of much of the Lower East Side, to replace these tenants with the middle-class families of Financial District workers.
No matter what the motivation, however, this development resulted in the displacement of thousands of people and businesses. In the case of Washington Square Village, the development was built over what, according to maps of the land last updated in 1951 (Sheet 8 if you’re interested), was all of Wooster and Greene Streets between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets, adding up to three entire blocks. On the 1930 census, the latest one available in its entirety, there were about 50 documented people living in just three of the approximately 19 buildings on Wooster Street. Though the census is not complete, using the map, we can make an educated guess that some of these were businesses, and some of them surely housed people. Unfortunately for someone trying to discuss the effect of the building of Washington Square Village in the neighborhood, 50, or even 100 people are difficult to visualize.
And here is where the census comes in as a visual tool. Though often the handwriting on a census page is very difficult to read, each person’s name is recorded individually and given equal standing, making it easier for a viewer to absorb a number such as 50. And even better, the census records all kinds of information about individuals- where they came from, what they do, what language they speak. So by using the census not just as an informational tool (“Giovanni lived at this address and was from Italy”) historians can use the census visually to give context to population counts, to make 50 people into 50 individuals, and to begin to discuss with viewers the consequences of superblock development.
Sources and Further Reading:
Eisenstadt, Peter R. Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6000 Families, and New York City’s Great Experiment in Integrated Housing. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.
Mele, Christopher. Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.
Gratz, Roberta Brandes. The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs. New York: Nation Books, 2010.
This is such a great post that speaks to the various ways we can perceive data from the Census. I never thought about looking, for instance, at density or clustering of same texts as representative of the data (or “reality”) that the Census captures. It makes me wonder what other more creative approaches we can take as public historians in analyzing documents. In terms of reading data / Census documents, what can encourage more historical imagination to broaden our context of understanding?
I also really like your history of the politics in redevelopment. I am surprised to know the range of activities that existed on the streets which Washington Square Village supplanted. It’s always fascinating to find out how much history lives under the cement we walk on! You mentioned that there used to be several stores and townhouses on Wooster…I wonder what preceded its existence as an immigrant enclave? It would be interesting to delve deeper into the histories that occurred on these streets of former immigrant businesses and townhouses. Thinking in the vein of redevelopment politics, what other agendas did the government have in mind when constructing the Washington Square Village? How does this speak to the unknown (and perhaps underdocumented) histories of Wooster Street, Greene Street, Bleecker and Mercer Street?
Very rich information and powerful, concise writing! I enjoyed reading your post!
I’d also be interested to know what went on in a couple of the buildings on Wooster Street. I’m guessing at least some factory work because that was common in this area during the early 20th century, and there are pretty big spaces on the Sanborn map I was looking at. Maybe I can find some way to include it in the archive.
[…] So, first thing, here’s the obligatory plug for a post I wrote on my MA program’s Greenwich Village History blog. It’s about the Washington Square Village apartments (formerly Title I housing and now owned by NYU) and how exhibiting documents like the U.S. Census can help viewers see people as people, rather than numbers. So here that is. […]