The Logan Fontenelle Housing Project is a historic public housing site located from 20 to 24 Streets, and from Paul to Seward Streets in the historic Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Built in 1938 by the Public Works Administration for working class family housing. With the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in the 1950s and 1960s, the project became full of prosperous families. As the problem escalated in the 1970s and 1980s, Logan Fontenelle was referred to as "Little Vietnam" due to drug trafficking and gang violence. After the resident Logan Fontenelle won the 1991 civil rights suit filed against the Omaha Housing Authority and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD tore down the project in 1995 to replace it with new housing with lower density.
Video Logan Fontenelle Housing Project
Histori
Housing projects are named in honor of Logan Fontenelle, a head of Omaha. Built by the Public Works Administration during the Great Depression, Logan Fontenelle was originally built as a no-cost or low-cost housing for working-class families, mainly European descendants, including Germans, Italians and Czechs, many of them 20th century immigrants. Many young people in Logan Fontenelle during this period consider the project a shelter as they are a considerable increase from their previous housing. After supporting a limited public housing in Omaha in 1936, the city's business community became strongly opposed to Logan Fontenelle by the time it was completed in 1938.
In 1947, the maximum allowable income for a family of four in Logan Fontenelle was $ 2,200 per year, and they would pay a maximum rent of $ 34.50 per month. Families are asked to look for other housing if it exceeds that limit. The projects were separated in the 1950s, with restrictions on African-Americans living there.
Then, when projects are open to African-Americans, the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project is used in conjunction with racial barriers and burns them to keep African Americans living in North Omaha. Community programs at Logan Fontenelle include Kellom Girls Club, which moved there in 1973 after operating in Omaha's Hilltop-Pleasantview Public Homes since 1966.
Although these projects were originally built as transitional housing for working class people, the sharp decline of employment in Omaha during the 1950s and 1960s meant that many residents had to live in prosperity. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost when the railroads and meat packing industries were restructured. Projects become concentrated in poor families with some options soon. The level of crime and violence began to increase in the area.
Maps Logan Fontenelle Housing Project
Riot
In the 1960s there was unrest on the Near North Side, linked to poverty and unemployment since the fall of the railroad, the restructuring of meatpacking and deindustrialization industries in Omaha. The loss of tens of thousands of jobs since the 1950s decreased investment in housing in Omaha, and services declined for a while, resulting in worsening conditions in old structures. The African Americans left in the community feel trapped. The riots of 1966 and 1968 were linked to civil rights protests and the assassination of Drs. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 1969 riots erupted after an Omaha police officer shot dead teenage Vivian Strong near the Logan Fontenelle Project. The unrest began after Walter Cropper, the judge at the preliminary hearing, found the shooter, Officer James Loder, not responsible criminally for the shootings. A contemporary report states, "Windows was damaged and a fire broke out in dozens of commercial buildings on and off the 24th Street line in Omaha that jumped from east to west, from 23 to 24, and south to north, from Clark to Lake."
Claim
In 1990, a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the African-American population of Logan Fontenelle alleges that Omaha's public housing discriminates against racial minorities. A class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Hawkins v. Cisneros, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Omaha Housing Authority and Omaha City had violated the US Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 relating to the development and administration of public housing Omaha, and violated the Fifth and Fourth Amendments US Constitution and other federal laws, regulations and guidelines.
The 1994 settlement requires former residents displaced by the closure plan of the Fontanelle Logan Housing Project to receive counseling and rental assistance, relocation assistance payments, opportunities for additional assistance through section 8 vouchers and certificates, and assistance for housing in the Omaha area with a minority population less from 30 percent.
Dismantling and rebuilding
The Omaha Housing Authority began destroying Logan Fontenelle in 1991 and 1992. The demolition was completed in 1995. The Omaha Family Housing Advisory Service is involved in helping 785 residents of Logan Fontenelle find other homes throughout the city.
Today, North Omaha Business Park, "a joint venture of Omaha Chamber and City of Omaha... is a 15-acre development (61,000 m 2 )" on the Logan Fontenelle site. In addition, the site features live living facilities, parks, single-family homes similar to those found on the outskirts of the city, and organized neighborhood associations, Concord Square. Overall, regional housing will attract a mixture of income.
Famous citizen
Pioneer of rock and roll seminalist Wynonie Harris lived in Logan Fontenelle for a short time in the 1940s.
Cathy Hughes, founder and president of Radio One, grew up in Logan Fontenelle while her father attended Creighton University. He became the first African American to earn a degree at Creighton.
See also
- Omaha History
References
Bibliography
- Loschen, D. (1990) Analysis of Logan Fontenelle Housing Project and Housing Proposal Locations Spread over Omaha, Nebraska.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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