Housing, 1939-1950

File — Box: 29

Identifier: III

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Reports, memoranda, and drafts of housing legislation prepared by the Federal Reserve Board. Most of these are the work of J. M. Daiger, a mortgage-guarantee businessman from Baltimore, Maryland, and special assistant to the chairman of the board. Daiger was later appointed financial adviser to the Federal Housing Administration and deputy housing administrator. The issues documented here are modernization of substandard housing, slum clearance, bank investment in low-cost housing, the eighty-percent mortgage, housing subsidies, the escalating cost of labor and materials, and defense housing. Also documented is Eccles' advocacy of strict credit controls to offset the inflation created by postwar housing shortages. Eccles became involved with housing concerns while chairing a Treasury committee in 1934. Legislation from the committee created the Federal Housing Administration. Eccles retained interest in housing while he served on the Federal Reserve Board because he believed recovery of the building industry was essential to industrial recovery in general.

Dates

1939-1950

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.