Housing in Our Time: 1935

This circa 1935 documentary, Housing in Our Time, tackles America’s slum housing crisis, exposing unsanitary, unsafe conditions that harm families’ health and well-being. Shot in black-and-white, it contrasts rotting tenements with new public housing, spotlighting initiatives like Jacksonville’s Durkeeville project. It shows local authorities and the federal government—via New Deal efforts—building low-rent homes to replace slums, boost economies, and uplift living standards. Framing public housing as a democratic right, it champions equal access to safe, healthy homes in a pre-war call for social welfare.