Scope and Content of Collection
Consisting primarily of photographic material produced by Leonard Nadel between 1947 and
1957, the archive records early efforts by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
(HACLA) to to create public housing for the city's growing population, and also documents
several areas of the city that the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) targeted for
commercial revitalization. Nadel's black-and-white negatives and contact prints form the
bulk of the material, supplemented by handwritten notes and related documents. Also included
are two unpublished books produced by Nadel.
Series I comprises Nadel's documentation of HACLA and CRA projects in the 1940s and 1950s.
His work as a documentary photographer for HACLA records living conditions in the slum areas
of Los Angeles and, to some extent, the new housing projects that replaced them, including
Avalon Gardens, Rose Hill Courts, Ramona Gardens, and the unrealized Elysian Park Heights
project. From aerial and panoramic views to close-range shots, Nadel documented not only the
physical environment and buildings, but also their inhabitants. A good portion of the
material focuses on individual families or tenants, affording a very personal portrait of
both slum and project life in post-war Los Angeles. Also included are photographs of the
planning meetings of city officials and architects including Richard Neutra, Robert
Alexander, and Lloyd Wright.
Nadel also documented several areas of the city that the Community Redevelopment Agency
(CRA) targeted for commercial revitalization in the 1940s and 1950s. He made meticulous
photographic surveys, sometimes block by block, of the slums and historic areas targeted for
demolition and redevelopment, including Bunker Hill, the Temple Street area, Ann Street, and
the Alameda Street area. Documentation of the Bunker Hill Renewal Project is particularly
extensive.
Series II contains Nadel's unpublished books and related material on Pueblo del Rio and
Aliso Village, the two HACLA projects that Nadel documented most extensively. Through
photographs and text, two large leather-bound volumes tell in detail the stories of the two
housing projects, focusing not just on the architecture and layout of the complexes, but
also recording the family life and project-supported social networks of their tenants.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series:
Series I. Projects related to housing and urban
redevelopment, 1947-1998, undated;
Series II. Unpublished books,
1947-1994, undated.
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