Affordable Housing in Durham
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Righting Past Wrongs: Destroyed Neighborhoods and Displaced Residents
Since its founding in 1924, Duke’s presence in Durham has shaped the local housing market’s supply, quality, and cost. Federal funds for highway construction and Duke’s expansion into city property cast aside Durham’s marginalized communities in the name of social progress. Students then and now march beside Durham residents demanding safe, affordable housing.
Architectural drawing of Duke's West Campus, 1925
1926 Housing Impact of Campus Construction
1926 Housing Impact of Campus Construction
Blocked by landowners refusing to sell property north of East Campus, Duke administrators looked elsewhere to build a second campus. Without announcing their plans, Duke purchased adjacent properties between the railway and Cornwallis Road. The expansion increased the need for affordable housing as numerous residents were displaced.
1952 Few Gardens Plan Approved
1952 Few Gardens Plan Approved
The Federal Housing Act of 1949 provided U.S. cities money for "slum clearance." Durham demolished homes and businesses in impoverished areas in the name of "urban renewal." To house displaced residents, Durham built its first public housing project. Repurposed former millworkers' homes were turned into affordable rentals for low-income families.
Courtesy of Herald Sun via Dana Few Pope
The development was named in honor of former Duke president William Few. Few Gardens was designated as a "white" project. In 1954, Durham built McDougald Terrace, the "200-unit project for Negroes." These projects concentrated poverty and disrupted previously strong social ties.
1966 Edgemont Picketing
1966 Edgemont Picketing
Tenants of the Edgemont Community protested notorious slumlord Abe Greenberg below his downtown office. Following the failures of Urban Renewal, many Durham renters were forced into dangerous, overpriced housing. Tenants researched local housing codes and protested inadequate and unsafe conditions. Some landlords were pressured to act but much of the cries fell on deaf ears.
Tenants of the Edgemont Community protested notorious slumlord Abe Greenberg below his downtown office. Following the failures of Urban Renewal, many Durham renters were forced into dangerous, overpriced housing. Tenants researched local housing codes and protested inadequate and unsafe conditions. Some landlords were pressured to act but much of the cries fell on deaf ears.
Billy E. Barnes collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1966 Duke University meets the Edgemont Community
1966 Duke University meets the Edgemont Community
During the fall semester of 1966, Duke University rented out two homes in Edgemont for housing Duke students. Duke Students were allowed to apply for this housing as apart from a so-called "living-learning experience". According to Duke, "the essential purpose of this project will be to give Duke students an opportunity to better understand the problems and possibilities of persons who live in socially depressed and culturally deprived urban areas, and in some measure, to help alleviate these conditions."
Courtesy of Durham Herald Co, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
1967 Tenants Protest the Bacon Street Project
1967 Tenants Protest the Bacon Street Project
On July 20th, 1967, a group of 300 African Americans marched the 10 blocks from St. Joseph’s Church to City hall in Southeast Durham. Members of the United Organization for Community Involvement (UOCI) felt that the Durham Housing Authority was trying to create a ghetto and restrict blacks from settling in other parts of Durham, in other words exasperating the white power structure in Durham.
1978 Expressway Pushback
1978 Expressway Pushback
Duke students and faculty protested against the construction of the 147 East-West Expressway. This sign from the Duke Archives was used by students during these protests. The expressway was ultimately constructed, resulting in the destruction of a portion of the Hayti neighborhood.
1979 Old Building Stood Where Durham Freeway Now Occupies
1979 Old Building Stood Where Durham Freeway Now Occupies
The Famous Hayti district was home to over 4,000 families and 500 booming businesses that were destroyed by urban renewal in Durham. The destruction of Hayti cost $300 million in today's dollars, three quarters of which was paid by the United States federal government. The Durham City Government along with White business community members were eager to build a freeway to relieve congestion downtown and connect it to the Research Triangle area. The Renewal Project promised Black families new housing, new commercial developments, and infrastructure improvements in Black Communities. Unfortunately, the entirety of this promise never came.
Courtesy of the The Institute of the Black World 21st Century
1988 Duke's Eviction of 42 Families to Expand Medical Center
1988 Duke's Eviction of 42 Families to Expand Medical Center
Durham and Duke community members protested Duke’s eviction of low-income families from university-owned property to expand its medical facilities. Only in response to criticism did Duke finally loan developers $1.2 million in 1989 to finance affordable housing construction. Duke earned 8% interest on the loan.
1990s Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
1990s Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
The Durham Affordable Housing Coalition, headed by Peter Skillern, and similar organizations worked jointly with local financial firms to manage and implement Duke's $1.2 million loan to create more affordable housing. In this letter to Duke's VP of Community Affairs, Skillern expresses the demand for increasing the loan to $2 million. Duke finally agreed in 1994.
Courtesy of Duke Centennial Celebration Resources
1995-2005 Former Duke University President Keohane Partners with Durham Community
1995-2005 Former Duke University President Keohane Partners with Durham Community
President Keohane (1993-2004) established the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership (DDNP) in 1996. Residents would work with Duke’s DDNP representatives to establish goals and priorities for neighborhoods and housing.
She made significant efforts to connect Duke with the greater Durham community. In 2001, she led Duke's initiative alongside different development partners to renovate 140 units of affordable housing in Southwest Central Durham.
2017 Satellite Images of Durham Before and After Urban Renewal
Through the Urban Renewal Project, homes and businesses were demolished in the Hayti district, as well as Matthews Street and the ATC area. Satellite imagery shows the impact the program had on Durham and those who once thrived in the areas demolished. (Images Courtesy of Tim Stallmann)
Before Urban Renewal
After Urban Renewal
Courtesy of Corey Pilson/9th Street Journal
2020 March Against Substandard Housing
2020 March Against Substandard Housing
Students joined McDougald Terrace residents to demand safe housing after 270 families were forced from their homes due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide, lead paint, bed bugs, mold, roaches and sewage. Inspectors found exposed electrical wiring, failed ventilation systems, and leaking gas appliances.
Bianca Dominguez, Brendan Fulham, Marissa Rodriguez, and Milo Shue researched affordable housing at Duke and created this portion of the online and in-person gallery exhibit.
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