LOOKING INTO TENEMENTS

A national expert on housing reform, Grace Bagley had direct experience as the manager of an Italian tenement in Chicago’s Levee District. As part of a group that studied tenement conditions, Grace found that many local tenements were two-story houses with their entire first level below grade. Others were three-to-four story brick buildings that closely abutted adjacent structures. Grace advocated for model tenements no taller than three stories, with plenty of windows for natural light and good ventilation, and with good plumbing to help prevent the spread of diphtheria and other diseases.