Slum Clearance

University Homes had been constructed over the former Beaver's Slide area of Atlanta, replacing the slum of wooden shanties with poor ventilation, outhouses, lack of sanitation or utilities, and overcrowded and dilapidated construction. University Homes was the first federally funded public housing project in the United States for African Americans. Its construction was preceded by the Great Depression which left more than 13 million people in America unemployed, homeless, or living in slums.

The land for University Homes was acquired in May of 1934. While the 1880 census indicates both black and white neighbors lived on the land, in 1922 racial zoning became legally enforced. Lots in this area were accordingly subdivided and the white population moved away. Overcrowding followed as the black population continued to move west of Atlanta.

These impoverished and poor living conditions earned this area the nicknames "The Bottoms" and "Snake Nation." They were described as the worst streets in the city. Crime and disease abounded. Later "Snake Nation" would be renamed "Beaver's Slide," a name supposedly garnered by Police Chief James L. Beavers who slipped down to the bottom of the hill during his police beat there.