Design analysis of milwaukee housing survey, 1936

The purpose of this study is to use multiple data sources to analyze inner core housing conditions in Milwaukee during the Great Depression. The emphasis of this research is on the spatial characteristics and implications of neighborhood housing in the city. The analysis focuses on individual houses or groupings of houses (including their architectural style, structural attributes, massing and lot coverage, and density) and considers them within the context of the surrounding neighborhood. The individual analyses provide an in-depth assessment of properties within a neighborhood that allows for a comparison of multiple housing types and conditions throughout the city.

In contrast to other time periods in Milwaukee’s history, this research is made possible by a historic photograph collection at the Library of Congress (LOC) that documented various housing types in the city with high resolution images. This primary source collection is unique from others because it extensively details on-the-ground conditions in Milwaukee. Whereas other studies rely on historical narrative and first-person accounts to describe housing conditions, the LOC collection presents individual pieces of evidence that capture moments in time throughout Milwaukee’s neighborhoods.