for heating and cooking, and did not have indoor plumbing for a bathroom or water; the water faucet was in the yard. 127 The house had holes in the roof and flooring allowing for rats and roaches to enter and plague the family living there. The systemic inequities embedded in housing and land use polices fell on these Atlantans.
Figure B-13: Bedford Pine, dilapidated housing on Chestnut Way, July 25, 1955. "THESE ARE JUST A BLOCK OFF FORREST AVENUE IN ATLANTA. This is a scene where people live on Chestnut Way." Copyright Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library The consequences of unmaintained and unimproved housing were factors that lead to laws and programs that advanced slum clearance and urban renewal projects. The conditions of the homes; roofs with holes, floors with missing floorboards, busted windows made houses unsafe and unfit for people to reside inside. During heavy rains, the floodwaters would enter homes, bringing more catastrophic losses. And the muddy, unpaved streets and open sewers created dangerous conditions. For example, May 1963, storms, after one of the worst rainstorms, over 85 residents were “washed out” of their homes. 128 The Red Cross assisted residents in the Butler, Baker, and Chestnut Streets area of Buttermilk Bottom. 129 The Red Cross Disaster Service Program, along with Butler Street Baptist Church, processed the needs of residents. 130 Mary Mock, Director of the Red Cross Home Service, administered funds for food and
127 Ed Hughes, “Family of Six in One Room Just Sample of Slum Problems”, The Atlanta Constitution, 1957. 128 Harmon, “Flood Victims.” 129 Perry G. Harmon, “Flood Victims Getting Help.” Atlanta Daily World, May 29, 1963. 130 Harmon, “Flood Victims.”
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