Thursday, May 19, 2011

Capitol Hill, 1935

Shorpy's caption:
September 1935. Washington, D.C. "Front of Negro home near Capitol. Interiors of these homes vary little. A chair or two and a table, a bed and perhaps an extra mattress on the floor cares for six to ten people." 35mm nitrate negative by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration.

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4 comments:

  1. Mike LichtMay 19, 2011 at 11:01 PM

    If I'm not mistaken, that's an alley house.

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  2. Bret LittlehalesMay 21, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    Mike- not sure about that... there's fence and a yard (sort of). Wouldn't that interfere with alley traffic?

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  3. Mike LichtMay 22, 2011 at 3:45 PM

    Bret: You may be right. Some of the alleys were square, though. In either case, the house looks like ones I've seen with walls just 2 bricks deep, really cold in the winter. No side ventilation, of course. Better than most DC slum housing of the era, though, which was made of wood.

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  4. Bret LittlehalesMay 27, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Mike, as always, I bow to your considerable expertise.

    ReplyDelete