features tales about urban renewal
The New Haven Oral History Project (NHOHP) at Yale is presenting an installation at the New Haven Colony Historical Society to highlight project interviews documenting the historic redevelopment of New Haven in the 1950s and 1960s.
Titled "Life in the Model City: Stories of Urban Renewal in New Haven," the installation will be open to the public June 11-Aug. 27, with an opening reception scheduled for June 26.
From the mid-1950s to the end of the 1960s, New Haven enacted one of the most dramatic programs of urban redevelopment in American history. Under the tenure of Mayor Richard C. Lee (1954-1969), New Haven received more per capita federal funding for urban renewal than any other city in America, allowing city planners, community organizations, architects and businesses to make tremendous changes in the physical makeup of the city. Entire neighborhoods were razed and rebuilt, and more than 25,000 people were relocated over the course of the programs. New Haven, Lee asserted, would be the first slumless city in America, and, indeed, New Haven came to be known across the country as "the model city."
Later, however, the redevelopment effort was widely criticized for leaving local citizens out of the decision-making process that redefined their neighborhoods.
As part of the NHOHP initiative "Documenting Urban Renewal," a team of Yale student interviewers has recorded roughly 50 interviews with neighborhood residents, community activists and local government officials on topics ranging from the character of city neighborhoods before redevelopment and the role of local citizens in the planning process to support for and resistance to the Lee Administration, family relocation and the legacy of urban renewal. Eventually the urban renewal oral history collection will be housed at the Yale University Library.
The installation at the New Haven Colony Historical Society will feature listening stations that allow visitors to hear New Haven residents describe how redevelopment touched their lives.
The New Haven Colony Historical Society is located at 114 Whitney Ave. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call (203) 562-4183.
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
University celebrates its 303rd graduationLevin calls for U.S. to change student visa policies
International arts festival returns to New Haven
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSAnthony Kronman is appointed Sterling Professor of Law
Paul Gilroy is designated as the Charlotte Marion Saden Professor
Joan Panetti named the Sylvia and Leonard Marx Jr. Adjunct Professor
New campus programs will cut costs and boost efficiency
Installation at city's historical society features tales about urban renewal
Show recalls Victorians' attempts to capture nature's wonders
Exhibit spotlights works by one of Britain's most neglected artists
Medical and nursing schools to host alumni reunions
Yale and state officials consider ways to promote smoking cessation
Poll shows state of the environment a concern for voters
Scientists identify molecule that causes irreversible nerve damage in MS
F&ES symposium will examine effects of forest certification
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home