174:. Colonel Westbrooks involvement with the WPA also included chairing the WPA Advisory Board starting in 1936 after resigning as first assistant to "devote more time to personal matters." In 1937, he supported the granting of a subsidy to cotton growers while he served as a special investigator in charge of a US Senate investigation of cotton cooperatives. His involvement and interest in the housing problems of the low and middle income groups grew out of this experience and research in public housing. His step daughter, Madge Westbrook Brown, also reported that as a west Texan living in Washington, DC, Colonel Westbrook was frustrated by the lack of green space and was committed to developing housing in a park setting. He was also committed to providing the very best architectural environments for the low and middle-class residents of his housing develops. He would go on to hire some of the very top architects of his time to design his projects including
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construction of temporary structures rather than high quality permanent housing. Even the eventual purchase of the projects by their residents was threatened during the late 1940s. But thanks to extensive lobbying by labor unions and the project residents themselves, the necessary legislation and approvals were completed for the purchases and as of 2009 seven of the original eight projects continue to operate within the mutual ownership plan.
73:. He married Mrs. Martha Wootton Collings in Hot Springs, Arkansas in March 1937. During World War II Colonel Westbrook returned to active duty and was wartime president of the United States Purchasing Board in the South Pacific theater where he was awarded the Order of the British Empire from New Zealand. While serving in the South Pacific he was responsible for a survey of all defense resources for this region. Colonel Westbrook died
178:. The housing problems he identified included the inability of the middle class to accumulate the necessary capital to move out of the rental market, the unstable nature of their employment, and the lack of flexibility within the housing market that would permit easy adjustments to the ever-changing size and needs of each family. Westbrook believed that eliminating the required
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including pedestrian focused designs with unit front doors facing away from streets and toward park areas and other units across a common yard. However, financial support for this project was never fully found, and the development had to be scrapped. Returning to the government, Westbrook submitted
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and
President Roosevelt would also credit him with developing the administration's rural rehabilitation program. In the early 1930s while part of the Federal Relief Administration he was placed in charge of dealing with drought areas in the upper midwest and briefed President Roosevelt on his train
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By 1942, the forces aligned against government sponsored middle income housing programs contributed to the final demise of the mutual housing experiment. Additionally, with the resource limitation of the war becoming increasingly more evident by 1942, the entire defense housing effort moved to the
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with
Atlantica Companhia of Portugal for $ 9 million. He was accused of being a "five per center" as he and his associated received 5 percent fee for handling the contract. Colonel Westbrook defended his conduct, claiming that his actions were an attempt to save the government money and that a
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for their development and implementation. From their inception the eight projects of the mutual housing effort differed from traditional defense housing projects because they were meant to be sold to their residents under the mutual ownership plan. Soon the real estate industry and home builders
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which the
Westbrook family reports was a key in Colonel Westbrook's success while working within the US Government. During Colonel Westbrook's experience as a Texas public official he became convinced of the benefits of cooperative enterprises. In quick succession, he was promoted to Assistant
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officials, and in 1931 Westbrook was appointed to the position of
Director of the Texas Relief Commission. While involved in the Texas relief programs Westbook was intensely interested in supporting the development of the Texas Parks system. He was a close friend of influential Congressman and
112:, the mutual ownership concept is especially interesting, as it was based on the idea that traditional home ownership was not the best economic choice for many middle income families. Since it ties these families to their home during times of economic
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By 1938, believing he could turn the Mutual Home concept into reality, Westbrook left the US government (where he could not find enough support for his ideas) to develop a privately financed, 1000-unit, "Park living housing development" in
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104:– a program of cooperatively owned housing projects for middle-income residents funded by the US Government – began his career late in the 1920s with his own self-initiated program for organizing rural
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placed enormous pressure on the
Federal Government to end this public housing effort, that they feared could result in the wholesale economic socialization of the home building industry.
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a better risk for home ownership by simply allowing them to keep financial reserves that could carry them through difficult times. Inspired by the success of the government-sponsored
120:, it makes it difficult for them to move and follow available employment opportunities. In the early 1930s, Westbrook and his program attracted favorable attention from regional
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Program, Westbrook set about applying many of the cooperative principles to the middle income housing problem; what resulted was the Mutual Home
Ownership concept.
463:"First Lady Inspects Homestead Project: Mrs. Roosevelt Hails Red House, West Virginia, Housing Plan as 'Promising'", The New York Times. 16 December 1934. p.30
239:. They were so impressed with the plan that they asked Westbrook to serve as Special Assistant to Mr. Carmody with the responsibility for a newly established
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243:, which was charged with adapting the mutual housing plan to the demands of the Defense Housing initiatives. One of the projects completed was the
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while passing through this area. While serving as First
Assistant in the WPA he also was in charge of the Homestead Project which included one of
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This was a time when public housing programs were being presented as model governmental projects that utilized internationally recognized
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promised the construction of 810,000 low-cost public housing units by 1955, yet by 1964 only 550 of these units had actually been built.
227:(D-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, coordinated a meeting between Howard Hunter, Commissioner of
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by Kevin Cahill - Discusses
Colonel Westbrooks' involvement with the Division of Rural Rehabilitation and Stranded Populations under
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646:"Democrats Oust Key National Aide; Mitchell Says Col. Westbrook Took Part in Negotiation of a US Contract for Tungsten".
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The Mutual
Housing Experiment: New Deal Communities for the Urban Middle Class (Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy)
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367:"3 Americans Honored: New Zealand Awards Medals for Their War Work," The New York Times. 27 September 1947. p.7
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69:, a war-criminal known for the Saltville Massacre of black soldiers and as the last surviving general of the
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farmers into a cooperative marketing body. Today, in 2009, while the US is experiencing the popping of a
33:(23 August 1889-January 24, 1964) was a Texan politician and official in the administration of President
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578:"Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administrative Aide," The New York Times. 26 January 1964. p.81
560:"Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administrative Aide," The New York Times. 26 January 1964. p.81
481:"Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administrative Aide," The New York Times. 26 January 1964. p.81
445:"Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administrative Aide," The New York Times. 26 January 1964. p.81
427:"Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administrative Aide," The New York Times. 26 January 1964. p.81
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rival sought to sell tungsten to the US at inflated prices; he was later cleared of all charges by the
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housing option for auto workers. As a federal government official, Westbrook would work in the area of
146:. They became friends and Mr. Hopkins would serve as best man at Colonel Westbrook's marriage in 1937.
231:, and Westbrook, to discuss the mutual home ownership concept with John Carmody, Administrator of the
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From
Tenements to The Taylor Homes: In Search of An Urban Housing Policy in Twentieth Century America
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From Tenements to The Taylor Homes: In Search of An Urban Housing Policy in Twentieth Century America
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The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project: The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska
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edited by John F. Bauman, Roger Biles and Kristin Szylvian. Pennsylvania State Press, 2000.
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edited by John F. Bauman, Roger Biles and Kristin Szylvian. Pennsylvania State Press, 2000
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and the US Government was ordered to pay Atlantica $ 508,200 for breach of contract.
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642:. American Historical Association, Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York. 1959.
313:. It was never published but the manuscript is part of his personal papers held in
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569:"Westbrook Defended on Contract Charge," The New York Times. 7 November 1952. p.16
551:"Westbrook Defended on Contract Charge," The New York Times. 7 November 1952. p.16
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Administrator in the Rural Rehabilitation Division, and then to First Assistant
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235:. These influential individuals had come across the plan in the records of the
682:"Fertilizing the Weeds: The New Deal’s Rural Poverty Program in West Virginia"
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Conkin, Paul K. "The Federal Emergency Relief Administration Communities," in
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and was dismissed on October 30, 1952 following charges of involvement in a
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436:"Rule of Militia Eased in Hartford," The New York Times. 25 March 1939. p.9
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In 1940, with the demand for defense housing growing steadily, Congressman
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and by 1936 he was responsible within the WPA for managing a community in
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Questions and answers about the Matanuska Colonization Project in Alaska.
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The mutual ownership projects are an example of success in the early US
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forces took control and promoted private solutions. The highly touted
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The Federal Government and the Cooperative Housing Movement, 1917-1955
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Colonel Westbrook also completed a manuscript of his memoirs entitled
611:. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation Carnegie-Mellon University, 1988.
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472:"Westbrook Quits WPA Post," The New York Times. 20 June 1936. p.7
454:"Westbrook Quits WPA Post," The New York Times. 20 June 1936. p.7
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Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project (Project Number 28071).
358:"Col. Westbrook to Wed," The New York Times. 20 March 1937. p.20
349:"Col. Westbrook to Wed," The New York Times. 20 March 1937. p.20
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Our Mutual Friend: A Progressive Housing Legacy from the 1940s.
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Our Mutual Friend: A Progressive Housing Legacy from the 1940s.
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Our Mutual Friend: A Progressive Housing Legacy from the 1940s.
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Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives
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During the 1950s Colonel Westbrook became an official of the
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Eugenia Kaledin. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. 2000. p.129
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719:" by Kristin M. Szylvian, Temple University Press, 2015.
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Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administration Aid
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Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administration Aid
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Lawrence Westbrook, 74, Dies; Roosevelt Administration Aid
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scheme regarding a United States Government contract for
203:. The design, by David Williams and modernist architect
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Westbrook, eventually the developer of the little-known
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Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
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Parks for Texas: Enduring Landscapes of the New Deal
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Tomorrow a New World: The New Deal Community Program
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Designer Builder: A Journal of the Human Environment
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Designer Builder: A Journal of the Human Environment
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Designer Builder: A Journal of the Human Environment
45:. Colonel Westbrook also served as a member of the
157:called West Acres. This project was designed as a
736:. University of Texas Press. Austin, Texas. 1999.
678:- Houses the papers of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook
627:"The Federal Housing Program During World War II"
523:"The Federal Housing Program During World War II"
182:for housing purchases would actually make the
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704:" by Helen Wegener, Wassail, Alaska. 2014.
540:Life in the US 1940-1959: Shifting Worlds.
691:Westbrook, Lawrence and Molly Steinberg.
676:The Texas Collection at Baylor University
663:National Cyclopedia of American Biography
241:Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
216:the Mutual Home plan to the Government's
102:Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
774:University of Texas School of Law alumni
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151:Federal Emergency Relief Administration
598:and the Search for Modern Architecture
220:, where it was filed away until 1940.
149:In 1934, Colonel Westbrook joined the
237:Temporary National Economic Committee
218:Temporary National Economic Committee
129:(1940-1947, 1949-1953 and 1955-1961)
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97:to a well-established Texas family.
188:Rural Electrification Cooperatives
65:. He was among the pallbearers of
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784:20th-century American legislators
622:. Vol. 111 No. 9. January 1997.
93:Lawrence Westbrook was born in
789:20th-century Texas politicians
658:Who's Who in America 1964-1965
498:. Vol. 111 No. 9. January 1997
418:. Vol. 111 No. 9. January 1997
301:United States Court of Appeals
43:University of Texas Law School
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288:Democratic National Committee
229:Works Projects Administration
194:Mutual Home Ownership Concept
71:Confederate States of America
508:Time Magazine, June 2, 1941,
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697:WPA. Washington, DC. 1936.
607:Szylvian Bailey, Kristin.
31:Colonel Lawrence Westbrook
18:Colonel Lawrence Westbrook
172:Arthurdale, West Virginia
37:. A 1908 graduate of the
225:Frederick Garland Lanham
136:Federal Emergency Relief
57:he attained the rank of
602:Oxford University Press
730:Steely, James Wright.
625:Szylvian, Kristin M.,
614:Szylvian, Kristin M. "
521:Szylvian, Kristin M.,
490:Szylvian, Kristin M. "
410:Szylvian, Kristin M. "
317:at Baylor University.
67:Felix Huston Robertson
688:during the mid-1930s.
201:Duval County, Florida
35:Franklin D. Roosevelt
510:Not for Sale or Rent
315:The Texas Collection
233:Federal Works Agency
142:(WPA) Administrator
81:January 24, 1964 in
276:Housing Act of 1949
213:Radburn, New Jersey
39:University of Texas
27:American politician
750:(1892-1970) papers
743:(1915-1984) papers
650:The New York Times
395:The New York Times
378:The New York Times
334:The New York Times
110:real estate bubble
59:lieutenant colonel
665:. Volume 52. 1970
654:October 30, 1952.
393:26 January 1964,
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332:26 January 1964,
209:planned community
170:'s pet projects,
168:Eleanor Roosevelt
155:Pontiac, Michigan
83:San Angelo, Texas
63:Army Signal Corps
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769:1964 deaths
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180:downpayment
159:cooperative
131:Sam Rayburn
55:World War I
51:Waco, Texas
758:Categories
746:Architect
739:Architect
725:143991205X
710:0984397787
585:References
252:architects
118:depression
77:1964-01-24
321:Footnotes
114:recession
53:. During
296:tungsten
292:kickback
122:New Deal
604:, 1982.
61:in the
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538:Daily
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106:Texas
721:ISBN
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