When Public Housing is Erased

February 25, 2020                                                          By: Holly Dutton

A new documentary produced by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns sheds light on the legacy of public housing in the U.S. and what happens when it disappears.

Queensbridge Houses in New York City.  Image via Wikimedia Commons

The concept of public housing in the U.S. first began in 1936 in Atlanta, Ga., with the opening of Techwood Homes, the nation’s first government-owned housing development. Since then, the role of public housing in cities has changed dramatically, at times becoming synonymous with the idea of disinvestment, crime and poverty.

“East Lake Meadows,” a new documentary by Sarah Burns and David McMahon, explores one public housing development in-depth, telling the story of how the project came to be, the people who called it home, and how it all fell apart. The 650-unit project was built in 1970 in Atlanta and later became notorious for drugs and crime in the early 1990s, before it was eventually torn down by the city and turned into a mixed-income community.

Portions of the film, which will air March 24 on PBS, were screened at an event hosted by the CUNY Graduate Center recently in New York City, where the filmmakers, former residents and executive producer Ken Burns, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, spoke on a panel following the film screening. The filmmakers said they sought to tell the real story of the community and its chapter in the legacy of public housing in the U.S.

“The story of East Lake Meadows has been told before, but it’s often from the same perspective,” said McMahon.........Read More