Home: the Langston Terrace dwellings

Duration: 58

Year Published: 1988

Creator: B. Weissman

Format: 16mm

Color: Color & B&W

Sound: sound

Description: Designed by African American architect Hilyard Robinson and built in 1937, the Langston Terrace Dwellings was the first federally funded housing project in Washington D.C. This documentary combines newsreel footage, contemporary interviews and the analyses of architectural historian Wolf von Eckardt to examine the ways in which the social programs of the New Deal era were embodied by the Langston project. At a reunion, former residents fondly recall the family atmosphere that prevailed at Langston and the various educational and recreational services that were offered. Today, in the wake of social changes that have occurred over the years, the project and its present occupants face numerous challenges in preserving the unique lifestyle of Langston.