Discussion Questions: Washington D.C. History Matters

Louis Justement's Washington

Review the Henry S. Churchill Memo , Louis Justement's letter to Albert Evers, George Cannon Young's letter to Douglas William Orr, and the photo of Falkland Apartments. What are the different arguments given for and against public housing? How did the aftermath of World War II effect these arguments and precipitate the need for public housing? What influence, if any, do you think the Great Depression may have had on these men?

Review the Memo outlining services for displaced families. What services does the D.C. Department of Public Welfare believe should be provided for displaced families? What is the responsibility of local government and the responsibility of residents when displacement takes place? What do you think of these guidelines, do they make sense?

Review Edmund Purves letter to Louis Justement. Why is Edmund Purves objecting to Louis Justement's legislation for Government land ownership? Does Purves' role within the American Institute of Architects have anything to do with it? What about Justement's role? Why would the construction industry not be happy with this legislation? Is the idea of Government ownership of land still considered a radical idea?

Review Earl T. Heitschmidt's letter to Louis Justement and Philip B. Fleming's letter to Edmund R. Purves. What do these two letters say about government control and the type of government control that has and has not been acceptable within the United States? Are the ideas expressed in these letters a reflection of what was going on in the world at the time? In this day and age why would we probably not see a letter like Fleming's praising Russian Building Brigades?

Review the draft of a letter to the Commissioner of Patents, Louis Justement's letter to the Commissioner of Patents, the Patent Certificate, and the photo of Falkland Apartments. Why were the letters to the Commissioner of Patents necessary? What purpose did they serve? Why was the patent issued to Justement for only seventeen years? Why not indefinently? Reading through the letters and look at the photo, what was acceptable and even desirable housing like in the 1920s? How does it compare to today?