ArchivesInTheClassroomAndCommunity · Q1: What issues of housing and infrastructure did the city of Detroit face in the post-WW2 era?

Q1: What issues of housing and infrastructure did the city of Detroit face in the post-WW2 era?

Note: each supporting question is designed to take up roughly one 50-minute class period, but feel free to add more time if needed and available.

Students build on their understanding of domestic concerns in America’s cities after World War 2. Building from background knowledge of urban design concerns from the Industrial revolution, as well as housing and poverty concerns raised from the Great Depression, students will review civic survey and planning records documenting “blight” and infrastructural concerns within the City of Detroit during the 1950’s. Students will be asked to measure these city records with survey responses in which citizens of Detroit voiced their questions and concerns about urban conditions in addition to proposed urban renewal designs.

The formative task asks students to summarize the conditions within the city of Detroit during the post-war period, and identification of the primary concerns of the city and community members. Students will use the sources to construct AT LEAST 5 claims (3 claims about housing/infrastructure conditions in the city, 2 claims about community concerns around housing/infrastructure in the city, using two or more documents for each claim) using the sources as evidence.

Teachers may implement this task through use of jigsaw activities, in which students are given different, specific documents which they will focus on before sharing with the whole class their identification of issues and predictions for civic action.