Description
Consisting primarily of photographic materials created by Leonard Nadel from 1947
to 1957, the archive records early efforts by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) to create public housing
for the city's growing
population, and also documents several areas of the city that the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) had targeted for commercial
revitalization.
Nadel's black-and-white negatives, contact prints, and two unpublished photographic books form the bulk of the material, supplemented
by handwritten
notes and related documents.
Background
The American photojournalist, Leonard Nadel, was born in Harlem, New York in 1916 to Austrian-Hungarian parents and grew up
in the Bronx tenements. His
parents worked in the garment district. After graduating from City College of New York, Nadel trained at the Army Signal Corps
Photographic Center
(SPCP) in Astoria, New York, and then served as a lab technician and combat photographer during World War II in Australia,
New Guinea, and the
Philippine Islands. After leaving the army, he returned to New York and earned a master's degree in education from Teachers
College, Columbia
University. He taught briefly before moving to Los Angeles to study photography at the Art Center College of Design. During
this time he began
photographing public housing sites.
Extent
8.75 Linear Feet
(14 boxes)
Restrictions
Contact Library Reproductions and
Permissions.
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers.