What went wrong with public housing

Plus: the U.S. faces the same risks Ancient Rome faced |

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By Made by History / Produced by Olivia B. Waxman Few Americans would disagree that there is a shortage of affordable housing in the United States, but there's less consensus about what exactly to do about it. President Biden recently unveiled one plan to deal with the problem, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders announced another. Lily Geismer argues in Made by History that past experience suggests an approach advocated by local activists, known by some as "social housing." Geismer details why the U.S. abandoned wide-scale public housing in favor of public-private partnerships—and how the resulting developments actually exacerbated housing segregation and economic inequality in most cities. The lesson of history, she writes, is that the U.S. needs to reject the idea that public housing was a failed experiment, and instead explore models already popular in Europe.

HISTORY ON TIME.COM The U.S. Faces the Same Risks Ancient Rome Faced in Caesar's Day By Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made by History There are plenty of parallels between Ancient Rome and modern America—and one big, important difference. Read More » The Pro-Russia Conspiracy Theory That Almost Convinced New Englanders to Secede By Nicholas DiPucchio / Made by History A conspiracy theory among New England Federalists led some to contemplate separating from the U.S. during the War of 1812. Read More » Column: The Hidden History of Those Who Wrote the Christian Story By Candida Moss The untold history of the people who helped Jesus' disciples and the Church share the Christian story. Read More » The History Behind Netflix’s Shirley Chisholm Biopic By Olivia B. Waxman Regina King plays Shirley Chisholm in Netflix's biopic focusing on her groundbreaking 1972 presidential run Read More » What Libraries Risk When They Go Digital By T.C.A Achintya / Made by History Digitization has democratized and widened library access, but the cyberattack on the British Library shows that it is not without risks. Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1938: Bette Davis TIME The Mar. 28, 1938, cover of TIME “What Bette Davis dislikes most about Hollywood is its la-de-da parties and glamor girls. She also dislikes toadying to the powers-that-be. In Hollywood it is considered policy to court fat Hearst Gossip-Writer Louella 0. ("Lolly") Parsons. But Bette does no courting. What she fears more than anything else is the fate of the wornout player. ‘I shiver each time I see an auction of a star's personal belongings advertised in the papers. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want to own anything in Hollywood… that can't be packed in a trunk.’” Read More » This week in 1977: Lily Tomlin TIME March 28, 1977, cover of TIME “She has a jukebox in the living room, an upright piano in the foyer and a small, cluttered study downstairs, with pictures of cherished stars of the past like Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. The ceiling of her bedroom is painted sky blue, with puffy white summer clouds—her brother Richard's artwork. In the back there is a small swimming pool, beside which stand a 6-ft. metal robot, a souvenir from one of her TV specials, and a stone statue of a naked maiden—wearing a wig and sunglasses.” Read More » This week in 1995: (L-R) David Geffen, Steven Spielberg & Jeffrey Katzenberg MATTHEW ROLSTON The Mar. 27, 1995, cover of TIME “Consider that DreamWorks, which plans to make movies, TV shows, records, toys and computer software, has no film studio or recording studio, no products--indeed, no pedigree but its owners' resumes. No problem either, for Spielberg is the director of Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park; Katzenberg supervised the glorious revival of animated features while at the Walt Disney Co.; and Geffen has made stars of the Eagles, Guns N' Roses and Nirvana on records, Tom Cruise in movies and some singing cats on Broadway.” Read More »

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