Defense Homes Corporation
Encyclopedia
The Defense Homes Corporation was created October 23, 1940 to finance housing for war industry workers.
Also known as "The Lanham Act" after Representative Fritz G. Lanham
of Texas who championed the bill. To insure conservative support, the DHC was only to construct homes where the private homebuilding industry was not functioning. By January, 1942, 207 projects had been completed and another 171 authorized for construction.
On February 24, 1942 the Defense Homes Corporation was transferred to the Federal Housing Administration
. In 1945 all assets were liquidated, with any remaining assets transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
on June 30, 1948.
History
The Defense Homes Corporation was incorporated pursuant to a letter of President Roosevelt to the Secretary of the Treasury on October 18, 1940 to finance housing for war industries. Subdivisions and apartment complexes were constructed around the country where new war factories had caused a shortage of worker housing.Also known as "The Lanham Act" after Representative Fritz G. Lanham
Fritz G. Lanham
Frederick Garland "Fritz" Lanham was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Texas. A Democrat, Lanham was the son of Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham, a governor of Texas and himself a member of Congress. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a...
of Texas who championed the bill. To insure conservative support, the DHC was only to construct homes where the private homebuilding industry was not functioning. By January, 1942, 207 projects had been completed and another 171 authorized for construction.
On February 24, 1942 the Defense Homes Corporation was transferred to the Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
. In 1945 all assets were liquidated, with any remaining assets transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation...
on June 30, 1948.
Examples of DHC Projects
- Fairlington, VirginiaFairlington, VirginiaFairlington is an unincorporated neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, located adjacent to Shirlington in the southernmost part of the county on the boundary with the City of Alexandria...
- Colonial Hills (Subdivision of Worthington, Ohio)