COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

JUNE 10, 1959

The Commission met in the New York Room, Statler Hotel, Washington, D.C., at 2 p.m., Wednesday, June 10, 1959, Chairman John A. Hannah presiding.

Present: John A. Hannah, Chairman; Robert G. Storey, Vice Chairman; John S. Battle, Commissioner; Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, Commissioner; Doyle E. Carlton, Commissioner; and George M. Johnson, Commissioner.

Also present: Gordon M. Tiffany, staff director; Harris L. Wofford, legal assistant to Commissioner Hesburgh; Eugene R. Jackson, legal assistant to Commissioner Johnson; Robert Amidon, housing team attorney; Rufus Kuykendall, Director, Office of Laws, Plans, and Research; James H. Denison, administrative assistant to Dr. Hannah; and Mrs. Glenda Sloane, housing team attorney.

PROCEEDINGS

Chairman HANNAH. The meeting will come to order.
I have an opening statement for the record.

As you know, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, under which this Commission was established, assigned us the specific duty to investigate voting complaints alleging the denial to register or vote because of race, creed, or color. In addition to this particular legislative mandate, this act authorized us to collect information concerning a denial of the equal protection of the laws and to appraise Federal laws and policies with respect to the equal protection of the laws. It was under this general legislative authority that the Commission decided to conduct studies in the field of education and housing.

After our housing-study staff had conferred with many of the officials of the housing agencies here in Washington and conducted several preliminary field-survey trips, the Commission decided that the best way to obtain firsthand information on the problem of discrimination in housing would be to hold hearings in selected cities. We have held three hearings-the first in New York City in February of this year, the second in Atlanta in April, and the last one in Chicago in May.

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These three cities were selected because of the varying situations they represented. New York, for example, then had the most farreaching city and State antidiscrimination housing statutes in the country, and the Commission was anxious to learn how these laws are administered and what they are accomplishing.

In Atlanta, the Commission heard about the minority housing problems in a major southern city where the principle of "separate but equal" prevails in housing.

Chicago was selected because it has no city law nor is there any state law such as New York's prohibiting racial discrimination in housing.

In the course of these hearings much testimony was heard regarding the operations of the various Federal housing programs. Practically all of our witnesses were unanimous on one point that the Federal Government, through its various programs, is a major factor in the American housing market.

Accordingly, we are particularly pleased that today we will have the opportunity of hearing directly from Federal housing officials. We want to hear testimony on what your policies are, and effects your operations have on this nationwide problem of discrimination in housing. At this time, and on behalf of all the Commissioners, I want to thank all of the housing-agency heads and officials for the splendid cooperation and assistance which they have extended to our housing-study staff.

The first person we will hear from today is Mr. Norman Mason, the Housing and Home Finance Administrator.

Mr. Mason, we are grateful to you for your willingness to come here today. We will be interested in hearing what you would like to have us hear from you.

TESTIMONY OF NORMAN P. MASON, ADMINISTRATOR, HOUSING AND HOME FINANCE AGENCY

Mr. MASON. Mr. Chairman and members of the Commission, I think this is a stupendous task that you have undertaken and I certainly can understand your desire for firsthand information.

I have with me today from the Office of the Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency Mr. Brownfield, my General Counsel; Mr. McFarland, who is the Director of the Division of Economics and Program Studies; Mr. Graves, the Executive Secretary of the Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit Program; and Miss Flora Hatcher, who is Director of Group Services. All of these people have parts to play in our program and are interested in hearing this discussion.

From the Federal Housing Administration there is Dr. George Snowden, who is the assistant to the Commissioner for Intergroup Relations Service.

From the Public Housing Administration there is Mr. Philip G. Sadler, who is Director of Intergroup Relations, to make a statement, and Mr. Casey Ireland and Mr. Bernard Orlikowski to listen.

From the Urban Renewal Administration there is Mr. Richard Steiner, the Commissioner, and Mr. George Nesbitt, who is intergroup relations officer.

From the Federal National Mortgage Association we have Mr. J. Stanley Baughman, who is President of that organization.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss with this Commission the Federal Government's housing programs administered by the Housing and Home Finance Agency. We have followed your hearings in the housing field with keen interest. We look forward to having the benefit of your forthcoming report to the President and the Congress. The Housing and Home Finance Agency consists of the Office of the Administrator and five constituents-Federal Housing Administration, Public Housing Administration, Urban Renewal Administration, Federal National Mortgage Association, and Community Facilities Administration. It also provides staff and other aid for the Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit Program with its assistance to minorities in securing mortgage financing.

Let me first sketch in rather broad strokes the main housing programs which this Agency administers. Following my statement, constituent representatives will briefly describe their operations and policies in serving this field.

The Federal Housing Administration insures loans made by private lenders for constructing, purchasing and improving new and existing housing, including individual homes and multifamily buildings, both owner occupied and rented. The Federal Housing Administration's job is accomplished by working with private enterprise-builders, lenders, and realtor brokers. Its special programs, section 220 and section 221-and Mr. Chairman in government we just can't get away from using numbers and abbreviations, apparently-are important to urban renewal accomplishment. It has done much to add to and improve our housing supply and has increasingly served the minoritygroup segment of the market. The Federal Housing Administration was established in 1934. It has written mortgage insurance on more than 5 million homes and on multifamily rental and cooperative housing units to house more than 800,000 families. Property-improvement loans have been approved for more than 22 million homeowners.

I would like to add to the statement here the fact that the percentage of the market in mortgages that is covered by the Federal Housing

Administration's program has ranged from as little as 8 or 9 percent to almost 30 percent.

The Public Housing Administration administers the public lowrent-housing program which serves families in the lowest income groups. Under this program, the Federal Government may provide development loans and annual subsidies to local communities for developing and operating public low-rent dwellings. Preference in federally aided low-rent public housing is provided by law for eligible low-income families displaced by urban renewal and other public action. Under both Federal and State statutory authorities, the public low-rent housing program is a locally owned and administered program. Currently, the nation's public-housing inventory consists roughly of approximately 2,400 federally aided public low-rent-housing projects with approximately 451,000 units under management of more than 1,000 local housing authorities. Public low-rent housing has historically provided a substantial amount of standard housing for eligible low-income minority families, with about 45 percent of the units now occupied by nonwhites.

Urban renewal, about which you've heard so much in your hearings-is carried out by the Urban Renewal Administration. The program reflects the urgent need to revitalize our cities. One of the significant milestones of housing progress occurred in passage of the 1954 Housing Act, which vastly expanded the scope of urban renewal and provided new concepts and tools for attacking urban blight. This legislation authorizes planning advances, and loans and grants to local communities carrying out title I projects, for clearance and redevelopment, and for rehabilitation, or for a suitable combination of these treatments. Prevention of blight is a major emphasis in the legislative authority. Urban renewal projects are carried out by local public agencies under powers granted by State and local enabling laws. An important part of urban renewal takes place under the locality's workable program.

Urban renewal unquestionably presents a historic opportunity to increase and improve housing opportunities for minorities. In practically all communities, Negro and other minority group families are concentrated largely in the very areas most in need of renewal. Currently, urban renewal activities span across the country; 877 localities. have adopted workable programs. Six hundred forty-five title I projects are being carried out in 386 localities.

The Federal National Mortgage Association serves as a secondary market facility and provides supplementary assistance for FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed home mortgages. FNMA works directly with private lending institutions. FNMA also renders special assistance by buying certain loans at the determination of the Congress or

of the President. These loans make financing available in new and unproven fields.

The Community Facilities Administration administers three programs-advance planning, public facility loan, and college housing. Under the advance planning program, CFA may advance funds to States, municipalities, and other public agencies to help finance the planning of various public works. The public facility loan program aids States and local governments in building essential community facilities where financing is not available elsewhere on reasonable terms. Under the college housing program, loans may be made to educational institutions for student and faculty housing and related facilities.

You can thus see the broad scope and variety of our major programs and operations in the Housing and Home Finance Agency. Within this setting, the Office of the Administrator carries out broad overall functions, including supervision and coordination responsibilities. Statutory authority for the public low-rent-housing program and for the Federal mortgage-insurance program inheres in the Commissioners of these two constituent agencies. For other programs, statutory powers inhere in the Administrator. Many of these powers can be, and are, delegated by the Administrator to Commissioners of constituent units. The law specifies that certain powers cannot be delegated but must be performed by the Administrator.

Without getting ourselves ensnarled in the legalisms of the Administrator's statutory powers, let me state my belief that by mutual agreement we can and must take needed action in all our programs to assure equal treatment and opportunity in their benefits to all our citizens, irrespective of race, color, or creed. I believe it is my responsibility to give leadership and guidance in both policy development and its implementation in this field. To be effective in any overall sense, the directions throughout our programs and the actions taken must be both unified and coordinated, as between constituents, as between the Office of the Administrator and constituents, and in terms of our manifold interrelationships with local and State officials, private enterprise, and public-interest groups.

Now I want to make a few observations about our national community. We are living in a growing America, a changing America, and one in which its people are "on the move." I am told that one out of every five American families moves each year. These trends can be a great factor in helping us learn mutual understanding and acceptance of each other on merit.

Our greatest population growth is occurring in large urban centers. Well over half our people now live in 168 standard metropolitan areas. Within these areas, between 1950 and 1956, there has been a marked