July 15, 1949: The Housing Act of 1949

July 15, 1949: President Harry Truman signed the Housing Act of 1949 into law. It is a major part of his "Fair Deal" legislative program.

In the 1948 campaign, Truman ran largely against the Republican-controlled Congress as obstructive and "do-nothing." But on this legislation, he worked with perhaps his own harshest critic, the man so conservative, he was known as "Mr. Republican," Senator Robert Taft of Ohio. Taft and 2 Democrats, Robert Wagner of New York and Allen Ellender of Louisiana, sponsored the bill in the Senate. 

The bill authorized loans to help cities acquire slums and blighted land for public or private redevelopment. It amended the National Housing Act of 1934, by reauthorizing the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for 6 weeks, and raised by $500 million the amount the FHA was allowed to offer as mortgage insurance.

It required that public housing authorities demolish or renovate one slum dwelling unit for every public housing apartment they built. It provided funds and the authority to conduct extensive research into the economics of housing construction, markets, and financing. And it addressed the problems of rural housing by reorganizing and expanding the loan program initiated under the Bankhead-Johns Farm Tenant Act of 1937, which allowed farmer to purchase and improve farms.

The Senate passed the bill on April 21, 57-13; the House, 227-186 on May 9. A conference committee worked out the differences, and both houses passed it on July 8.

On the plus side, actual houses became more available to people than ever before, and some awful tenements were replaced by housing projects, with aid to cities to provide for police departments for such complexes. On the down side, many of those projects became the same kind of crime-ridden places, anyway, with little net gain, to the point where "the projects" became a byword for black-populated ghettoes in the cities.

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July 15, 1949 was a Friday. Author Richard Russo was born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Eddie Lopat pitched a 5-hit shutout. St. Louis native Yogi Berra hit 2 home runs. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 11-5 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Tommy Brown hit home runs in support of Don Newcombe.

* The Boston Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Howie Pollet pitched a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Robin Roberts. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Dick Fowler pitched a 7-hit shutout, while Bob Feller didn't get out of the 6th inning.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams went 3-for-5.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-4.

* And the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at the Polo Grounds. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Pirates, swept, 9-0 and 7-6. Bob Chesnes pitched a 6-hit shutout in the opener. Wally Westlake hit 2 home runs. In the nightcap, Westlake homered again. In the top of the 11th inning, Vic Lombardi singled STan Rojek home with the winning run.

Over the 2 games, Westlake went 6-for-11 with 3 home runs, a walk and 6 RBIs. Ralph Kiner went 4-for-9 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs.