Lawrence Westbrook (politician)
Encyclopedia
Colonel Lawrence Westbrook was a Texan politician and official in the Roosevelt administration
. He was born 23 August 1889 in Belton, Texas
and was a 1908 graduate of the University of Texas and later the University of Texas Law School. Colonel Westbrook also served as a member of the Texas Legislature
representing Waco, Texas
. During World War I
he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel
in the Army Signal Corps. He married Mrs. Martha Wootton Collings in Hot Springs, Arkansas in March 1937. During World War II Colonel Westbrook returned to active duty and was wartime president of the United States Purchasing Board in the South Pacific theater where he was awarded the Order of the British Empire from New Zealand. While serving in the South Pacific he was responsible for a survey of all defense resources for this region. Colonel Westbrook died in San Angelo, Texas
.
– a program of cooperatively owned housing projects for middle-income residents funded by the US Government – began his career late in the 1920s with his own self-initiated program for organizing rural Texas
farmers into a cooperative marketing body. Today, in 2009, while the US is experiencing the popping of a real estate bubble
, the mutual ownership concept is especially interesting, as it was based on the idea that traditional home ownership was not the best economic choice for many middle income families. Since it ties these families to their home during times of economic recession
or depression
, it makes it difficult for them to move and follow available employment opportunities. In the early 1930s, Westbrook and his program attracted favorable attention from regional New Deal
officials, and in 1931 Westbrook was appointed to the position of Director of the Texas Relief Commission. While involved in the Texas relief programs Westbook was intensely interested in supporting the development of the Texas Parks system. He was a close friend of influential Congressman and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
(1940-1947, 1949-1953 and 1955-1961) Sam Rayburn
which the Westbrook family reports was a key in Colonel Westbrook's success while working within the US Government. During Colonel Westbrook's experience as a Texas public official he became convinced of the benefits of cooperative enterprises. In quick succession, he was promoted to Assistant Federal Emergency Relief
Administrator in the Rural Rehabilitation Division, and then to First Assistant Work Projects
(WPA) Administrator Harry L. Hopkins. They became friends and Mr. Hopkins would serve as best man at Colonel Westbrook's marriage in 1937.
In 1934, Colonel Westbrook joined the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
and by 1936 he was responsible within the WPA for managing a community in Pontiac, Michigan
called West Acres. This project was designed as a cooperative
housing option for auto workers. As a federal government official, Westbrook would work in the area of public housing
and President Roosevelt would also credit him with developing the administration's rural rehabilitation program. In the early 1930s while part of the Federal Relief Administration he was placed in charge of dealing with drought areas in the upper midwest and briefed President Roosevelt on his train while passing through this area. While serving as First Assistant in the WPA he also was in charge of the Homestead Project which included one of Eleanor Roosevelt
's pet projects, Arthurdale, West Virginia
. Colonel Westbrooks involvement with the WPA also included chairing the WPA Advisory Board starting in 1936 after resigning as first assistant to "devote more time to personal matters." In 1937, he supported the granting of a subsidy to cotton growers while he served as a special investigator in charge of a US Senate investigation of cotton cooperatives. His involvement and interest in the housing problems of the low and middle income groups grew out of this experience and research in public housing. His step daughter, Madge Westbrook Brown, also reported that as a west Texan living in Washington, DC, Colonel Westbrook was frustrated by the lack of green space and was committed to developing housing in a park setting. He was also committed to providing the very best architectural environments for the low and middle-class residents of his housing develops. He would go on to hire some of the very top architects of his time to design his projects including Richard Neutra
. The housing problems he identified included the inability of the middle class to accumulate the necessary capital to move out of the rental market, the unstable nature of their employment, and the lack of flexibility within the housing market that would permit easy adjustments to the ever changing size and needs of each family. Westbrook believed that eliminating the required downpayment for housing purchases would actually make the middle class
a better risk for home ownership by simply allowing them to keep financial reserves that could carry them through difficult times. Inspired by the success of the government-sponsored Rural Electrification Cooperatives Program, Westbrook set about applying many of the cooperative principles to the middle income housing problem; what resulted was the Mutual Home Ownership concept.
. The design, by David Williams and modernist architect Richard Neutra
, echoed many of the innovative design elements of the planned community
of Radburn, New Jersey
including pedestrian focused designs with unit front doors facing away from streets and toward park areas and other units across a common yard. However, financial support for this project was never fully found, and the development had to be scrapped. Returning to the government, Westbrook submitted the Mutual Home plan to the Government's Temporary National Economic Committee
, where it was filed away until 1940.
In 1940, with the demand for defense housing growing steadily, Congressman Frederick Garland Lanham (D-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, coordinated a meeting between Howard Hunter, Commissioner of Works Projects Administration, and Westbrook, to discuss the mutual home ownership concept with John Carmody, Administrator of the Federal Works Agency
. These influential individuals had come across the plan in the records of the Temporary National Economic Committee
. They were so impressed with the plan that they asked Westbrook to serve as Special Assistant to Mr. Carmody with the responsibility for a newly established Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
, which was charged with adapting the mutual housing plan to the demands of the Defense Housing initiatives. One of the projects completed was the Winfield Park
Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project (Project Number 28071).
This was a time when public housing programs were being presented as model governmental projects that utilized internationally recognized architects and urban planners for their development and implementation. From their inception the eight projects of the mutual housing effort differed from traditional defense housing projects because they were meant to be sold to their residents under the mutual ownership plan. Soon the real estate industry and home builders placed enormous pressure on the Federal Government to end this public housing effort, that they feared could result in the wholesale economic socialization of the home building industry.
By 1942, the forces aligned against government sponsored middle income housing programs contributed to the final demise of the mutual housing experiment. Additionally, with the resource limitation of the war becoming increasingly more evident by 1942, the entire defense housing effort moved to the construction of temporary structures rather than high quality permanent housing. Even the eventual purchase of the projects by their residents was threatened during the late 1940s. But thanks to extensive lobbying by labor unions and the project residents themselves, the necessary legislation and approvals were completed for the purchases and as of 2009 seven of the original eight projects continue to operate within the mutual ownership plan.
The mutual ownership projects are an example of success in the early US public housing
effort before conservative forces took control and promoted private solutions. The highly touted Housing Act of 1949
promised the construction of 810,000 low-cost public housing units by 1955, yet by 1964 only 550 of these units had actually been built.
and was dismissed on October 30, 1952 following charges of involvement in a kickback
scheme regarding a United State Government contract for tungsten
with Atlantica Companhia of Portugal for $9 million. He was accused of being a "five per center" as he and his associated received 5 percent fee for handling the contract. Colonel Westbrook defended his conduct, claiming that his actions were an attempt to save the government money and that a rival sought to sell tungsten to the US at inflated prices; he was later cleared of all charges by the United States Court of Appeals
and the US Government was ordered to pay Atlantica $508,200 for breach of contract.
Colonel Westbrook also completed a manuscript of his memoirs entitled The Boondogglers
. It was never published but the manuscript is part of his personal papers held in The Texas Collection at Baylor University.
Roosevelt Administration
There have been two Presidents of the United States with the surname "Roosevelt":*Theodore Roosevelt Administration, the 26th President of the United States, 1901 - 1909*Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, the 32nd President of the United States, 1933 - 1945...
. He was born 23 August 1889 in Belton, Texas
Belton, Texas
Belton is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bell County.Belton is part of the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area.-Geography:...
and was a 1908 graduate of the University of Texas and later the University of Texas Law School. Colonel Westbrook also served as a member of the Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...
representing Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in the Army Signal Corps. He married Mrs. Martha Wootton Collings in Hot Springs, Arkansas in March 1937. During World War II Colonel Westbrook returned to active duty and was wartime president of the United States Purchasing Board in the South Pacific theater where he was awarded the Order of the British Empire from New Zealand. While serving in the South Pacific he was responsible for a survey of all defense resources for this region. Colonel Westbrook died in San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
.
Early career
Westbrook, the developer of the little known Mutual Ownership Defense Housing DivisionMutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
The Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency part of the United States government, operating from about 1940 to 1942 under the leadership of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook, was an attempt by the United States Government, late in the New Deal, to respond to the housing needs...
– a program of cooperatively owned housing projects for middle-income residents funded by the US Government – began his career late in the 1920s with his own self-initiated program for organizing rural Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
farmers into a cooperative marketing body. Today, in 2009, while the US is experiencing the popping of a real estate bubble
Real estate bubble
A real estate bubble or property bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local or global real estate markets...
, the mutual ownership concept is especially interesting, as it was based on the idea that traditional home ownership was not the best economic choice for many middle income families. Since it ties these families to their home during times of economic recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
or depression
Depression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
, it makes it difficult for them to move and follow available employment opportunities. In the early 1930s, Westbrook and his program attracted favorable attention from regional New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
officials, and in 1931 Westbrook was appointed to the position of Director of the Texas Relief Commission. While involved in the Texas relief programs Westbook was intensely interested in supporting the development of the Texas Parks system. He was a close friend of influential Congressman and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
(1940-1947, 1949-1953 and 1955-1961) Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
which the Westbrook family reports was a key in Colonel Westbrook's success while working within the US Government. During Colonel Westbrook's experience as a Texas public official he became convinced of the benefits of cooperative enterprises. In quick succession, he was promoted to Assistant Federal Emergency Relief
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration which President Herbert Hoover had created in 1932...
Administrator in the Rural Rehabilitation Division, and then to First Assistant Work Projects
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA) Administrator Harry L. Hopkins. They became friends and Mr. Hopkins would serve as best man at Colonel Westbrook's marriage in 1937.
In 1934, Colonel Westbrook joined the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration which President Herbert Hoover had created in 1932...
and by 1936 he was responsible within the WPA for managing a community in Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
called West Acres. This project was designed as a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
housing option for auto workers. As a federal government official, Westbrook would work in the area of public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
and President Roosevelt would also credit him with developing the administration's rural rehabilitation program. In the early 1930s while part of the Federal Relief Administration he was placed in charge of dealing with drought areas in the upper midwest and briefed President Roosevelt on his train while passing through this area. While serving as First Assistant in the WPA he also was in charge of the Homestead Project which included one of Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
's pet projects, Arthurdale, West Virginia
Arthurdale, West Virginia
Arthurdale is an unincorporated community in Preston County, West Virginia, United States. Arthurdale was named for Richard Arthur, former owner of the land on which it was built, who had sold the land to the federal government under a tax default....
. Colonel Westbrooks involvement with the WPA also included chairing the WPA Advisory Board starting in 1936 after resigning as first assistant to "devote more time to personal matters." In 1937, he supported the granting of a subsidy to cotton growers while he served as a special investigator in charge of a US Senate investigation of cotton cooperatives. His involvement and interest in the housing problems of the low and middle income groups grew out of this experience and research in public housing. His step daughter, Madge Westbrook Brown, also reported that as a west Texan living in Washington, DC, Colonel Westbrook was frustrated by the lack of green space and was committed to developing housing in a park setting. He was also committed to providing the very best architectural environments for the low and middle-class residents of his housing develops. He would go on to hire some of the very top architects of his time to design his projects including Richard Neutra
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...
. The housing problems he identified included the inability of the middle class to accumulate the necessary capital to move out of the rental market, the unstable nature of their employment, and the lack of flexibility within the housing market that would permit easy adjustments to the ever changing size and needs of each family. Westbrook believed that eliminating the required downpayment for housing purchases would actually make the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
a better risk for home ownership by simply allowing them to keep financial reserves that could carry them through difficult times. Inspired by the success of the government-sponsored Rural Electrification Cooperatives Program, Westbrook set about applying many of the cooperative principles to the middle income housing problem; what resulted was the Mutual Home Ownership concept.
Mutual Home Ownership Concept
By 1938, believing he could turn the Mutual Home concept into reality, Westbrook left the US government (where he could not find enough support for his ideas) to develop a privately financed, 1000-unit, "Park living housing development" in Duval County, FloridaDuval County, Florida
Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...
. The design, by David Williams and modernist architect Richard Neutra
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...
, echoed many of the innovative design elements of the planned community
Planned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
of Radburn, New Jersey
Radburn, New Jersey
Radburn is an unincorporated planned community located within Fair Lawn, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age"...
including pedestrian focused designs with unit front doors facing away from streets and toward park areas and other units across a common yard. However, financial support for this project was never fully found, and the development had to be scrapped. Returning to the government, Westbrook submitted the Mutual Home plan to the Government's Temporary National Economic Committee
Temporary National Economic Committee
The Temporary National Economic Committee was established by a joint resolution of the United States Congress on June 16, 1938 and operated until its defunding on April 3, 1941. The TNEC's function was to study the monopoly powers and to report to Congress with its findings.One of the many firms...
, where it was filed away until 1940.
In 1940, with the demand for defense housing growing steadily, Congressman Frederick Garland Lanham (D-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, coordinated a meeting between Howard Hunter, Commissioner of Works Projects Administration, and Westbrook, to discuss the mutual home ownership concept with John Carmody, Administrator of the Federal Works Agency
Federal Works Agency
The Federal Works Agency was an independent agency of the Federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949...
. These influential individuals had come across the plan in the records of the Temporary National Economic Committee
Temporary National Economic Committee
The Temporary National Economic Committee was established by a joint resolution of the United States Congress on June 16, 1938 and operated until its defunding on April 3, 1941. The TNEC's function was to study the monopoly powers and to report to Congress with its findings.One of the many firms...
. They were so impressed with the plan that they asked Westbrook to serve as Special Assistant to Mr. Carmody with the responsibility for a newly established Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
The Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency part of the United States government, operating from about 1940 to 1942 under the leadership of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook, was an attempt by the United States Government, late in the New Deal, to respond to the housing needs...
, which was charged with adapting the mutual housing plan to the demands of the Defense Housing initiatives. One of the projects completed was the Winfield Park
Winfield Township, New Jersey
Winfield Township is a township in Union County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population decreased to a record low of 1,471...
Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Project (Project Number 28071).
This was a time when public housing programs were being presented as model governmental projects that utilized internationally recognized architects and urban planners for their development and implementation. From their inception the eight projects of the mutual housing effort differed from traditional defense housing projects because they were meant to be sold to their residents under the mutual ownership plan. Soon the real estate industry and home builders placed enormous pressure on the Federal Government to end this public housing effort, that they feared could result in the wholesale economic socialization of the home building industry.
By 1942, the forces aligned against government sponsored middle income housing programs contributed to the final demise of the mutual housing experiment. Additionally, with the resource limitation of the war becoming increasingly more evident by 1942, the entire defense housing effort moved to the construction of temporary structures rather than high quality permanent housing. Even the eventual purchase of the projects by their residents was threatened during the late 1940s. But thanks to extensive lobbying by labor unions and the project residents themselves, the necessary legislation and approvals were completed for the purchases and as of 2009 seven of the original eight projects continue to operate within the mutual ownership plan.
The mutual ownership projects are an example of success in the early US public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
effort before conservative forces took control and promoted private solutions. The highly touted Housing Act of 1949
Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing...
promised the construction of 810,000 low-cost public housing units by 1955, yet by 1964 only 550 of these units had actually been built.
Later career
During the 1950s Colonel Westbrook became an official of the Democratic National CommitteeDemocratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
and was dismissed on October 30, 1952 following charges of involvement in a kickback
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
scheme regarding a United State Government contract for tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
with Atlantica Companhia of Portugal for $9 million. He was accused of being a "five per center" as he and his associated received 5 percent fee for handling the contract. Colonel Westbrook defended his conduct, claiming that his actions were an attempt to save the government money and that a rival sought to sell tungsten to the US at inflated prices; he was later cleared of all charges by the United States Court of Appeals
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
and the US Government was ordered to pay Atlantica $508,200 for breach of contract.
Colonel Westbrook also completed a manuscript of his memoirs entitled The Boondogglers
Boondoggle (project)
A boondoggle is a project that is considered to waste time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy motivations.- Etymology :...
. It was never published but the manuscript is part of his personal papers held in The Texas Collection at Baylor University.
External links
- The Texas Collection at Baylor University - Houses the papers of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook
- "Fertilizing the Weeds: The New Deal’s Rural Poverty Program in West Virginia" by Kevin Cahill - Discusses Colonel Westbrooks' involvement with the Division of Rural Rehabilitation and Stranded Populations under Harry HopkinsHarry HopkinsHarry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...
during the mid-1930s. - Westbrook, Lawrence and Molly Steinberg. Questions and answers about the Matanuska Colonization Project in Alaska. WPA. Washington, DC. 1936.
- Steely, James Wright. Parks for Texas: Enduring Landscapes of the New Deal. University of Texas Press. Austin, Texas. 1999.
- Architect David Williams (1915-1984) papers
- Architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970) papers