Public Works Administration Housing Projects Built Segregated by Neighborhood

Housing projects built by the Public Works Administration were explicitly segregated — white projects in white neighborhoods, Black projects in Black neighborhoods — formalizing and reinforcing residential segregation through public investment. PWA construction projects were built by segregated workforces, with Black workers assigned to dangerous and lowest-paid tasks. Housing Administrator Harold Ickes (personally committed to racial equality) formally prohibited racial wage discrimination in contracts but was largely unable to enforce this in the South.