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Using household survey cards compiled by the Works Progress Administration in 1939, Bunker Hill Refrain will allow researchers and the public to learn more about the inhabitants of a Los Angeles neighborhood lost to urban renewal in the mid-twentieth century.
Learn moreEach WPA survey card describes a household on Bunker Hill. The cards have basic information about the location of the residence, the entire building the residence is in, and the specific unit of residence. In this phase of the project we are collecting the dates of significance to the unit (Workflow 1) and demographics of the residents (Workflow 2). Please transcribe the information on the card using the two workflows.
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Message from the researcher
The demolition of Bunker Hill through urban renewal occupies a significant place in Los Angeles’ public memory. The data we collect through this project gives a voice to the individuals and families who occupied the neighborhood and will allow us to better understand what was lost when the hill was razed.
Bunker Hill RefrainAbout Bunker Hill Refrain
Bunker Hill Refrain focuses on a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles with a deep and storied history. Subdivided in 1867, Bunker Hill was originally home to the city’s most distinguished residents. As Los Angeles grew, a diverse mix of families, seniors and low-wage workers replaced the early settlers. At the midpoint of the twentieth century, planners and policy makers argued that the area was blighted and should be remade to suit the aspirations of a city on the move.
With the establishment of the Bunker Hill Urban Redevelopment Project in 1958, the hill and the housing on top of it was demolished to make way for high-rise towers and cultural institutions. More than 6,000 individuals were displaced.
Scholarship has linked the redevelopment of Bunker Hill to national housing policies, cold war politics and the desire of local elites to shape the image of the city. Significantly less is known about the individuals and families who occupied the neighborhood before the bulldozers arrived.
The aim of this project is to deepen our understanding of the demographics of Bunker Hill by making use of household survey cards compiled by the Works Progress Administration in 1939 and housed in Special Collections at USC Libraries. These cards contain valuable, and as yet untapped, information about the inhabitants of Bunker Hill dwellings, including their ownership status, length of residence, rent, race or ethnicity. The resulting searchable data from this project will become a valuable resource for scholars from numerous disciplines.