Woodlawn, Chicago

Sources detail how the University of Chicago maneuvered an amendment to the 1949 Federal Housing Act to extend the power of eminent domain to private institutions, to acquire South Campus, displacing (dispossession) the existing residents. A grassroots organization opposing this displacement negotiated for low-income housing. Forced into heavy concessions in the course of negotiations, TWO (The Woodlawn Organisation) got the university to agree to construct low-income housing on a strip at the edge of Woodlawn. However, demolition for South Campus took place before the housing was built forcing many to resettle in areas far away. The low cost housing eventually built has been plagued by deterioration and bankruptcy.