Erik Moe Art & Design

While doing some background reading for an about.com piece, I stumbled across this tantalizing mention of the Philadelphia Housing Authority nearly earning an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1941:

A PLACE TO LIVE, produced by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. In the tradition of the great progressive films of the late 1930s and early 1940s such as “The River,” “Valley Town” and “The Land,” director Irving Lerner shows the deleterious effects of slum housing. This lyrical work features a rousing, Coplandesque score.

Of course, the housing projects the PHA built in order to rid the city of “deleterious effects” became notorious slums themselves with equally deleterious effects. The projects are mostly gone now, but Philly still has a serious housing problem… If only rousing, Coplandesque scores could solve all our problems…