Guild’s Lake Courts in Northwest Portland was designed as temporary worker housing for the steel and shipyard industries during the Second World War. When constructed in 1942, it was one of the largest housing projects in the United States. The massive development consisted of 2,432 units of housing, five community buildings, five childcare centers, a grade school, and a fire station. The population of the community peaked in January, 1945 at 10,000. Many of the residents were children from across the U.S. and 20 percent of the population were African Americans who had relocated to Portland from the South. During its short existence, the community underwent three rapid evolutions before being demolished in 1951.

This lecture will cover the significant social and architectural history of the community. Famed Portland architect Morris Whitehouse led the project’s development, but other wellknown local architects received commissions as well. Please join us as historian Tanya Lyn March shares her research on this little-known segment of Portland history. Ms. March interviewed 30 former residents of the community for her recent PhD dissertation in the Urban Studies Department at Portland State University.

For more information and to register, go to http://www.visitahc.org/content/guilds-lake-courts-impermanent-housing-project