Oral History Interviews with
William K. Divers
Member of the staff of the Federal Emergency Public Works Administration, 1933 37; member of the legal staff of the U.S. Housing Authority, 1938; regional director of fifteen midwest states, U.S. Housing Authority, 1939 40; assistant general counsel and special assistant to the director of the defense housing division, Federal Works Agency, 1941; regional representative of the National Housing Agency, 1942 43; special assistant to the National Housing Expeditor, 1946; assistant administrator of the National Housing Agency, 1947; chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 1947 53, and member, 1953 54.
[Notices and Restrictions | List of Subjects Discussed]
Notice
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.
Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral history interview.
RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.
List of Subjects Discussed
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z
Adams, J. Alston, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 235, 261-262, 263, 282, 340
Adams, Sherman, 335, 338
Administrator of Housing and Home Finance, 228
Agnew, Spiro T., 314, 365
Allen, George E., 186, 187
Alphonso Taft Hall, 6
American Banker, 302
The American Bankers' Association, 300, 301, 319
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 103
Arkansas, 229-230
Atomic bomb, 100, 360
B&O Railroad, 332
Banking and Currency Committee of the Senate, 280
Bayh, Senator Birch, 323
Beers, Marion, 66-67
Belgium, 306
Bennett, Henry Herbert, 105, 112-113
Bevis, Howard, 20
Blandford, John B., Jr., 108-109, 115, 162, 217, 218
-
- Bohn, Ernest J., 56, 57
Brazil, 131
Bricker, Senator John, 7, 298
Budget Bureau, 247, 287
Burklin, Robert Reyburn, 238
California, 221, 273
Capehart, Senator Homer E., 350
Carmody, John, 54, 85, 88
Carroll, Dorothy, 332
Carroll, Senator John A., 332
Chemical National Bank, 77
Chicago, Illinois, 74, 180, 275, 278, 315
Chicago "Black Sox", 14
Chicago White Sox, 14
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1, 2, 13, 14, 16, 20, 26, 28, 29, 147, 231, 306
Cincinnati Bureau of Government Research, 147
Cincinnati Enquirer, 4
Cincinnati Reds, 13-15
Civilian Production Agency, 153, 178
Clark, Tom C., 266
Cleveland, Ohio, 26, 70, 74, 87
Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority, 56
Clifford, Clark, 209
Colonial Federal Savings and Loan Association of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, 202
Colorado, 79, 80, 120-121, 302, 332
Columbus, Ohio, 19, 21, 22, 35, 36
Concerns of a Conservative Democrat, 313
Congress, and rise in the cost of living, 290-294
Congress of Industrial Organizations, CIO, 103, 113
Congressional Directory, 263
Congressional relations with the Housing and Home Finance Agency on housing legislation, 294-305
Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D. C., 144
Connelly, Matthew J., 209
Coolidge, Calvin, 123
Cortright, Frank, 193
Cost of living, rises in the, 290-294
Council of Economic Advisers, 339
Crane, Jacob, 66, 75, 76
Creedon, Frank, 198
Davies, Richard 0., 220
Davisson, C. Ray, 195
Dawson, Congressman William L., 275, 276, 278
Dearborn, Michigan, 103
Defense Housing Program, 54, 83
Democratic National Committee, 333
Democrats, a discussion of, 363-364
Denver, Colorado, 48, 50, 120-121, 314
Des Moines, Iowa, 349
Detroit, Michigan, 71, 92, 102, 103, 104, 107, 111, 113, 180, 202
Detroit Metropolitan Housing Authority, 92, 94
Dickerson, Cap, 21-22
Divers, William K.:
-
- as Assistant Administrator of the National Housing Agency, 145-146
as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Hamilton County, Ohio, 16, 18-23, 25-27
background of, 1-32
Congressional relations with housing and Home Finance Agency on housing legislation, 294-305
as a Democrat, 307-312
Federal Emergency Administration, employed by, 32 -37
Federal Home Loan Bank Board, as chairman of, 225-229, 231-257
and Foley, Raymond, 219
House Appropriations Committee, testifies before, 284 , 289
and Keyserling, Leon, 57-66
Long Beach Federal Court case, involvement in, 259-284
and McGrath, J. Howard, 322, 325-327
Ohio State bonds, issuance of, 18-23
private construction and housing interests, as a representative of, 160-162, 165-172
as Regional Representative of the National Housing Agency, 124
and Roosevelt, Franklin D., 121-122
and Sawyer, Charles, 306-310, 312-313
Senate Appropriations Committee, testifies before, 284-285
and Spence, Brent, 285, 286, 288-290
and Straus, Nathan,40, 41-54
and Taft , Robert , 3-7
and Truman, Harry S., 115, 204-208, 358-362, 363
and United States Housing Authority, 37, 39-41, 89, 98-99
and Wolcott, Congressman Jesse, 286-288
- Division of Defense Housing, 87
Dixon, Ira,. 350-351
Doors, shortage of, 155-156
Douglas, William 0., 42
Duckworth Democratic Club, 306
Dyke, Nathaniel, 229, 230-231
- 323
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 337, 338, 350, 353, 357, 361, 362-363
Ellender, Allen J., 133, 135
England, 131
Fanny Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association),
- 295
Fahey, John, 229, 230-231, 244, 260, 261, 262, 265, 269-270, 345
Farm and Home Savings and Loan, Nevada, Missouri, 349
Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, 27, 28, 29, 31, 37-39, 40, 312
Federal Home Loan Bank Act, a discussion of, 317-320
Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 86, 87, 130, 205, 207, 220, 225-229, 231-257, 259, 260, 261, 266, 270, 275,
-
- 276, 280, 295, 300, 301, 302, 304, 311, 325, 335, 336, 339, 342-343, 353, 356, 357
Federal Home Loan Bank of Los Angeles, 259, 260, 261, 262
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, 233
Federal Home Loan Bank of Portland, 261
Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, 261, 272, 273, 283
Federal Home Loan Bank System, 7, 202, 206, 235, 239, 240, 297, 318, 345, 355, 356
Federal Home Loan Bank of Winston Salem, North Carolina, 233
The Federal Housing Administration, 63, 87, 197, 200, 201, 202, 221, 295
The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fanny Mae), 295
Federal Public Housing Authority, 295
The Federal Reserve, 339
Federal Savings and Loan Advisory Council, 206, 235, 337, 338, 353, 354
Federal Savings and Loan Association, 230, 302-303
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, 226, 230, 239, 241, 265
Federal Savings and Loan System, 227
Federal Works Agency Housing, 87
Flint, Michigan, 200
Florida, 202
Foley, Raymond, 206, 220-222, 230, 231-232, 246, 295, 323
Ford, Edsel, 101, 113
Ford, Henry, 102, 103, 105, 106, 111, 112
Foreman, Clark, 86, 88, 110, 116
G.I, Bill of Rights,
- 219
General Program Division of the National Housing Agency, 216, 217
Germany, 131
Glendale, Ohio, 312
Goldwater, Barry, 277
Gorman, Robert Nestor, 21, 308, 309
Granik, Theodore, 45, 189-190
Great Britain, 131
Greene, Fred, 348-349
Greenfield, Albert Monroe, 249
Gregory, Thomas A., 259, 263, 264, 268, 269-270, 272, 273, 274, 279, 282
Grimm, Sergei, 75-79
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, 202
Hamilton County, Ohio,
- 16, 308
Hannigen, Judson, 157
Hatch Act, 311
Heffelfinger, William T., 238
Heisler, Kenneth G., 347-350
Holifield, Chet, 263, 267, 270, 275, 276, 278, 279, 280, 296-297
Homebuilders, 150-153, 192, 195, 221-224
Homebuilders Association, 168
Home Loan Bank Board, See Federal Home Loan Bank Board.
Home Owners Loan Corporation, 202, 227-228, 239, 240, 242
Hoover, Herbert, 122-123, 225, 226, 352
Hopkins, Harold, 43
House Appropriations Committee, 246, 284, 285
House Banking and Currency Committee, 246, 285
Housing, abuse of public housing, 96-98
Housing Authority. See United States Housing Authority.
Housing Authority Law, 55, 56
Housing Expediter, 152
Housing and Home Finance Agency, 198, 202, 224, 294-295, 323
Housing legislation, Congressional liaison for, 294
Housing Reform During the Truman Administration, 220
Housing, residential, 126-127
Humphrey, George M., 343
Hunt, Henry T., 27
Hynicka machine, 3
Ickes, Harold L.,
Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner,
Kandane, David,
- 157-158
Kansas University, 179
Karlson, Joseph, 120
Keith, Nathaniel, 157
Kentucky, 87, 154
Keyserling, Leon, 40, 41, 44, 54, 57, 67-68, 76, 80, 81, 158, 175, 218
Kilgore, Harley, 188-189
Klutznick, Philip M., 47-48, 49, 50
Kreutz, Oscar, 262
Krooth, David, 40, 41, 54, 57, 66, 67, 75, 76, 182, 190
Landis, Judge Kenesaw Mountain,
- 14
Lanham Act Functions, Division of the National Housing Agency, 216, 217, 218-219
LaRogue, Oscar K., 232, 233, 235-236, 301-302, 348
Little Rock, Arkansas, 94
Long Beach Federal Savings and Loan Association Federal case, a discussion of, 259-284, 325, 341
Louisville, Kentucky, 24-25, 154
Lustron Company, 116
- and "assembly line" houses, 179-190
McAllister, Walter W., Sr.,
- 280, 335-338, 341-342, 350
McCarthy, Joseph R., 299-300
McGrath, J. Howard, 266, 322, 325-327
McGrath, Russell, 326, 327
McMurray, Joseph, 281
Maine, 248
Martin, I. Jack, 335
Mathewson, Christie, 15-16
Maybank, Senator Burnett, 300, 301, 302
Mayflower Hotel, 333
Mead, James, 188
Meader, George, 188
Michigan, 87, 99, 200, 202, 221, 277
Michigan National Guard, 94
Miller, Congressman William, 277-278
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 74
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 74
Minnesota, 74, 99
Missouri, 2, 99, 115, 314, 332
Mitchell, Stephen, 333
Morris, Newbold, 322-323, 324
Mosby, John,12
Murphy, Charles, 209
National Association of Homebuilders,
- 131, 160
National Association of Housing Officials (NAHO), 117-119
National Association of Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Dealers, 354
National Housing Act, 317
National Housing Administrator, 146
National Housing Agency, 57, 86, 87, 98, 124, 198, 201, 216, 217, 219, 228
National League of Insured Savings Associations, 262
National Public Housing Conference, 80
National Savings and Loan League, 350
Nebraska, 99
Nevada, Missouri, 349
New Albany, Indiana, 100
New York, 42-43, 55, 77, 136, 221, 237, 243, 256, 278, 323
New York Giants, 15, 16
New York Times, 302
Nixon, Richard M., 361, 363
North Dakota, 99
Norwood, Ohio, 11
Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
- 100-101
Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 209
Ohio, 26, 55, 87, 99, 221, 308
- court case involving issuance of state bonds, 18-23
Ohio State University, 20
Omaha, Nebraska, 47, 48
Parvin-Dohrmann,
- 42
Pennsylvania, 247
Peoria, Illinois, 120
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 249, 315, 356
Pontiac, Michigan, 200
Presidential Election of 1948, 313-314
Proctor and Gamble, 307
Public Works Administration (PWA), 27, 29, 31, 37-39, 40, 312
Public Housing, a discussion of, 136-141, 210-216
Puerto Rico, 248
Race relations,
- 68-71
Rantoul, Illinois, 90
Recession of 1949, 315-316
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 186
Redevelopment Agency, 137
Renter subsidy, 61-66
Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1947, 223, 224, 229
Residential housing, 126-127
Rhode Island, 326
Richardson, Bob, 349
Rixie, Eppa Jeppa, 14-15
Robertson, Albert J., 280, 281
Rosenman, Dorothy, 117
Rosenman, Samuel I., 117
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 122
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 43, 44, 52, 53, 82-83, 86, 121-122, 315, 353, 361
Sallee, Slim,
- 14
San Antonio, Texas, 336
San Antonio Savings and Loan Association, 336
San Francisco, California, 350
Saranac Lake, New York, 15
Savings and Loan Association, 346-347, 355
Savings and Loan Fact Book 1969, 171
Savings and Loan Foundation, 351-353, 355-356
Sawyer, Charles and William K. Divers, 306-310, 312-313
Senate Appropriations Committee, 246, 284, 285
Senate Banking and Currency Committee, 246, 279, 285, 300, 301, 350
Sevey, Robert, 157, 158
Silver Springs, Maryland, 333
Sink, John, 160, 161, 167
Small, John D., 153, 177-178, 193, 194-195, 196, 198
Smith, Al, 306
Snyder, John W., 124, 209-210, 343, 344
Social Security, 292, 293, 368
Sojourner Truth, 71, 91-94
Sorenson, Charles E., 113
South Carolina, 300
South Dakota, 99
South Omaha Sun, 55
Sparkman, John, 304
Spence, Brent, 304, 305
State Teachers' Retirement Fund, 26
Stevenson, Adlai, 329-331, 358-359
Straus, Nathan, 57, 58, 66, 75, 77, 80, 81
Syracuse, New York, 75
Syracuse Housing Authority, 75
Taft, Charles,
- 3
Taft-Ellender-Wagner Housing Bill, 133-136
Taft, Hollister, Stettinius, and Taft, 4
Taft, Martha, 4
Taft, Senator Robert A., 133, 135, 298, 304, 335
Taft, William Howard, 5-6
Teachers' Retirement Fund, 19
Tennessee, 87, 314
Tilden, Bill, 12-13
Tobey, Senator Charles W., 297, 300, 304
Treasury Department, 247, 248, 318, 339
Tri-City Tennis Club, 13
Trigg, Ernest T., 352-355
Truman, Harry S., 7, 109, 110, 115-116, 122, 176, 182, 187, 188, 197, 199, 220, 225, 229, 231, 239, 288, 298,
- and William K. Divers, 204-208
an evaluation of, 358-362
Presidential election campaign, 1952, announcement that he would not run, 331-333
Truman, Mrs. Harry S. (Bess), 329
Truman-Barkley Club, 302
Truman Committee, 108-109
United Automobile Workers,
- 103, 104, 113
United States Housing Authority, 37, 39-41, 58, 61, 66, 68, 137
- cooperation agreement between the Federal Government and local governments, 72-74
and defense housing, 83, 89-91
and financing of projects, 74-79
Sojourner Truth housing project, 91-94
Straus, Nathan, as administrator of, 41-54
United States Housing Authority Law, 55, 56
U.S. News and World Report, 130
United States Savings and Loan League, 63-64, 262
University of Chicago, 117
University of Cincinnati, 306
University of Michigan, 103
Urban Renewal, 141-145
Vaughan, Harry,
Wagner, Senator Robert F.,
- 44, 133, 135-136, 297, 305
War Housing Corporation, 228, 239, 240
War Manpower Commission, 72, 99, 102, 104
War Mobilization and Reconversion, Office of, 124
War Production Board, 102, 112, 152, 176, 354
Wartime restrictions on building, 124-126
Washington, D. C., 27-28, 29-30, 31, 75, 122, 201, 217, 234, 314, 366
Washtenaw County, Michigan, 108
Wayne County, Michigan, 103
Weaver, Robert C., 68-69, 71-72
Welfare Housing, 95-96
West Virginia, 87, 99
Williams, Lewis E., 146
Willow Run,Michigan, atomic energy plant, 102, 103, 180, 202
Wisconsin, 74, 99
Wolcott, Jesse P., 286-288, 304, 305
Woodbury, Coleman, 118, 146, 217
Wyatt, Wilson W., 158-159, 160, 161-162, 163-164, 165, 171, 172-173, 174-175, 176-177, 178, 181, 182,
Youngstown, Ohio,
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