HomeThe Bronx County Archives Finding AidsGelvin Stevenson Papers on Arson and Housing Abandonment, 1959–1997

Gelvin Stevenson Papers on Arson and Housing Abandonment, 1959–1997

Information, Description, and Finding Aid

Collection Information

Reference: MS-STEVENSON

Dates: 1959–1997

Extent: 1.46 linear ft. across 1 archival box

Digital collection available

Finding Aid Information

Creator(s): Steven Payne, Ph.D., Librarian and Archivist

Date created/updated: May 13, 2020

Biography

Gelvin Stevenson is an economist, housing activist, and community organizer who lived in The Bronx with his family during the 1970s and 1980s, when much of the borough was experiencing the devastating effects of capital flight, housing deterioration and abandonment, arson, and misanthropic urban renewal schemes (foremost among them "benign neglect"/"planned shrinkage" and "free enterprise zones"). In the mid-1970s, Stevenson would regularly pass by Roosevelt Gardens apartments, located at 1463 Grand Concourse, and he began to notice tenants using the fire hydrant to fill buckets of water for indoor use. He started researching the history of the rapid deterioration of the complex and soon realized that this one apartment was by no means an outlier. Roosevelt Gardens became for Stevenson a case study in housing deterioration around the borough, particular in its southern neighborhoods. What Stevenson discovered was an endemic problem of landlord corruption, insurance fraud, tenant abuse, and municipal policies that often exacerbated rather than addressed these problems.

Stevenson eventually published his findings in Devastation/Resurrection, a guide to an exhibit on display at the Bronx Museum of Arts 1980–1981. He continued to live and organize in The Bronx with his family throughout the 1980s and engaged in other research related to the South Bronx. Eventually, however, Stevenson and his family moved out of the borough. He now teaches at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Description/Scope and Content

The collection comprises documents related to housing studies done on Bronx real estate abandonment and housing along the Grand Concourse, especially the Roosevelt Gardens Apartments. It also includes research on the South Bronx economy during the 1970s and memorabilia from community activism in the area, in which Stevenson was involved. Of special interest is the file of fliers and other material from the Committee Against Fort Apache, which sought to prevent the production and release of Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981), a film starring Paul Newman and depicting Black and Puerto Rican residents of The Bronx in highly stereotypical and harmful ways. Also of interest is the material from the little known Urban Research and Strategy Center, a short-lived think tank based in the South Bronx that sought to promote far more democratic alternatives to city planning and urban development.

Provenance

Materials in this collection were donated to the Society on July 8, 2009, by Gelvin Stevenson.

Preferred Citation

[Item name or description,] Gelvin Stevenson papers on arson and housing abandonment, box _, folder _, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.

Points of Access

  • Activism and community organizing -- Committee Against Fort Apache -- co-operative housing -- housing activism -- tenant organizing and rent strikes -- urban homesteading -- Urban Research and Strategy Center
  • Bronx neighborhoods -- Grand Concourse -- Melrose -- Morrisania -- Mott Haven -- South Bronx
  • City planning and urban development -- benign neglect -- free enterprise zones -- planned shrinkage
  • Ethnic groups -- African Americans -- Jews -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas)
  • Films -- Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
  • Housing -- abandonment -- arson -- deterioration -- "finishing" -- insurance fraud -- redlining
  • Individuals -- Aronowitz, Stanley -- Burlage, Robb -- Gerena-Valentin, Gilberto -- Magnuson, Robert -- Perez, Richie -- Rodriguez, Clara -- Stevenson, Gelvin

Related Collections

Container List

Box

Folder

Contents

Date

1

1

Collection files

2008

1

2

 Building the American City report 1968

1

3

 Committee Against Fort Apahce 1980–1981

1

4

 Congressional Record and Testimony 1977

1

5

 Housing Abandonment in New York City report 1977

1

6

 Insurance research: General 1973–1976

1

7

 Insurance research: Accounting, investments, and profits 1973–1977

1

8

 Insurance research: Arson and fire insurance 1929–1980

1

9

 Insurance research: Clippings 1970–1981

1

10

 Insurance research: Redlining 1977–1978

1

11

 Insurance research: Regulation 1973

1

12

 Magnuson, Robert, writings 1977

1

13

 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders report 1968

1

14

 New Citi Plan report 1990

1

15

 New York Urban Coalition 1977

1

16

 Rodriguez, Clara: Growing Up in the Fifties 1980

1

17

 Roosevelt Gardens: Background 1959–1978

1

18

 Roosevelt Gardens: Correspondence 1976–1980

1

19

 Roosevelt Gardens: Photographic slides 1978

1

20

 Roosevelt Gardens: Research, articles 1974–1978

1

21

 Roosevelt Gardens: Research, notes and notesbooks 1975–1979

1

22

 Roosevelt Gardens: Aftermath 1982–1997

1

23

 Stevenson, Gelvin: Arson article and drafts 1977

1

24

 Stevenson, Gelvin: Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) article and drafts 1977

1

25

 Stevenson, Gelvin: Ghetto Economies manuscript and research 1974–1978

1

26

 Stevenson, Gelvin: Insurance testimonies 1977–1978

1

27

 Stevenson, Gelvin: Roosevelt Gardens chapter and drafts 1978–1980

1

28

 Stevenson, Gelvin: South Bronx writings and research 1978–1984

1

29

 South Bronx: Development and community organizing; Urban Research and Strategy Center 1980–1983

1

30

 South Bronx: Newspapers and clippings 1975–1984

1

31

 Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) 1978