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February 2012
Volume XXVIII
Grand Prairie Historical
Organization
www.GPHistorical.com
MEETING LOCATION
Our next meeting will be February 16 and will be held at the
GPHO
Museum (1516 W. Main St., GP, 75050) from 11:30am—1pm. Lunch
will be available for $10. Please RSVP to Angela Giessner
(972-262-5151) as soon as possible. Let Angela know if
you will be joining us for lunch.
www. GPhistorical.com
2012 Membership Dues
Don’t forget to pay your dues for 2012. Your
membership keeps the organization running
and allows us to keep sending newsletters.
Without your generous donations we would
not be able to continue our growth.
If you have not already done so, please send us
your email address so we can update you on
events within Grand Prairie as well as the
Organization. Send that to:
[email protected]
Avion Village — A Grand Prairie Landmark
The program for our meeting will be on Avion Village. It
will
be presented by Dennis Jobe, Project Manager and Michael
Sandoval, resident and Board President of Avion Village.
Can you help identify some of the
people in the photograph to the
left? Some of the names of people
in the picture we have are :
Randy Willis (City Fireman)
Jimmy Henderson
Tanya Byrd
Tanya Carol Rogers This photo was taken on the North Side
of the Avion Office.
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Page 2 Volume XXVIII
Grand Prairie Historical Organization — Life Members Robert H
Archer, Judy Armstrong, Billy Joe Armstrong, Greta Berry Beckler,
Carol Bell, Grant Bell, Bebe
Bingham, Brian W. Bingham, Joan Zuspann Bronstad, Verna Brown,
Lisa Chennault, Thomas Chennault *, Jo
Robertson Campbell, L.R. Cannon, Pat Watson Capps, Marion Cato,
Sharon Chaparas, Helen Chennault,
Thomas B Chennault, City of Grand Prairie Marketing, Bill
Claybourn, Joan Longorio Claybourn,Jorja Jackson
Clemson, Joe W. Colwell, Kay Conelly, Marge Copeland, H. Victor
Copeland *, Doranna Corley, Jerry Corley,
Reggie Crump, Rochelle Crump, Bobby Donaldson, Scott Donaldson,
Cheryl Friman Dover, Karen Eddlemon,
Richard and Annette Edmonson, Charles and Janice England, Kirk
and Marcy England, Alice Stanfield Ernst,
Paul Wayne Ernst, Olive Galloway, Angela Sutton Giessner, Don
Goldsmith, Norma Robertson Hale, Loni
Haran, Marvin J (Jack) Hays, Lee D. Herring, Thomas Hight Sr.,
Gary Hill, Betty Bell Hulse, Ruthe Thompson
Jackson, Vera Jinks, Laurie Hulse Johnson, Blythe Kizziar, Ouida
Chapman Lewis, Duane McGuffey, Linda
McNeff, Kenneth R. Miller, Stephanie Jumper Moreno, Lynn Motley,
Betty Phillips, Laura Thompson Potter,
Mickey Powell, Charles Powers, Kathy Ritterhouse, Bob Roberts,
Kathy Kaderka Sherrill, Susan Shuffler,
Fynlon and Eugenia Simpson, Janette Skrasek, Ouida Daugherty
Smith, Amy Sprinkles, Donald Stanfield,
Joyce Colwell Stanfield, Marie Kerr Stufflebeme*, Marshall
Sutton, Donald Taylor*, Kenny Tyler, Paul and
Madie Vernon, Sammie Ausmus Walker, Sarah Wellis, John Wright *
Deceased
Grand Prairie Historical Organization—Corporate Sponsors
Thorne and Skinner, Attorneys at Law Eddlemon Brothers
Catering
AVION VILLAGE
An Iconic Part of Grand Prairie’s Past and Present.
As early as the 1940’s, housing was scarce in Dallas as well as
in other
centers of defense production and military activity throughout
the nation.
The private housing industry was unable to keep up with the
demand for
shelter in these areas. Some federal officials saw the situation
as an oppor-
tunity for experimentation in architecture and planning, as well
as establish-
ment of a pilot program aimed at lowering the cost of quality
housing
through the use of prefabrication and mass production building
techniques.
Defense housing officials also wanted to introduce industrial
workers to mu-
tual homeownership as an alternative to traditional suburban
home owner-
ship. Avion Village was one of several early developments
intended to be
permanent additions to community housing stock. The facility’s
layout pro-
moted both privacy and resident interaction. Built under the
auspices of the
Federal Works Agency and its assistant administrator Texas
native Lawrence
Westbrook, the facilities were designed by Roscoe DeWitt and
David R. Wil-
liams in cooperation with Richard J. Neutra. Avion Village was
launched amid
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high media attention in May, 1941 as two teams of workers raced
to complete the
first house in the planned-300-unit development. The first unit
was built in less
than one hour. The entire development was finished in 100 days
with the help of
an on-site makeshift prefabrication plant. Civilian employees of
the North Ameri-
can Aviation Company were the first to live in the complex. The
Avion Village Mu-
tual Housing Corporation purchased the development from the
federal govern-
ment in 1948. Avion Village continues to be mutually owned by
residents.
“THE BEGINNING” (taken from Wikipedia Encyclopedia):
Many public housing officials in the Roosevelt Administration in
the mid 1930’s
were progressives and had strong convictions about the rights of
all citizens to in-
expensive, quality housing. The provision of decent housing
seemed to many of
these officials to be a key to the preservation of democracy
during the dark days
of the Depression. In 1939, the Federal Works Agency was
established with the
aim of consolidating all government public works programs into
one agency. This
new agency became responsible for the United States Housing
Authority, its plan-
ning and operations; however, under a great deal of pressure,
promptly filed away
the newly developed plans for middle-income housing initiatives.
Few of those in-
volved in the design process forgot about these innovative ideas
and hoped that
one day they would be reconsidered. The 1940’s began in a state
of global crisis as
the European and Asian Wars began rapidly expanding into what
would eventually
be known as World War II. The United States, although officially
neutral, was busy
making defensive measures to insure national security while also
attempting to as-
sist friendly nations already in the midst of the fighting. The
corresponding expan-
sion of defense industries and the massive migration of workers
into these boom-
ing regions, created a serious housing shortage that demanded
immediate govern-
ment intervention. The plans, once filed away, were taken off
the shelf and the
projects started. During its very brief existence-from the
autumn of 1940 to the
winter of 1942 – The Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division
built eight
projects, Avion Village being one of the eight with 300 dwelling
units built at a cost
of $920,000. The eight projects were presented by critics as
unworkable; but al-
most seventy-plus years later, all but one (Dallas Park), are
reported as continuing
to operate highly successful mutual housing corporations.
Provided by Alice Ernst and Myrle Knox
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Grand Prairie Historical
Organization
P.O. Box 532173
Grand Prairie, Texas 75053-2173
Janette Skrasek, President
[email protected]
Newsletter: Brian W. Bingham
[email protected]
Volume XXVIII
GRAND PRAIRIE HISTORICAL ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012-2014
PRESIDENT- JANETTE SKRASEK
[email protected]
PRESIDENT ELECT- STEPHANIE MORENO
[email protected]
SECRETARY- SAMMIE WALKER
[email protected]
TREASURER- CAROL BELL
[email protected]
HISTORIAN-KATHY RITTERHOUSE
[email protected]
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY- CHERYL DOVER
[email protected]
PROGRAM CHAIR- MYRLE KNOX & ALICE ERNST
[email protected] [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP- LAURIE JOHNSON
[email protected]
PAST PRESIDENT- BRIAN BINGHAM
[email protected]
PROPOSED COMMITTEES
TELEPHONE: JOAN BRONSTAD and JUDY ARMSTRONG
Avion Village— the Early Years
The LifeLine Shelter for Families an-nual Gospel Concert is
coming up
March 9th at 7pm. It will be held at the Calvary Baptist
Church,
401 W. Church St., in Grand Prairie. Come enjoy the music and
help sup-
port a great cause.
www.LifeLineShelter.org
Calvary Baptist Church
5th Anniversary
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
