Pennsylvania

Indiana

Fig. 1, Sketch of the MacMillan Plan of 1901, showing the Old Post Office being kept (0)

ffice red iced to a

and snowing proposed area of the Bicentennial Corporation in aromen lines.

Fix. 3 Sketch showing Protesed Changes, with Bicentennial Corporation
area shown. including the Old Fost Office, and with the National Squat
shown reshaped to permit keeping hotels

courts.

Appendix.-Those on record for saving the Old Post Office:

President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (unanimously) Nathaniel A. Owings (head of Pennsylvania Avenue Commission) 82-774-72-10

Washington Chapter of the A.I.A.

Washington Planning & Housing Association
Washington Planning Workshop

S. Dillon Ripley (Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution)
Don't Tear It Down (a District's citizens' preservation group)
Artists & Architects Council of Washington

Wolf von Ekhart (Architecture critic)

Mrs. James H. Rowe, Jr. (former head of NCPC)

Don Lethbridge (head of the Joint Committee on Landmarks)

Heads of all 3 local architecture schools (Jerry Lindsey of Howard, John Hill of Maryland, & Paul A. Goettelmann of Catholic)

Senators Hartke (Ind.) & Gravel (Alaska)
Congressman Carleton J. King (N.Y.)

Other officials, architects, historians, and citizens, not only from Washington, D.C., but from other parts of the country, too

Mr. TAYLOR. Our next witness is Mrs. Henry Reuss. Would you please identify those witnesses who accompany you?

Mrs. REUSS. Yes, sir.

I would like to introduce Ralph D. Fertig. He is the executive. director of the Metropolitan Washington Planning Association; Mr. John Anthony, who is the vice chairman of the association, and Mr. Edward Echeverria, who is a member of the board of the association.

Mr. TAYLOR. We know you are the wife of Congressman Reuss, and we know his great interest in projects of this kind.

STATEMENT OF MRS. HENRY REUSS; ACCOMPANIED BY RALPH D. FERTIG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON PLANNING ASSOCIATION; JOHN ANTHONY, VICE CHAIRMAN; AND EDWARD ECHEVERRIA, MEMBER OF THE BOARD

Mrs. REUSS. We are very glad to be here.

I believe Ralph Fertig would like to lead off, if he may.

Mr. FERTIG. Thank you for the opportunity to receive our testimony. Our association is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation with about 4,000 members in the metropolitan area, growing out of efforts made in 1930 by a group of people organized under the honorary chairmanship of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt to eliminate the growth of alley dwellings by the early forties.

We have worked over the years to try to bring together interests, points of view, throughout the metropolitan area, Washington, black and white, city and suburbs, and we, Mr. Chairman, studied this issue very, very carefully. We came before you a year and a half ago, at the last minute, with a point of view which we subsequently researched much more heavily by the time of the Senate hearings. We have had the benefit of fairly intensive analysis-meetings with the White House staff and Mr. Owings' people, who help with the Interior, people who are planning the Bicentennial through the country. Some of that is summarized in the testimony before you.

Mr. TAYLOR. Let me just state in the interest of time, all of the statements that you have will be placed in the record in full at this point, and you can comment or summarize as you so desire. Mr. FERTIG. Thank you, sir.

(The complete prepared statement of the Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association, above-referred to, follows:)

STATEMENT OF THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON PLANNING AND
HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on this matter so vital to our city and of such deep concern to our Association.

The Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association (MWPHA) is a tax-exempt, non-profit, UGF affiliated voluntary membership Association, dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of housing available to lowand moderate-income residents in the Metropolitan Washington area. Most of the Association's income is from memberships, contributions and the United Givers Fund-Health and Welfare Council (UGF-HWC).

The Association came into being through the efforts of a group of citizens who in the 1930's were appalled by the blight of slum dwellings in the alleys of the Nation's Capital. In 1935, with Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt as Honorary Chairman, they organized the group which is now Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association and launched the attack which led to elimination of alley dwellings by the early 1940's.

The Board of MWPHA draws together persons of diverse backgrounds and interests from a membership that includes Blacks and Whites, all income levels, residents of the District and suburbanites, private realtors and public agency administrators, architects and city planners, clergymen and neighborhood activists, lawyers and tenant council leaders, welfare recipients and legislative assistants. This resource of membership continues to be instrumental in shaping policy and providing support to suburban and urban activities.

In order that we may continue to be aware of the various activities in Washington, the Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association's Board of Directors has held many meetings with diverse parties to acquaint themselves with the Bicentennial activities developing around the country.