Evening star., 1943-10-15
Ministers Tour
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Reclamation
18 Church Officials
Visit Blight Areas
With Dr.. McPeek
(Ptcture on Pace Az

fPtcture on Page Az
Proposed reclamation of the Dis
trlct's slum areas today received the
backing of Protestant clergymen
after a group of 18 church officials.
on a two-hour tour, inspected sew
eral OF the worst blight areas" and
contrasted them with clean, modern
public housing developments built on
former slum sites.
The tour was conducted by the
Rev. Francis w. McPeek, director of
the social welfare department of the
washington Federation of Churches,
and James Ring, administrative Of
hcer OF the National Capital Housing
Authority. It's purpose. according to
DR.. Frederick E. Reissig. executive
secretary of the Federation, was to
enable the clergy TO interpret more
intelligently' the long-range slum
reclamation program that has been
proposed for the District.
The clergymen appeared i'm
pressed by the difference between
living conditions in the shabby slllm
dwellings, and in the neat housing
units of the slum reclamation de-
velopments.
Worst Ever Seen.
Several ministers described the
Districts SlumS as worse than any
they have seen in any city in the
Nation. Virtually all made state
ments indicating their belief that
the churches should exercise inf1u-
ence in bringing about an improve
ment of housing conditions here.
The Rev. John w. Rustin. pastor
of the Mount Vernon Place Meth
odist Church and president of the
Federation, said he thought the eX-
Istence OF such slum areas reflected
a need for some form of elected city
government for the District
Would Bring Improvement.
Improvement in housing condi-
tons would be more likely if those
In charge of the Districts govern
ment were responsible to the people
here, DR.. Rustin explained.
The Rev. Peter Marshall, pastor
OF the New York Avenue Presby-
terlan Church, and Rev. Clarence
Crawford, pastor of the Calvary
Baptist Church. agreed that if Dis
trict residents had a voice in their
government, it would be an i'm
portant stepping stone toward recla-
nation of the slum areas.
DR.. Rustin, DR.. Marshall and DR.,
Reissig all said they have seen slum
areas in many other cities, but
never seen housing conditions worse
than those existing in the District.
Il wish lot of the laymen in our
church could make tour like this"
DR.. Crawford added. L don't be-
lieve many of them realize the full
seriousness of the slum problem
here"
Immediate Action Urged.
The Rev. William H. Jernigan,
pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist |
Church, said he saw slum conditions !
today that he did not know existed,
despite his 81 years as minister.
Some definite. immediate steps
ought to be taken" he said.
The areas visited on the tour in .
eluded many of those inspected
Wednesday and Saturday by a Sem !
ate subcommittee headed by Sena-
tor Burton, Republican. of Ohio, |
which has begun a thorough in
vestigation of the Districts slum
problem.
Ministers who made the inspection
included: The Rev. Peyton Williams.
pastor Of Christ Church. George
town; the Rev. Howard Stone
Anderson and the Rev. Fred Busch
meyer. First Congregational Church;
the Rev. R. w. Williams. Asbury
Methodist Church; the Rev. Seth
Brooks. Universalist Memorial
Church; the Rev. E. c. Smith.
Metropolitan Baptist Church: the
Rev. G. o. Bullock. Third Baptist
Church; the Rev Paul S. Schilling.
Brookland Methodist Church: the
Rev. Ira S. Ernst, Memorial United
Brethren Church. DR.. Crawford and
the Rev Edwin Tuller, Calvary
Baptist Church; DR. Marshall. DR..
Rustin. DR.. Jernigan. DR.. Reissig,
DR.. McPeek, the Rev. Philip Widen
house, director of research and
planning for the Federation of
Churches and Donald Bautz. direc-
tor of the Federations Defense
Council.