Early History
In 1939 widespread interest in improving housing conditions for low-income families began in Greensboro. The Greensboro City Council responded to the concerns of the citizenry, local civic clubs and newspapers by authorizing an application to the North Carolina State Planning Board for a Real Property Survey and a Low-Income Housing Survey within the City. The request was approved and the survey began in June 1939 and was completed in July 1940. As a response to the survey’s report the Greensboro City Council responded with a statement that would change the City: “The establishment of a Housing Authority for the City of Greensboro is the first step towards the eventual elimination of some of the worst slum sections.”
On the 17th of June, 1941, the Housing Authority for the City of Greensboro was formed. Mr. Ray Warren was named GHA’s first Executive Director and would serve through May of 1956. GHA’s first Board of Commissioners was appointed to serve in June 1941 and included Alonzo C. Hall, Chairman; Joseph M. Bryan; D. Edward Hudgins; Dr. Henry L. Smith and Charles G. Yates.
Despite the application by the Greensboro Housing Authority for a Certificate of Public Convenience to the North Carolina Utilities Commission in 1941, it would be ten years before the first low-rent public housing units would be completed in Greensboro. The entrance of the United States into WWII would necessitate a hiatus and a need to plan.
