Edward Holmgren Papers

 Biographical Note

Throughout a career spanning six decades--and a half dozen organizations-- Edward L. Holmgren became a nationally-respected leader in the struggle to make integrated, affordable housing open to all. He was born in Chicago 1923 February 24, at Swedish Covenant Hospital. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Sweden. His father was born in Chicago, and became a traveling shoe salesman for a St. Louis company. Holmgren’s mother was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Norway and tried to run a farm in Wisconsin. Holmgren’s mother left the farm immediately after high school and settled in Chicago.

The family lived first in the Edgewater neighborhood, later moving west to Albany Park. Holmgren graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1940, and then attended University of Illinois for one year. He transferred to the University of Chicago, studying sociology and psychology, but his college career was interrupted by World War II. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1943, becoming a pilot and airplane commander in the Eighth Air Force, European Theater of Operations.

In 1946 he was hired as a Tenant Selection Aide for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). Two days after he began work, white tenants at the CHA’s new Airport Homes erupted in rioting over news that African Americans might be allowed to move in. By 1948 he responded to another episode of race violence at the CHA’s Fernwood Homes, supporting the CHA’s Elizabeth Wood in opposition to Mayor Kennelly’s order that the black families be removed immediately. Less than a year later came the eruption of new race violence at Trumbull Park in the South Deering neighborhood, which turned into the longest-lasting and most publicized CHA race confrontation yet.

After a series of disagreements with CHA policies, Holmgren left CHA at the end of 1954, eventually becoming director of the Housing Opportunities Program of the American Friends Service Committee. Four years later, he moved to the Chicago Urban League, concentrating on programming to promote integration in housing and health services. In this work he was closely associated with Edwin (“Bill”) Berry, then director of the Chicago Urban League.

In the new climate of the 1960s Ed Holmgren’s housing integration knowledge was sought by activist groups in other cities. He accepted an offer to become the Executive Director of Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., in the summer of 1961. He remained in Baltimore throughout a series of challenges by the civil rights movement to segregated practices in housing, employment and education.

During 1966 the Chicago Freedom Movement, energized by the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., organized marches seeking to open up housing opportunities in segregated neighborhoods. Several of the marches, notably one in Gage Park and Marquette Park, experienced violent attacks. After an agreement was concluded between Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Chicago Freedom Movement in the fall of 1966, a new organization entered the field. Called the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, it aimed to use a wide range of methods to open up housing for minorities in both Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. In December 1966, the council decided to hire Edward Holmgren as its first Executive Director.

Holmgren’s career in fair housing culminated with his 1974 appointment as Executive Director of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing (NCDH) in Washington, D.C., where he worked with communities nationwide to combat discriminatory real estate and banking practices such as red-lining and steering clients to race-appropriate neighborhoods. He stepped down as NCDH director in 1981. In his latter years, he became active in programs for “Lifelong Learning” at Northwestern University and at National-Louis University.

Edward L. Holmgren died 2008 August 31 in Glenview, Illinois.

Scope and Content Note

The Edward Holmgren Papers were donated by his daughter, Beth Holmgren, who collected them from Edward Holmgren’s home after his death. Ed Holmgren had telephoned the Harsh Research Collection, inquiring about possible interest in his papers, several months before he died. His papers are focused on Holmgren’s more than 50 years of participation in the struggle to break down segregated housing barriers, both in Chicago and nationally.

This small collection has been arranged into eight series: Biography and Family, Correspondence, Organization Files, Conferences, Publications and Clippings, Reports on Housing and Civil Rights, Serials, and Photographs and Memorabilia.

Series 1: Biography and Family

This series documents the life of Edward Holmgren, and two published writings by his brothers, John and Rod. Of particular importance is a 178 page transcript of a 1968 oral history audiotape by Edward Holmgren. The original audiotape has not been found; the transcript has “a few pages missing toward the end,” according to Beth Holmgren. This series is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Correspondence

Correspondence to, from, and about Edward Holmgren is included in this series. Topics of the correspondence include Trumbull Park race violence in the 1950s, employment recommendations written on behalf of Ed Holmgren, and Holmgren’s participation in early planning of the Chicago Video Project’s documentation of Chicago Housing Authority relocations. This series is arranged chronologically.

Series 3: Organization Files

Many of the organizations for which Holmgren worked are represented in this series, which covers his work from 1949 to 2001. These include the Chicago Housing Authority, the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities,the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, and Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. This series is arranged alphabetically by name of the organization.

Series 4: Conferences

Full reports from three landmark conferences, on civil rights and on desegregation in housing and schools, are included in this series. The conferences span the years from 1966 through 1975.

Series 5: Publications and Clippings

Surviving subject files, compiled from clippings and publications, are housed in this series. Of special interest are South African author Alan Paton’s essay on “The Negro in America Today,” with his comments on Trumbull Park race violence, and Arnold Hirsch’s Journal of American History article on “Trumbull Park, Chicago, 1953- 1966.” This series is arranged in the order Holmgren created.

Series 6: Reports on Housing and Civil Rights

Edward Holmgren kept extensive files on housing and civil rights issues, both in Chicago and nationally. These files included many reports, often commissioned by government and non-profit organizations. Many of the reports in this series were not widely circulated; some were compiled for internal use, and are difficult to find. The reports span the years from 1953 through 1993, and are arranged alphabetically by the title of the report.

Series 7: Serials

Serial publications retained by Ed Holmgren are included in this series. Most issues include discussion of the civil rights movement and analyses of U.S. race relations. Of special interest are rare 1955 issues of the South Deering Bulletin, a community newsletter in the Trumbull Park neighborhood. The motto of that newsletter reads: “White people must control their own communities.” The series is arranged alphabetically by the title of the serial.

Series 8: Photographs and Memorabilia

Few photographs were included in the donation of the Edward Holmgren Papers. Most of the photos are portraits of Ed Holmgren from the 1940s through the 1970s. One small poster is also included in this series.

Related Materials

Related materials at the Chicago Public Library include:

• Abbott-Sengstacke Family Papers
• Brenetta Howell Barrett Papers
• Timuel Black Papers
• Chicago Video Project Archives
• Chester Commodore Papers
• People for Community Recovery Archives

Related materials at other institutions include:

• Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities Records and the Elizabeth Wood Papers at the Chicago History Museum
• Chicago Urban League Records at University of Illinois at Chicago, Special Collections

Container List

Series 1: Biography and Family

Series 2: Correspondence

Series 3: Organization Files

Series 4: Conferences

Series 5: Publications and Clippings

Series 6: Reports on Housing and Civil Rights

Series 7: Serials

Series 8: Photographs and Memorabilia