Frederick L. Ackerman

So they were torn down and First Houses was built from scratch, employing re-used bricks and dozens of workers on relief paid for by the federal government.

According to The New York Times on November 21, 1935: "Originally scheduled as a renovation operation, it was turned into practically new construction, with only a few of the old foundation supports being utilized."

Ackerman designed the apartment buildings with rear entrances and courtyards to allow more light and air than the existing tenements in the neighborhood.

[5] Ackerman was an original member of the Technical Alliance which later became known as the Technocracy Movement after it published its results in the early 1930s of an energy survey of North America.

[8] Ackerman wrote extensively on the social problems of his day relating many of those to the basic operating structure of society being out of step with scientific advancements.