Norvelt and Penn-Craft, Pennsylvania. Subsistence-Homestead Communities of the1930s

摘要

Although built by very different organizations, the connections between the twotowns are numerous. Norvelt, originally named Westmoreland Homesteads, was located in Westmoreland County just eight miles southeast of the county seat of Greensburg, and was built by the U.S. Division of Subsistence Homesteads in 1934-37. Just as Norvelt was nearing completion, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) began construction of Penn-Craft, eleven miles northwest of Uniontown, the seat of Fayette County. Motives for establishing the two communities were the same, as well. As will be shown in Chapter 2, the idea of subsistence homesteads derived from back-to-the-land impulses coinciding with the need to provide relief to the unemployed. Realization of such an idealistic venture was difficult, especially in the context of government responsibility and changing public opinion. The planning and construction of Norvelt are addressed in Chapter 3, and of Penn-Craft in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 is a brief look at the relative success of these experimental communities.