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Alyssa Henderson

SOC 2630

Katherine Demong

1 October 2019

Assignment 6: Pruitt Igoe Myth

1. How did architecture& politics play a role in the demise of Pruitt-Igoe?

The demise of Pruitt-Igoe came from one specific reason that led to a lot of disaster: the falling

population in St. Louis. The development of the suburbs moved half the population out of the

city and the economy collapsed. The up-keep and maintenance of Pruitt-Igoe depended upon an

overflow of people in the public housing. Without this overflow of people there was not enough

money to hold the building together. It became unsanitary and dangerous to live in. Eventually

leading to the demolition of the buildings. Politics also played a role in making Pruitt-Igoe to

segregate communities.

2. What role did migration play? How did the mass exodus of city dwellers to the suburbs

impact a place like Pruitt-Igoe? Where were the jobs headed?

Due to migration and everyone leaving the inner city, jobs followed along with them to the

suburbs. Leaving the city with way less jobs to be able to support people and their families still

living in the inner city. This led to not enough people paying enough rent and there was no

money to afford proper maintenance of the buildings. Pruitt-Igoe was then left with broken

windows, no heat, broken elevators, burst sewage pipes leading to unsanitary and dangerous

living conditions. It completely fell apart.

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3. How did the welfare system (only offering assistance to single mothers and not if there

was a man in the home) impact the residents of Pruitt-Igoe and the institution of the

family?

This welfare system really shook the institutions of family. Without their fathers, children and

wives were impacted heavily. It led to more trouble because men were sneaking in to be with

their families. Separating the parents made it harder for women and they had to be responsible

for everything, making their jobs a lot harder.

4. Why do people urinate in elevators? Or throw bricks and bottles at firemen? Are there

are psychological issues about ghettos, power and powerlessness that the documentary

only begins to address?

Some of these people looked at the firemen, police and more as their enemies. They felt

powerless in the situation they were in and I think that reflects and impacts them hugely on their

behaviors. Same with the urination in elevators, it was a “screw you” kind of message to the

people who were not holding their end of the bargain up with the needed maintenance to live.

These people have been treated unfairly from the beginning and have been tried to “control.” I

mean the reason for Pruitt-Igoe in the first place was to get rid of the “slum” because it looked

bad for the city and drew people away.

5. How did the general public/media respond to the catastrophe of Pruitt-Igoe? Did the

outside population tend to blame the residents for all the problems? (i.e. victim

blaming?)

The general public and media victim blamed and got the whole story wrong in a sense. I think

that is why we are learning about the myth of Pruitt-Igoe right now. They blamed the downfall of
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the public housing to be from crime and violence. People were not looking deeper to see the

actual cause of the downfall and instead victim-blaming. The media continued to show how it

was such a failure and danger but wouldn’t cover how it got to be that way.

6. Why do you think, in spite of all the terrible things at Pruitt-Igoe did people still have

fond memories of the development? Does this suggest people have place attachment?

Well, it is simple. Pruitt-Igoe gave them so much more of a community than what they had had

before in areas like the slum. It was like a “Christmas present” one has mentioned or a “poor

man’s penthouse.” Pruitt-Igoe gave them everything they had dreamed of in the beginning so of

course fond memories were built and when you build such fond memories you become attached

to where those memories were built.

7. How do you see elements of both structure and agency in this documentary?

Through this documentary, I saw that the structure of Pruitt-Igoe failed. I saw that there was

agency in the beginning but once people left the city, agency was lost and no one knew what to

do to save the buildings. It was structured from the beginning although to separate races and in

attempts to get rid of the “slums.”

8. What from this documentary resonated with you? (For me, I can still hear the man at

the end whose brother was killed talking about liking quiet and civility) Why did you

choose this?

I think what resonated with me the most was how Pruitt-Igoe became a place where everyone

was running on fear and the impact this had on the community. It become violent and dangerous,

just because everyone was fearful deep down and had to hold up a front to in a sense “stay
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alive.” This really saddened me and struck me hard how much everything could change and be

impacted by an underlining feeling of fear.