Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Scudder Homes, a public housing project in Newark, New Jersey, was constructed in the late 1930s under the Public Works Administration (PWA)—a cornerstone New Deal agency created to combat Great Depression unemployment through infrastructure investment.
The PWA (1933-1939), led by Harold Ickes, funded large-scale construction: dams, bridges, hospitals, schools, and housing. Unlike the later Works Progress Administration (WPA), which hired workers directly, PWA contracted private firms—stimulating both employment and private construction industry.
Scudder Homes was part of Newark's ambitious PWA program alongside Seth Boyden Homes, Pennington Court, and Stephen Crane Houses—collectively providing thousands of units. These projects represented state-of-the-art 1930s housing: indoor plumbing, central heating, cross-ventilation, playgrounds—amenities absent in cleared tenements.
Like many mid-century public housing, Scudder Homes faced disinvestment, concentration of poverty, and physical deterioration. Newark's 1967 rebellion occurred nearby. Recent decades have seen HOPE VI redevelopment, mixed-income conversion, or demolition across Newark's portfolio—Scudder Homes' current status reflects this complex trajectory.
Scudder Homes embodies the New Deal's bold premise: government responsibility for decent housing. Its construction employed hundreds during depression; its apartments sheltered generations. The physical structures may change, but the policy precedent—housing as public infrastructure—endures in contemporary affordable housing debates.