The Chicago Housing Authority replaced often substandard housing with new units with modern kitchens and bathrooms. Seen here is a kitchen in the new Brooks Homes on Chicago's Near West Side in 1954. The low-rise development consisted of 90 buildings. Each unit in the project was equipped with steam heat, hot and cold running water, a kitchen with an electric refrigerator and gas range, and a modern bath. These were seen as great improvements over the substandard housing which stood on this site before slum clearance.

Photographer: Mildred Mead
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-27323)