Guide to the Paul Oppermann Papers,
1926-1964

Collection Number: 3161

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
M. Moran
Date completed:
Sept. 1986
EAD encoding:
Julia Guarneri Aug. 2002

© 2002 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Paul Oppermann papers, 1926-1964.
Collection Number:
3161
Creator:
Paul Oppermann, 1903-.
Quantity:
2 cubic ft.
Forms of Material:
Correspondence, speeches, papers, scrapbooks.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Correspondence between Alfred Bettman and officials of the Federal Housing Administration; findings of committees; reports; legislative acts; proposals; agenda; proceedings of the Conference on City Planning Administration in Chicago; correspondence as Director of City Planning, City and County of San Francisco and of the Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission; speeches; and scrapbooks.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

City planner and planning consultant.
In the 1940s, Oppermann advised on federal housing legislation as a planner for the Federal Housing Administration. He was planning director of San Francisco city and county from 1949-58, and was the first director of the Illinois planning agency, predecessor to the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. He served as president of the American Institute of Planners and as assistant director of the American Society of Planning Officials. Oppermann lectured in metropolitan planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a member of the International Fraternity of Lambda Alpha, Ely Chapter.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Includes carbon typescripts of correspondence between Alfred Bettman and officials of the Federal Housing Administration, with copies directed to Oppermann; memoranda; findings of committees; reports and drafts; legislative acts; notes; proposals; agenda; studies; published proceedings of the Conference on City Planning Administration in Chicago, 1936; correspondence as Director of City Planning, City and County of San Francisco and as Director of the Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission; speeches, 1926-1964; and scrapbooks.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Oppermann, Paul, 1903-.
Bettman, Alfred, 1873-1945.
Lambda Alpha International.Ely Chapter.
Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
United States. Federal Housing Administration.
Conference on City Planning Administration(1936:Chicago)

Subjects:
City planning.
City planning--Illinois.
City planning--California--San Francisco.
Housing authorities.
Housing policy.
City planners.
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
Paul Oppermann Papers, #3161. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
RELATED MATERIALS

Part of Lambda Alpha Literary Archives.
CONTAINER LIST

Date
Description
Container
1941
Urban Redevelopment Law
 Box 1 Folder 1
Correspondence on Program of the Committee on Housing and Blighted Areas, deteriorated districts, real estate assessment, causes of blight, population density, technological change, rapid transportation systems, land tenure and land use institutions, building codes, real estate mortgage system, loans and grants, public ownership of blight areas, interdependence of rural and urban economy. Includes Philip H. Cornick, Frederick Bigger, Frederic A. Delano, Earle Sumner Draper, National Resources Planning Board, Committee on Housing and Blighted Areas, National Association of Real Estate Boards.
1942
Urban Redevelopment Law
 Box 1 Folder 2, 3, 4
Correspondence and drafts on Federal Agencies, U.S. Housing Act, terminology advantages and disadvantages of combination of existing agencies, City Realty Corporations, tax delinquency, Urban Redevelopment Corporations, amortizations, FHA staff activities, Decentralization study, urban population patterns, municipal fiscal instability, FHA policy limitations, planning agency, land acquisition agency, obsolete neighborhood demolition, municipal bonding, Decentralization study brochure, zoning and subdivision regulations, industry distribution patterns, essential elements for federal urban redevelopment legislation, community automony vs. federal control, Professor Hansen, planning stages, provisions of the new draft housing investment insurance. Includes Alfred Bettman, Frederick Bigger, Paul Oppermann, Herbert S. Colton, Earle Sumner Draper, Federal Agency of Urban Reconstruction and Development Committee to Examine and Report on Cornick's Decentralization Study, Federal Housing Administration, Department of Urban Affairs.
1943
Urban Redevelopment Law
 Box 1 Folder 5, 6
Correspondence, reports, drafts on terminology, provisions of the Urban Redevelopment Act, federal agencies, district boundaries, development vs. redevelopment, program for city building and urban housing, city growth forecasts, Urban Land Institute Bill, population data use. Includes Herbert S. Colton, Alfred Bettman, Frederick Bigger, E. S. Draper, Alvin H. Hansen, Martin Myerson, National Housing Administration, Work Projects Administration, Federal Security Agency, American Society of Planning Officials.
1944
Urban Redevelopment Law
 Box 1 Folder 7
Correspondence, reports on urban and regional planning technique, population planning, land use planning, circulatory planning, city functions, urban complex study. Includes Alvin H. Hansen, Charles S. Ascher, Communities Redevelopment Corporation.
July 31, 1974
Bibliography of Collection Holdings
 Box 1 Folder 8
Jan. 22, 1943
American Institute of Planners. Committee on Education and Personnel Standards. Agenda for Discussion, Annual Meeting.
 Box 1 Folder 8
1936
American Society of Planning Officials. Proceedings of the Conference on City Planning and Administration. Chicago, Ill.
 Box 1 Folder 8
Sept. 11, 1952
Oppermann, Paul. "The Replanning and Rebuilding of Our Central Cities."
 Box 1 Folder 8
Paper presented before City Planning Division, Centennial Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Chicago, Ill.
Dec. 3, 1947
Oppermann, Paul. "A Planner's View of Express Highways." Research Board, Washington, D.C.
 Box 1 Folder 8
n.d.
Oppermann, Paul. "Should Your Child be a City and Regional Planner?" Saturday Evening Post, pp. 44-45.
Box 1 Folder 8
Feb. 12, 1942
Oppermann, Paul. Progress Report Tri-Cities Planning Project. Report to the City Planning Commissions of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport.
Box 1 Folder 8
1930-1950
Letters from Bureau of Facilities, Federal Works, and re appointment as Director of Planning in San Francisco.
 Box 1 Folder 10
1951-1955
Letters from Bureau of Facilities, Federal Works, and re appointment as Director of Planning in San Francisco.
 Box 1 Folder 11
1956
Primarily thank you notes as Director of the Department of City Planning.
 Box 1 Folder 12
1956-1957
Letters as Director of City Planning, San Francisco.
 Box 1 Folder 13
1958
Letters of congratulations re appointment to Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
 Box 1 Folder 14
1958
Correspondence re appointment to Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
 Box 1 Folder 15
1958-1961
Letters as Executive Director of the Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
 Box 1 Folder 16
1962-1963
Letter as Director of Northeastern Illinois Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
 Box 1 Folder 17
1950-1954
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
 volume
1952-1958
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
 volume
1958-1959
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
 volume
1955-1963
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
 volume
Certificates
 Box 2 Folder 1
Clippings
 Box 2 Folder 2
Photographs
 Box 2 Folder 3
1926-1936
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 4
1937
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 5
1938
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 6
1939
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 7
1940-1941
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 8
1942
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 9
1943-1944
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 10
1946
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 11
1947
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 12
1948
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 13
1949-1950
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 14
1951
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 15
1952
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 16
1953
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 17
1954
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 18
Feb. 1955 - June 1955
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 19
Sept. 1955 - Oct. 1955
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 20
Jan. 1956 - Mar. 1956
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 21
Apr. 1956 - Sept. 1956
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 22
Oct. 1956- Dec. 1956
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 23
Jan. 1958 - May 1958
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 24
June 1958 - Aug. 1958
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 25
Sept. 1958 - Dec. 1958
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 26
May 1959 - June 1959
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 27
Jan. 1959 - Feb. 1959
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 28
Mar. 1959 - Apr. 1959
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 29
July 1959 - Sept. 1959
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 30
Oct. 1959 - Dec. 1959
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 31
Jan. 1960 - May 1960
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 32
June 1960 - Dec. 1960
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 33
Jan. 1961 - Apr. 1961
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 34
June 1961 - Nov. 1961
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 35
Jan. 1962 - Mar. 1962
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 36
Apr. 1962 - June 1962
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 37
July 1962 - Sept. 1962
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 38
Oct. 1962 - Dec. 1962
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 39
Feb. 1963 - June 1963
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 40
July 1963 - Jan. 1964
Speeches
 Box 2 Folder 41