One-Third of a Nation

One Third of a Nation is a Living Newspaper play produced by the Federal Theatre Project in 1938. Written by Arthur Arent from research by the editorial staff of the Federal Theatre Project, it focused on the problem of housing in the United States and the growth of slums in New York City. The play was produced in New York and in nine additional cities, where it was adapted to specific community conditions. It was adapted as a feature film in 1939, and revived on the New York stage in 2011.

I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. … The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

One-Third of a Nation opens with a scene depicting a burning tenement in New York. The Voice of the Living Newspaper pairs with a character named Angus Buttonkooper, “the little man”, and they both try to explain why decent housing is not available in New York. Their discussions lead them to the basic problem of corruption in the New York housing department.

With the expansion of the city, a rich landlord is depicted sitting on a patch of grass, which portrays his property. As the population of the city expands, more and more people try and fit on that patch of grass. They resort to petty fighting and theft to somehow get a place to squat on and get rid of their “dehumanizing misery.” Slowly but steadily, the little man gets politicized over the 100 years of corruption and troubles presented in the play, increasingly becoming impatient and frustrated by the polarity between the wealthy landlord and their impoverished tenants.

The piece ends with the delineation of the failure of the Housing Act of 1937, a $565 million project that only managed to alleviate about two percent of New York’s slums. The Little Man and his wife vow to continue to diatribe the government until the housing crisis is resolved and “everyone in America has a decent place to live in."

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