Chester Rapkin papers, 1936-2001.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Rapkin, Chester, 1918-2001.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rapkin, Chester, 1918-2001.

Rapkin, Chester.

University of Pennsylvania. Graduate School of Fine Arts--History--Sources.

University of Pennsylvania.

Columbia University. Graduate School of Architecture and Planning--History--Sources.

Columbia University.

Princeton University. School of Architecture and Urban Planning--History--Sources.

Princeton University.

United States. Presidential Task Force on Urban Problems.

United States.

Planners--Archives.

Planners.

City planning--Study and teaching--History--Sources.

City planning.

Urban renewal--Study and teaching--History--Sources.

Urban renewal.

Housing--Study and teaching--History--Sources.

Housing.

Physical Description:

38 cubic feet.

Other Title:

Chester Rapkin collection.

Place of Publication:

1936-2001.

Biography/History:

Chester Rapkin was born in New York City February 18, 1918. He studied at City College (BS 1939) and Columbia University (PhD 1953). He taught City Planning and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (1954-1967), Columbia University (1966-1973) and Princeton University (1973-1988, emeritus 1988-2001). Rapkin's research and publishing applied highly disciplined analysis to the urgent social and economic issues of American cities in the second half of the twentieth century, such as affordable housing, urban decay, racial discrimination, homelessness and the plight of the displaced elderly and the "deinstitutionalized" mentally ill. Not content with analysis alone, Rapkin was committed to public service. He served as staff director of Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidential Task Force on Urban Problems whose policy papers and recommendations led to groundbreaking federal legislation in 1966 establishing the Model Cities Program. He served on the New York City Planning Commission from 1969 to 1976 and was Chairman of the Governors' Task Force on the Future of the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission 1979 to 1981. In addition to teaching, academic research and public service, Rapkin undertook many private research and consulting commissions, including planning projects across the continental United States and in Hawaii as well as projects in Korea, China, Australia and Israel. After retirement from teaching, Rapkin actively continued speaking and consulting through the early 1990s.

Summary:

This collection is the primary archive of the work of planner and economist Chester Rapkin, comprising extensive correspondence files and comprehensive holdings of Rapkin's writings, together with teaching and research files and a smaller amount of biographical material.

Correspondence files (1939-1992) document the full range of Rapkin's professional activities for decades, including letters of appreciation for his public service from President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mayor John V. Lindsay. The collection contains comprehensive holdings of Rapkin's writings: publications, reports and papers 1943-1994. Rapkin kept copies of published books and journals, bound reports, offprints, photocopies and typescripts, including materials which may be difficult to find in libraries, such as the full 1966 confidential report titled Selected Staff Papers, produced by the Presidential Task Force on Urban Problems.

Teaching and research materials include course outlines, lecture notes, departmental memos, PhD candidate files, materials related to joint research projects, and reference materials related to courses, research and consulting. Rapkin's later teaching (Princeton) is considerably better represented in these files than his earlier teaching. Researchers pursuing the student unrest of the 1960s may find items of interest in the Columbia materials. Rapkin's years at the University of Pennsylvania are better represented by correspondence and writings than by teaching files.

Biographical materials (dated 1936 to 1999) include student notebooks and papers as well as resumes, appointment books, travel notebooks, etc. Rapkin's application to Columbia University in 1947 includes an extensive and thoughtful "Autobiographical Summary" which offers the researcher valuable insights into his personal life and his developing understanding of his life's work.

Finding Aid/Index:

Printed finding aid available at the Architectural Archives. For electronic finding aid see Web Link.

Cited as:

Chester Rapkin Collection, The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania.

Access Restriction:

Collection available for research by appointment only.

Online:

Finding aid