Burns-Jackson Project Records

The Burns-Jackson records document the efforts to pursue a redevelopment plan in the Burns-Jackson area, commonly known as the Oregon District. These records cover the years 1966-1974 and include project studies, reports, newspaper clippings, minutes, correspondence, memorandums, and slides. The records are organized into six series. Each series is arranged in chronological order.

Series I. Minutes and Records of Administrative Bodies, contains 1966 Articles of Incorporation for the Burns-Jackson Corporation. Also included are a short run of committee meeting minutes spanning November 9, 1966 to February 15, 1967. A longer run of minutes from Corporation Directors meetings span May 17, 1967 to January 20, 1972. Also included is the Code of Regulations for the Board of Directors. The minutes of the shareholders meetings date from December 27, 1967 to April 22, 1972.

Series II Business Records, contains the contracts with Bertrand Goldberg, a Chicago based architect contracted to restore the area. The Morton Hoffman financial report is a study of the feasibility of the Burns-Jackson project, which summarizes feasible alternative forms of financing the project to meet the city’s share cost. This series also includes a projected effect of the Burns-Jackson project on the City of Dayton. The financial reports are very fragmented, dating from January 10, 1968 to February 27, 1970. The tax increment bonds include a timing schedule, an amortization schedule, and a status report on a tax increment bond validation suit. The series also includes an Ohio Senate Ways and Means committee hearing on bonds from January 30, 1968, and a prospectus on 480 class and common shares. Subscriptions to stock contain correspondence on the stocks as well as a list of all prospective shareholders. There is also a list of subscriptions received, and a sample subscription letter. The final item in the series is the list of summarized project costs.

Series III. Project Analysis, includes studies on areas outside of Dayton, Ohio as well as on the Burns-Jackson area itself. Included are relocation plans, a critical path chart, as well as correspondence and a memo about the chart. The Laclede town folder contains a newspaper clipping about a town in St. Louis similar to the Burns-Jackson area. The intentional community is a story concerning how urban neighborhoods become slums, and how the church could be a great agent in developing these areas. This series also includes annexation material, such as a list of the properties to be acquired, maps of urban renewal, and miscellaneous papers about project studies. Series IV. Correspondence, is one of the more fragmented series. The correspondence on the Burns-Jackson project dates from August 3, 1966 to February 12, 1974. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. Correspondents include: Priscilla Colt, Bertrand Goldberg, H.M. Huffman, Jr., Richard J. Chernesky, Earl Sterzer, Winston O. Franklin, George Howell, Jack W. Beam, Robert A. Flynn, and Jim Woodhull, as well as others. This series also includes memorandums on the Burns-Jackson project, which provide an overview of some of the challenges facing the project. This series also includes memorandums to the board of directors.

Series V. Newspapers, includes clippings on the Burns-Jackson area published in the Dayton Journal Herald, and the Dayton Daily News from 1966-1972 with a significant number undated. The clippings reveal public opinion. A folder containing clippings from “part of a series”, are from an eight part series published in the Journal Herald written by staff writer Hubert Meeker. The articles provide information on planned community developments in Columbia, MD and Reston, VA, which were presented as examples for the Burns-Jackson project. This series also has one unsigned news release on the Burns-Jackson area.

Series VI. Publications and Slides, includes observations on the Morton Hoffman Report concerning the Burns-Jackson area. This report includes feasibility studies, corporate structures, and the significance of the project. The Burns-Jackson: Village of Dayton is a public relations report that includes planning stages of the project, aerial photos, and objective costs. This series also includes published financial projections, phases I and II, and the Burns-Jackson proposed text for public relations use. A set of 23 color slides are of houses demonstrative of architectural styles in the Burns Jackson neighborhood, including 8th Street, Tecumseh Street, Jackson Street, Van Buren Street, and Green Street.