Town planning and radicalism in the progressive era: the legacy of F. L. Ackerman

Frederick L. Ackerman, the well-known American architect and town planner, was a pivotal figure in the progressive movement for housing and planning reform during the first half of the last century. Active at many levels of this movement, he worked with many of its major figures. This paper provides an overview of Ackerman's rich legacy of town planning and urban design, but deals most directly with Ackerman's radical political views. In particular, ittraces the formative influences on his views and analyses how these views influenced his career. It makes the case that Ackerman stood in sharp contrast to the leading lights of modern American planning who supported the capitalist system.