ABSTRACT
Concrete is a material that has received increased scrutiny in recent years – it has been used as a vehicle to study the politics of climate change and the culture of architecture. This paper presents an opportunity to examine concrete in the context of vernacular building cultures in southern United States. Focusing on the Tuskegee Institute’s Low Cash-Cost Housing program, which taught low-income Black farmers how to mix and pour concrete to build low-cost yet modern homes, the paper shows how the material performed as a tool for economic and social liberation. In addition to the specific case study, the paper links local building cultures to a broader history of global tabby construction. Most significantly, the paper contributes to scholarship on construction history by privileging experiences of Black working-class people instead of private enterprises or governments.
