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Tugwell Room
The Tugwell Room is located at the Greenbelt Branch Library and is accessible whenever the library is open.
Please ask a librarian at the information desk to open the room for you if the door is closed. The Tugwell Room is reserved for users of the room's materials only.
Greenbelt Branch Library
11 Crescent Road
Greenbelt, MD 20770
About Rexford G. Tugwell
Born on June 10, 1891, Rexford G. Tugwell grew up in Sinclairville and Wilson, NY. Tugwell’s father was a farmer and a cannery owner. Tugwell attended the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. After completing his studies at UPenn, Tugwell taught economics at UPenn, the University of Washington, and Columbia University.
While at Columbia University, Tugwell became a member of the “brain trust” - a group known as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inner circle of advisors. Roosevelt was then governor of NY. This group initially helped Roosevelt plan his campaign to become the president of the United States and later advised him on issues during his presidency.
In 1933, Tugwell moved to Washington, DC, where he began working for the United States Department of Agriculture. After serving as the assistant secretary of Agriculture, Tugwell became the head of the Resettlement Administration.
Tugwell strongly believed in government economic planning. While at the Resettlement Administration, he worked on many New Deal programs, such as tax reform, relief public works, and federally planned communities. Tugwell is connected to Greenbelt, MD through his instrumental work with the Greenbelt Towns program. While he was head of the Resettlement Administration, he dedicated much of his time in the creation and development of the Greenbelt Towns project.
About
The Tugwell Special Collection serves as a resource for researchers who are interested in studying city and urban planning, sociology, architecture, American history of the New Deal era, consumer cooperatives and the city of Greenbelt, MD. The mission of the collection is to provide reference materials on those subjects to any interested researcher, whether it be an elementary student studying their hometown or a doctoral student collecting primary sources for a dissertation.
Access to the Collection
The hours of operation for the Tugwell Special Collection are the same as the Greenbelt Branch hours. Everyone is welcome to use the Tugwell Special Collection for studying, researching or browsing. Visitors are asked to sign the guest book. If any assistance is needed, please ask the librarian at the information desk. The Greenbelt Branch is wheelchair accessible from the lower level entrance of the library, where there is ample parking. Follow the signs for the elevator to the second floor.
Greenbelt Cooperator & News Review
In conjunction with the Greenbelt News Review, most past issues of both the Greenbelt Cooperator and Greenbelt News Review are now available digitally via their online archives.
Co-Operative Consumer/Co-Operation/Cooperation/Consumers’ Cooperation
Published monthly from 1914-1938 by the Cooperative League of the USA, this magazine was intended “...to spread the knowledge of the Co-Operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need.”
We currently are able to offer full text digital versions of the following issues:
- Co-Operative Consumer, Vol. 1-4 (1914-1918)
- Co-Operation, previously known as Co-Operative Consumer, Vols. 5-9 (1919-1923)
- Co-Operation, previously known as Co-Operative Consumer, Vol. 12 (1926)
- Co-Operation, previously known as Co-operative Consumer, Vol. 13 (1927)
Circulation and Loan Policy
The Tugwell Special Collection is a reference collection, and the materials must be used within the library. Whenever possible, materials should be photocopied.
- 500+ books and periodicals
- Pamphlets, advertisements, and other textual materials
- Vertical Files - Subject Listings
- Newspaper clippings
- Photographs, Albums, and Scrapbooks
- Maps & Blueprints (1938-1990s)
- Memorabilia
- Display Case
Books in the Collection
The books in the Tugwell Special Collection are cataloged in the library books catalog. Books may be identified as being a part of the Tugwell Special Collection by the call number which will include a C before the Dewey Decimal classification number. Example: C 711.4
Digital Collection: Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) Blueprint Collection
This collection of blueprints and other associated documents covers many of the original houses built by the U.S. Federal Government in 1936 during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations. These historic homes represent the core of Old Greenbelt, as well as a significant part of the Greenbelt Historic District.
Dates: The date range represented is 1936-1938.
Rights and reproductions: These images may be saved or printed for research purposes and are accessible via the Internet.
Credits: Scanned in cooperation with the Maryland Archives, the images represented are reproduced from the original microfilm owned by PGCMLS. The image quality is limited by the condition of the original microfilm. Due to the large size of these scanned files, the images may take longer than expected to load.
Greenbelt Blueprints
Greenbelt Homes
Pamphlets
Tugwell Room Pamphlets about Greenbelt
- Greenbelt, Maryland & Greenbelt Towns Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 32, The Cooperatives Look Ahead, Jerry Voorhis, 1952
- Cooperation and Nationality, George W. Russell, First printed in 1912, reprinted in 1940
- Bulletin No. 1024: “Organization and Management of Consumers’ Cooperatives”. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, 1951
- Daniels, John. American Cooperatives: Yesterday - Today - Tomorrow. New York: the New Leader Publishing Association, 1945
- Syrjala, Savele. The Story of a Cooperative. Massachusetts: United Co-Operative Society, 1947
- The Cooperative League of the USA. In a Big Co-Op, Can Members Really Control Policies?
- Gunterman, Joseph. “Work Together”. NY, Washington, Chicago: The Cooperative League of the USA. 1948
Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 32 
Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 32, The Cooperatives Look Ahead, by Jerry Voorhis (formerly a Congressman from California, then Executive Secretary of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A.)
First edition, Copyright, 1952, by the Public Affairs Committee, Inc., NY
Pamphlet, property of PGCMLS-Greenbelt Branch, Tugwell Room collection
Cooperation and Nationality 
Cooperation and Nationality: A Guide For Rural Reformers From This To The Next Generation, by George W. Russell (AE)
First printed in 1912, reprinted in 1940 by the Cooperative League, Chicago, IL
Pamphlet, property of PGCMLS - Greenbelt Branch, Tugwell Room collection.
Vertical Files
Greenbelt: by Subject and Place
- Maryland
- Adult Education
- Annual Reports
- American Revolution
- Bicentennial Committee
- Apartments
- Authors
- Beltway Plaza
- Bibliography
- Bicycle Path
- Biography
- Budget
- Budgetary Reports
- Cable Television
- Cemeteries
- Charter
- Citizens for Greenbelt, Inc.
- Citizens for a Planned Greenbelt
- City Directories
- City News (newspaper)
- Civil Defense
- Community Center
- Special Events
- Task Force
- Community Chorus
- Community Relations Advisory
- Board
- Cooperative Nursery School
- Courthouse
- Credit Union
- Crime
- Cultural Arts Center
- Democratic Club
Greenbelt biographies: by Person
- Bomberger, Hilda
- Bowman, Bruce
- Braden, Roy
- Castaldi, Richard J.
- Comproni, Joseph
- Dudley, Tiford E.
- Ellington, Douglas D.
- Goldfaden, Ben
- Granahan, Lolita
- Harrington, Elizabeth
- Herling, Alfred Konrad
- Howard, Sir Ebenezer
- Huffman family
- Madden, Anthony
- McCarl Family
- McDonald, Charles T.
- McFarland, Kathleen
- Obituaries
- Oral Histories
- Rosenzweig, Benjamin
- Schwan, Charles F., Sr.
- Stein, Clarence S.
- Straus, Lenore Thomas
- Tugwell, Rexford Guy
- Vinton, Warren R.
- Walker, Samuel L.
- Weindenfeld, Gil
- Warner family
Planned Communities Files
- Publications on Planned Communities (2 large green folders)
- Arcosanti, AZ
- Articles (3 files)
- Bannockburn, Bethesda, MD
- Bibliographies (2 files)
- Cedar Riverside, MN
- Celebration, FL
- Chandigarh, Punjab, India
- Clarksburg, MD
- clear Lake City, TX
- Co-housing
- Cold Spring New Town (Baltimore, MD)
- Columbia, MD (2 files)
- Cumberland Homesteads,
- Crossville, TN
- Fort Lincoln New Town,
- (Wash, DC)
- Hampstead Garden Suburb, England
- Irvine, CA
- Jonathan, MN
- Konterra, MD
- Langston Dwellings, (Wash., DC)
- Letchworth, England
- Litchfield Park, AZ
- Mattawoma Town,
- Upper Marlboro, MD
- Miami Lakes, FL
- Norris, TN
- Park Forest South, IL
- Radbur, Fair Lawn, NJ
- Reston, VA
- Roosevelt Island,
- (New York City, NY)
- Seaside, FL
- St. Charles, MN
- Stevenage, England
- Valencia, CA
- Welwyn Garden City, England
- Westlake Village, CA
Greenbelt Towns: by Subject and Place
- Architecture
- Bibliographies
- History
- John Lansill Papers
- Planning
- Resettlement Administration
- Retrospectives
- Sale
- Bound Brook, Greenbrook, NJ
Greendale, WI --
- Annual Reports
- History
- Maps
- Newspapers
- Pamphlets
- Town Anniversaries
Greenhills, OH --
- Ephemera
- History
- Newspapers
- Publications
- Town Council Minutes
Maps & Blueprints for Greenbelt
Map of Greenbelt, January 1, 1938
Aerial Photo of Greenbelt, MD,ca. 1941
Greenbelt, MD. Aerial view, probably early Fall, 1941.
Photo credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Security Administration, Neg. #7789-ZB
Copy Photo, property of the PGCMLS-Greenbelt Branch,
Tugwell Room Collection
Zoning District Map, City Greenhills