In Profanity Hill, Irene Burns Miller recounts her 1940 experience as the sole relocation supervisor tasked with clearing a decaying Seattle neighborhood to make way for the Yesler Terrace public housing project. The book details her daily interactions with the area's diverse and marginalized residents, including sex workers, immigrants, and impoverished families who were facing eviction despite the city having almost no rental vacancy. Through personal anecdotes, Miller highlights the stark power dynamics and emotional toll of dismantling a tightly knit, albeit crumbling, community in the name of urban progress. Ultimately, the narrative chronicles the complete displacement of the neighborhood's original inhabitants to pave the way for a newly constructed vision of public housing.

iv, 139 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm