On January 27, 2021, historian Sarah Jane Shoenfeld and social impact designer April De Simone discussed the structural racism behind housing policy, from the early 20th century to today, and the effects of these policies on our city and on the lives of Washingtonians.
As part of the DC History Center’s ongoing mission to offer enlightening connections with the past, this Context for Today compilation looks at segregation and housing discrimination in DC history. We are asking: what are the practices that have defined the racial composition of DC’s neighborhoods? What forces limit the ability of people of color to build wealth and enjoy the fruits of American society?
In the early 20th century, racially restrictive covenants helped establish White and Black DC neighborhoods and barred Black home ownership in much of the city. Banks and the federal government combined to impose what is known as “redlining.” In this system, banks, real estate firms, and government lenders valued homes and whole neighborhoods based on the race of who lived there. (For some cities, neighborhoods deemed inferior were shown on maps outlined in red in order to discourage investment there.) This practice served to entrench segregation and the racial wealth gap. “Slum clearance” and urban renewal flipped the racial makeup of neighborhoods and enriched developers by displacing long-standing Black communities. The association of Whiteness with higher property values persists today as does the relative lack of wealth in communities of people of color.
This selection of videos, articles, books, and websites illuminate the issues and efforts to move towards a more just society.
"Segregating Where We Live" is an installment in the DC History Center’s Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians, activists, journalists, and community members.
According to Mapping Segregation, in 1938 owners of these rowhouses in Bloomingdale agreed to put race restrictive covenants in their deeds to keep their community White. Photograph of the 2000 block of First St. NW, 1949, John P. Wymer Collection WY 1107.23
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
April De Simone has more than 15 years of experience in strategically designing, developing, and launching socially just projects in the for-profit, nonprofit, and government sectors.
Continuing to advocate for social innovation, De Simone is co-creator of ventures and initiatives that promote market-based solutions to address complex social challenges. A Dean Merit Scholar, she recently completed her Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons the New School for Design. De Simone continues to be recognized for her leadership and dedication in supporting frameworks that promote a just and equitable society.
De Simone’s traveling exhibit Undesign the Redline curates a past-to-present journey of our most pressing and interconnected societal challenges. The UTR experience provokes thought, questions, and dialogue around the policies, practices, and investments that not only accentuate systemic inequities, but impede the full potential of democracy. Each engagement activates a space for honest conversations around how race and socioeconomic factors reinforce structural inequity and how these inequities play out in the built environment. As a result, diverse stakeholders from community organizers to government agencies delve into the themes of the exhibit and the role of design in shaping human experience. UTR was hosted at the Pepco Gallery in DC in 2017, incorporating the DC History Center's collections to contextualize the local footprint of the socio-spatial dynamics that continue to influence our lived experiences today.
Sarah Shoenfeld is an independent scholar and public historian. She co-directs the project Mapping Segregation in Washington DC, which is documenting the former extent of racially restricted housing in the nation's capital along with other historic mechanisms of segregation and displacement. Sarah is co-owner of the company, Prologue DC, which engages in a variety of history projects, including research for exhibitions and films, historic landmark and district nominations, oral histories, and walking tours.
Among her current or recent projects are “Say Their Names,” an essay on policing in DC history for the latest edition of Washington History; two historic landmark nominations and a historic preservation context study, related to civil rights organizing in DC, an online DC civil rights tour; and a successful landmark nomination for Barry Farm Dwellings, a World War II-era public housing project in Anacostia that is undergoing redevelopment.
Washington Post and New York Times articles are free with your DC Public Library or other local library card. To access the full list of newspapers available through DCPL click here.
The major source is Mapping Segregation in Washington DC . Produced by Sarah Jane Shoenfeld and Mara Cherkasky of Prologue DC, this website presents years of deep research into the covenants that segregated housing here and the lawsuits that resulted from challenges to them. Using “story maps” organized by particular events, such as “How Racially Restricted Housing Shaped Ward 4,” or “FHA Insured Housing,” the text and interactive maps document the evidence, mechanisms, and impact of segregation in DC. Readers can see whether individual properties were racially restricted by covenants (deemed unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 1948). The project is ongoing and not all neighborhoods are researched yet, but readers with houses in many neighborhoods will find their records embedded in the maps. In addition, these resources were cited during their talk:
A forum highlighting the frightening power of systemic racism in 20th-century Washington, DC, by recognizing and sharing the stories of people from Reno City. Led by members of the DC History and Justice Collective and produced by students at Wilson High School.
April 28th, 2022. This panel chronicles demographic change in two Ward 4 neighborhoods, North Portal Estates and Brightwood Park, in the second half of the 20th century, as restrictive covenants fell and many White residents left the city. The panel focuses on the real estate industry’s role in encouraging “White flight” and debunks the baseless fears real estate agents instilled in White homeowners that the arrival of Black residents would result in a decrease in property values and overall decline of the neighborhoods. Led by Phylicia Fauntleroy Bowman, PhD, Economist and Retired Executive Director, DC Public Service Commission Tanya Golash-Boza, PhD, Professor, University of California, Merced. Moderator: Mara Cherkasky, Historian/Co-Founder, Prologue DC
April 28th, 2022. Black residents make up just 46 percent of DC’s population—down from over 70 percent in the 1970s. This panel addresses how new development and gentrification displaced Black residents from their homes and communities over the course of the 20th century. The presentation will begin with the big picture via an overview of the online exhibit Mapping Displacement, launched in 2021. Panelists will then hone in on the role of alley clearance in dispersing long-standing Black communities and the repeated eviction of Black residents from one square block on Capitol Hill. Using Southeast DC’s Barry Farm Dwellings as a case study, the panel will highlight how anti-Black racism undergirds the transformation of public housing into mixed-income “new communities.” This discussion will provide context for how gentrification today is a continuation of historical movements that have repeatedly destabilized and removed Black residents from spaces deemed too valuable for them to occupy. The presenters are Sarah Shoenfeld, Historian/Co-Founder, Prologue DC, Michael J. Fisher Jr., PhD, Assistant Professor, San José State University, Johanna Bockman, PhD, Associate Professor, George Mason University, and Carolyn Swope, Doctoral Student, Columbia University. The moderator is Daniel del Pielago who is Organizing Director, Empower DC
Washington Post and New York Times articles are free with your DC Public Library or other local library card. To access the full list of newspapers available through DCPL click here.
Washington History Magazine can be viewed and downloaded from JSTOR after making a free account. Current and past issues are available for purchase from the DC History Center's online store.
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