(Hansen, Susan. Oral history interview on West Hartford, CT and restrictive covenants , by Candace Simpson for the Cities, Suburbs, and Schools Project, July 22, 2011. Available from theTrinity College Digital Repository, Hartford Connecticut (http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp/).
(Hartford Times Collection: States: Conn: Newspapers & Periodicals: Hartford Times: Negro in Hartford Essay Nov. 26, 1963)
In the video shown above, Susan Hansen is interviewed as a West Hartford resident. She discusses the fact that eleven years ago she had gotten a job in West Hartford and wished to move there from another town. Hansen finally found a home directly behind Webster Hill School, which she likes very much. She and her husband had been looking for a better school district, as they had a child with special needs. She said the area was comfortable for them. Interestingly, when a document was presented to her about racial segregation in the neighborhood by a Trinity College student, she was shocked. She said she had been completely unaware of the segregation when purchasing the home – it seemed real estate agents did not bring this up (perhaps intentionally?).
I chose to add this photo because, according to the text with the photo, it shows a black woman (prospective buyer?) with a white man (realtor?) looking at a house that is for sale. The text states that The description indicated that housing choices were very limited for blacks in all white neighborhoods, but were available in neighborhoods that were already mixed.
In Both the video and photograph, the whites showed racial discrimination in their neighborhoods.