See updated post

“No persons of any race except the white race shall use or occupy any building on any lot except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race employed by an owner or tenant”.  This language, taken directly from a property deed in West Hartford’s High Ledge Homes Development, started appearing in property deeds during the 1940s in Connecticut, along with many other northern states, in order to prevent minorities from moving into white neighborhoods.  Real estate developers, homeowners and neighborhood associations wrote these restrictions, called housing covenants, for their developments. These discriminatory covenants excluded certain groups from housing areas in not just Connecticut, but throughout the northern United States as well.

Source: UConn Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center. Click for Whole Property Deed.

Why Did Housing Covenants Exist?

In 1937, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) came out with a report of Hartford’s neighborhoods evaluating them on a scale from A-D. The HOLC labeled areas with a high concentration of minorities D areas, and even areas with a small number of minority families often resulted in a C rating.  This report documented how the racial composition of a neighborhood influenced the values of homes in the area.  It caused whites to become increasingly worried about minorities moving into their neighborhood—they did not want their housing values to decline.  In addition to this, the Great Migration of blacks from the rural south to work in industrial factories in the north greatly increased the minority population in Hartford beginning in the 1940s.  This influx of blacks into the north, and the labeling of neighborhoods with minorities as declining or undesirable by the HOLC, contributed to the white flight into the suburbs of Hartford.  Real estate agencies and homeowners were concerned about black neighbors causing a decline in property values in their new white suburban enclaves, so they started writing housing covenants into their property deeds. Due to these covenants, blacks were nearly eliminated from the suburban housing market during the 1940s.

Shelley v. Kraemer: Ending Housing Covenants

Source: UConn Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center. Click image for interactive map.

In 1948, restrictive housing covenants were deemed unenforceable by law in the Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer because of the fourteenth amendment (the amendment that provides equal treatment to all citizens of the United States).  Privately, people would still abide by the restrictive covenants in property deeds until the Fair Housing Act of 1968, even though they could not be enforced when taken to court. Since it is still legal to have these restrictive covenants in property deeds, many still remain today.  The High Ledge Homes Development is one of five areas in West Hartford where these clauses still exist in a majority of the property deeds.

Interviews with Today’s West Hartford Residents

The Cities, Suburbs and Schools class from Trinity College interviewed citizens of West Hartford in 2011 about the restrictive covenants to see their perception of covenants that existed in the property deeds of their homes.  The younger, new residents of the area reacted alarmed that they existed.  However, Mary Everett, an elderly citizen in a West Hartford neighborhood was not surprised—she knew of the covenant when she purchased her home in 1970.  Those who purchased their homes recently were more innocent to the discrimination, and said things such as, “It’s not something I would have expected in Connecticut…I grew up believing that [overt racism] was in the south”, indicating that younger citizens did not expect such overt racism in the north. These covenants have shaped Connecticut’s communities today, yet many are unaware of their significant impact.

Learn More:

Maps:

• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/doclink_covenant.html
• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/timeslider_racethematic.html
• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/doclink_holc.html

• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/17/
• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/21/
• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/23/

Works Cited:

Shelley V. Kraemer (Syllabus), 100 U.S. 1 (U.S. Supreme Court 1948).

See updated post

“No persons of any race except the white race shall use or occupy any building on any lot except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race employed by an owner or tenant”.  This language, taken directly from a property deed in West Hartford’s High Ledge Homes Development, started appearing in property deeds during the 1940s in Connecticut, along with many other northern states, in order to prevent minorities from moving into white neighborhoods.  Real estate developers, homeowners and neighborhood associations wrote these restrictions, called housing covenants, for their developments. These discriminatory covenants excluded certain groups from housing areas in not just Connecticut, but throughout the northern United States as well.

Source: UConn Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center. Click for Whole Property Deed.

Why Did Housing Covenants Exist?

In 1937, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) came out with a report of Hartford’s neighborhoods evaluating them on a scale from A-D. The HOLC labeled areas with a high concentration of minorities D areas, and even areas with a small number of minority families often resulted in a C rating.  This report documented how the racial composition of a neighborhood influenced the values of homes in the area.  It caused whites to become increasingly worried about minorities moving into their neighborhood—they did not want their housing values to decline.  In addition to this, the Great Migration of blacks from the rural south to work in industrial factories in the north greatly increased the minority population in Hartford beginning in the 1940s.  This influx of blacks into the north, and the labeling of neighborhoods with minorities as declining or undesirable by the HOLC, contributed to the white flight into the suburbs of Hartford.  Real estate agencies and homeowners were concerned about black neighbors causing a decline in property values in their new white suburban enclaves, so they started writing housing covenants into their property deeds. Due to these covenants, blacks were nearly eliminated from the suburban housing market during the 1940s.

Shelley v. Kraemer: Ending Housing Covenants

Source: UConn Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center. Click image for interactive map.

In 1948, restrictive housing covenants were deemed unenforceable by law in the Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer because of the fourteenth amendment (the amendment that provides equal treatment to all citizens of the United States).  Privately, people would still abide by the restrictive covenants in property deeds until the Fair Housing Act of 1968, even though they could not be enforced when taken to court. Since it is still legal to have these restrictive covenants in property deeds, many still remain today.  The High Ledge Homes Development is one of five areas in West Hartford where these clauses still exist in a majority of the property deeds.

Interviews with Today’s West Hartford Residents

The Cities, Suburbs and Schools class from Trinity College interviewed citizens of West Hartford in 2011 about the restrictive covenants to see their perception of covenants that existed in the property deeds of their homes.  The younger, new residents of the area reacted alarmed that they existed.  However, Mary Everett, an elderly citizen in a West Hartford neighborhood was not surprised—she knew of the covenant when she purchased her home in 1970.  Those who purchased their homes recently were more innocent to the discrimination, and said things such as, “It’s not something I would have expected in Connecticut…I grew up believing that [overt racism] was in the south”, indicating that younger citizens did not expect such overt racism in the north. These covenants have shaped Connecticut’s communities today, yet many are unaware of their significant impact.

Learn More:

Maps:

• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/doclink_covenant.html
• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/timeslider_racethematic.html
• http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/doclink_holc.html

• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/17/
• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/21/
• http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cssp_ohistory/23/

Works Cited:

Shelley V. Kraemer (Syllabus), 100 U.S. 1 (U.S. Supreme Court 1948).

The Great Migration

Jacob Lawrence's Depiction of The Great Migration Photo Source: The Phillips Collection

The abolishment of slavery in 1895 seemed promising for newly freed slaves. However, the Jim Crow laws that were enacted further perpetuated the discrimination and inequalities they felt during slavery. During the years 1910 to 1930, there was a huge shift in the demographics of Northern cities. This period known as the Great Migration was a period of mass movement for Southern African Americans in search of job opportunities and a renewed life. In addition to New York, Chicago and, St. Louis, a report titled “The Negro Population of Hartford, CT written by Charles S. Johnson in 1921 highlighted Hartford as a premiere destination for many African Americans during this time.

Photo Source: Trinity College Digital Repository Click on Photo to view the full report

New Beginnings

When African Americans initially made it to Hartford the job opportunities, the tobacco industry in particular, seemed promising. However, many of them found that jobs were not always available. The African American population and immigrant European population in Hartford often competed for the same jobs, and the European immigrants usually were more favored. However, World War I brought job more openings for them as immigration was banned and a number of the immigrant residents of Hartford went to fight for their homeland.

The new African American arrivals faced many challenges in addition to the lack of job opportunities as they tried to settle in the North.  Not only did they face backlash from the African Americans that lived in the North prior to The Great Migration, they also felt the implications of racism in the North. They were segregated in one section of the city and endured harsh living conditions. Those who were fortunate enough acquired the means to move, but many others were left behind.

 A Sense of Hope

Even though the circumstances were not ideal, the African Americans who were left behind found ways to uplift their communities through churches. There were a number of different churches for different faiths, and the differences in beliefs often caused friction between the African American community as a whole. At the end of his research, Johnson concluded his report with words of encouragement and advice for the new and existing African Americans that both called Hartford home. He stated that despite the differences that seemed to draw them apart, there were a number of individual ministers who possessed strong leadership skills. If they worked to overcome their differences and collaborate together, then they would be able to effectively tackle those who further oppressed and denied them opportunities for attaining a better life.

Johnson was a prominent African American sociologist who studied race relations in the 20th century. Johnson attended Virginia Union University and later earned his Ph.D. from The University of Chicago. Johnson served as the director of the Department of Research and Investigations for The National Urban League. In addition to writing this report, he has written reports on cities including Chicago.

Photo Source: Perspectives in American Literature Paul P. Reuben

Learn More:

African-American Genealogical Resources at the Connecticut State Library

Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series 

Anon. “Charles Spurgeon Johnson (American Sociologist and Editor) — Britannica Online Encyclopedia.” Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/305290/Charles-Spurgeon-Johnson.

Anon. “Great Migration: The African-American Exodus North : NPR.” NPR.org. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129827444.

Johnson, Charles. “The Negro Population of Hartford, Connecticut”. Department of Research and Investigations of the National Urban League, New York, 1921. Connecticut State Library. Available from the Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, Connecticut (http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu)

Amanda Gurren–Trinity College

Connecticut ‘Takes the Wheel’ on Education Reform:

Project Concern

Early Student Participants of Project Concern Project; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library

Conventionally, students attend school in the district where they live, but the option to choose other educational alternatives has been a part of Connecticut’s state policy for years. One of these educational alternatives included Project Concern, a program executed in 1966, which granted Connecticut students residing within city limits the ability to attend suburban schools. In 1998-99, Project Concern was supplanted by the Project Choice (also known as Open Choice) program, which enables the two-way movement of urban and suburban students in the areas neighboring Connecticut’s three largest cities (Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven).

The Concern that Prompted ‘Concern’

In the mid 1960’s, the quality of education in Hartford’s public schools was greatly compromised. Studies concluded that the students who attended the public schools in the low-income areas of Hartford were racially segregated, testing far below both the state and national averages, and dropping out at unforeseeably high rates. Parents, students, and school faculty members were outraged and demanded government intervention immediately. Unsure of what should be done that would most effectively address and resolve the issues at hand, the city requested the aid of Harvard University to examine and essentially assess Hartford and its respective public schools. The findings of Harvard University’s study of Hartford were later published in what is known today as the “Harvard Report.” The Report presented Hartford with a number of suggestions the city could undertake to improve the disastrous conditions of its schools. Although many of these propositions were never implemented due to the lack of sufficient funds, the idea of a state-funded provincial busing program looked hopeful and most importantly–affordable.

En Route to Change: The Beginning Years 

Map of Hartford and its Surrounding Suburbs that Agreed to Participate in Project Concern; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library

Project Concern, one of many desegregation social experiments, was put into effect during the sweeping idealism of the 1960s in Connecticut. Hartford responded to Harvard University’s findings by experimenting with busing a randomly selected group of its inner city children to schools of five surrounding suburbs. Considering that more suburbs strongly opposed this desegregation program than volunteered to participate during its early years, the project leaders hoped that the anticipated success of the experiment would encourage more suburbs to participate. During this two-year experimental phase, extensive records were kept of the academic and social progress of the 260 student program participants, and were compared to control groups of children remaining in the Hartford public schools.The results of the testing convinced ten other towns and white middle class areas of Hartford to partake in the project and admit target area children into their schools.

Conclusions of ‘Concern’

Men looking at urban-suburban school integration (busing) report; Source: Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library

Project Concern symbolizes the paradoxical nature of school desegregation efforts around the nation as it has produced a number of both positive and negative outcomes.

The Successes

In 1982, approximately 700 of the former program participants were interviewed and surveyed for the Final Evaluation Report, after having finished secondary school. It was determined that attending the suburban schools significantly reduced high school dropout rates, increased adult socializations between whites and nonwhites, and increased the number of blacks choosing to live in interracial housing. Additionally, it was found that the program participants had fewer complications with police, observed less discrimination in colleges and in their respective jobs, and were more likely to excel in college.

The Failures

In spite of the apparent successes, Project Concern was widely criticized by the public. Many argued that the one-way busing program did not produce anything close to integration. In fact, the burden of busing was placed solely on minority students, rather than two-way desegregation.  Furthermore, critics of the program claimed that the number of program participants was a relatively small percentage of the total number of Hartford students. Even during the program’s highest enrollment years, Project Concern students never made up more than eight percent of any participating district’s student population. The limited number of student participants consequently made it difficult to determine the legitimacy of the final evaluation report’s findings.

Watch Me!

Learn More:

Crain, Robert L., and Jack Strauss. School Desegregation and Black Occupational Attainments: Results from a Long-Term Experiment., July 1985. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED260170.

Crain, Robert L., and Others. Finding Niches: Desegregated Students Sixteen Years Later. Final Report on the Educational Outcomes of Project Concern, Hartford, Connecticut., June 1992. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED396035.

Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Center for Field Studies. Schools for Hartford. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1965. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ja3cbmoamr5cg9v/aET1OjiL79

Iwanicki, Edward F, and Robert K Gable. “Hartford Project Concern Program. Final Evaluation Report, 1982-83.” (August 1983). http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED237612&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED237612.

“When Good Will Is Not Enough; Desegregation Project at Heart of Hartford School Suit – New York Times.” New York Times, n.d. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/01/nyregion/when-good-will-not-enough-desegregation-project-heart-hartford-school-suit.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.