Unjust Deeds: The History of Racial Covenants in Dane County and Beyond

For most of the 20th century, racial covenants were an insidious tool used nationwide by a growing real estate industry, business and planning academia, and the federal government to segregate whites from blacks in America’s burgeoning residential neighborhoods and suburbs. Racial covenants were clauses inserted into property deeds to prevent non-Whites from buying or occupying land. Although no longer valid or enforceable, they can still be found in the land deeds of almost every American community. 

Racial covenants were made illegal in 1968 with the federal passage of the Fair Housing Act. Nevertheless, their impacts were pervasive and are still with us today. This presentation by Rick Bernstein, Executive Director of the Dane County Historical Society, will explore additional context, background, and impacts of racial covenants in our county.

This program is made possible thanks to support from Beyond the Page, National Endowment for the Humanities, Madison Community Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Dane Arts, and Dane County Department of Planning & Development. 

Refreshments provided. Registration is requested but not required.