On December 31, 1940, a “Colored Restriction Agreement” went into effect prohibiting “any person found to have 1/8 part or more negro blood, or any person generally considered to be a colored person” from residing in an area bounded by Roosevelt Road on the north, Cermak Road on the south, the alley west of State Street on the west, and the Illinois Central Railroad Tracks on the east. These restrictive covenants were all too common in Chicago and across the country until they were outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in a unanimous vote in May 1948.

This PowerPoint presentation will address the impact of restrictive covenants in four parts - the promise of democracy and aspirations, institutional racism and its limited successes, institutional resistance from the NAACP movement, and the triumphs of democracy by 1948 and 1968. The talk will be given by Dr. Christopher R. Reed, professor emeritus of history at Roosevelt University, and recognized as “the Dean of Black Chicago History” for his numerous books and articles and his work within the Black Chicago History Forum.

Following the presentation, a panel discussion will address issues facing African Americans and other minorities in the real estate arena, both locally and nationally. Dr. Reed will be joined by Courtney Jones and Ronald Branch, current and former president respectively, of the Dearborn Realist Board, the local chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), which was formed in 1947, making it the oldest minority trade association in America. NAREB was established by African-American real estate professionals who were denied membership in the National Association of Realtors.

FREE ADMISSION, reservations not required

This event, held in recognition of Black History Month, is sponsored by Glessner House, Second Presbyterian Church, and Quinn Chapel AME Church.

Image: May 8, 1948 headline from the Chicago Defender.