Mapping Racially Restrictive Housing Covenants in Prince George's County

Abstract

Through their work with the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) commissioned this report from the university’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS). PALS works with local jurisdictions throughout Maryland to identify projects and problems that can be taught through university courses where students focus on developing innovative, research-based solutions. Racially restrictive housing covenants were common in Prince George’s County, Maryland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These practices have left a lasting legacy on the social landscape of the county. This project contributes to the historical understanding of racially restrictive covenants by reviewing of a sample dataset collected from the Maryland Land Records Grantor Index, deeds identified to contain restrictive covenants were recorded, and the property boundaries were mapped using a Geographic Information System (GIS). This enabled the textual documentation of these practices to be tied to their spatial location within Prince George’s County and outlined possible directions for future research.