Racial Covenants in Bloomington, Indiana
Item
Title
Racial Covenants in Bloomington, Indiana
Description
The Monroe County Recorder’s Office has been working on identifying racial covenants in deeds filed with their office, in partnership with the Monroe County History Center and the Geographic Information System Division.
Approximately 120 covenants have been identified to date, dating back to the 1920s. Most of the covenants relate to properties in the area immediately south of the Indiana University Bloomington campus, according to staff at the Recorder’s Office. This is painstaking work, as once a covenant is found, it is necessary to trace its existence through previous deeds to identify when the covenant was first inserted in the property deed.
When the project is ready to be launched, it will be available as a geographic information layer in the Monroe County Elevate Maps system.
These racial covenants are now unenforceable, but they undeniably shaped residential patterns in Bloomington. To learn more about racial covenants, we encourage you to visit the University of Minnesota Libraries “Mapping Prejudice” project, which shows how racial covenants shape patterns of race and privilege in the built environment.
The Monroe County Recorder’s Office also pointed out that Indiana now provides a means for homeowners to disclaim racial covenants if they exist in your property deed. Chapter 15 of the Indiana Code, added on April 1, 2021, by House Enrolled Act 1314, permits a person to file a statement or notice that a recorded discriminatory covenant is invalid and unenforceable. This reflects the 1947 Supreme Court decision in Shelley v Kraemer.
Approximately 120 covenants have been identified to date, dating back to the 1920s. Most of the covenants relate to properties in the area immediately south of the Indiana University Bloomington campus, according to staff at the Recorder’s Office. This is painstaking work, as once a covenant is found, it is necessary to trace its existence through previous deeds to identify when the covenant was first inserted in the property deed.
When the project is ready to be launched, it will be available as a geographic information layer in the Monroe County Elevate Maps system.
These racial covenants are now unenforceable, but they undeniably shaped residential patterns in Bloomington. To learn more about racial covenants, we encourage you to visit the University of Minnesota Libraries “Mapping Prejudice” project, which shows how racial covenants shape patterns of race and privilege in the built environment.
The Monroe County Recorder’s Office also pointed out that Indiana now provides a means for homeowners to disclaim racial covenants if they exist in your property deed. Chapter 15 of the Indiana Code, added on April 1, 2021, by House Enrolled Act 1314, permits a person to file a statement or notice that a recorded discriminatory covenant is invalid and unenforceable. This reflects the 1947 Supreme Court decision in Shelley v Kraemer.