The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project involves research teams at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University working to identify racial restrictions buried in property records. These (no-longer) legally-enforced restrictions were used to prevent people who were not white from buying, renting, or occupying property. In May 2021, the legislature passed HB 1335 charging us with identifying neighborhoods covered by racist deed provisions across the State of Washington. To date the project has located documents covering over 65,000 properties. To do so we have examined more than 7 million property records, many through digital processes, but others requiring visual examination. We have been helped by more that 1,300 volunteers.
Interactive map shows King County restrictions covering more than 44,000 properties
The project has a longer history that began in 2004. As part of the Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project at the University of Washington we began an investigation of racial restrictive covenants and other tools of segregation in Seattle and its suburbs. This was the first significant effort in any major city in the United States and as we published initial results it drew attention, both in news media and from the Washington legislature which passed in 2006 the first of four state laws inspired by our findings. That initial project also inspired similar projects at universities and in cities across the country.
James Gregory is a Professor of History and director of the UW Racial Restrictive Covenants Project which is part of the Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at the University of Washington. His prize-winning books and many articles focus on American labor, civil rights, and migration history, as well as the Pacific Northwest. He has been researching the history of segregation in Seattle and Washington State since 2005.
Sophia Dowling has been with the project since 2021. As project manager she oversees research, data development, outreach, and other activities. Sophia is a recent graduate of the University of Washington, majoring in both History and the Comparative History of Ideas.
Amanda Miller is pursuing dual master's degree in Library Information Science and Public History from Wayne State University. She worked as a research associate for the Racial Restrictive Covenants and Mapping American Social Movements projects as an undergraduate at UW and has recently rejoined the team as project manager, overseeing research, data development, outreach, and other activities. .
Nicholas Boren has handled programming and technology for the project since 2021. He developed the computer programs that search for racial restrictions in millions of property records that Washington County Auditors have made available. Nicholas graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Informatics in 2024.
Wu handles programming and technology for the project. He is currently a senior at UW studying computer science, in his free time he likes to play strategy card games, sit in a cabin in the mountain (one with internet), and spend time with his partner at home.
Jamala Henderson is a part-time radio announcer and independent communications professional living in Seattle.
Sophie Belz graduated from the University of Washington in 2024 with a degree in History and minor in Labor Studies. As a research associate she is involved in research, data management, and community outreach.
Isabel Smith is a student at the University of Washington studying Journalism and Political Science with a focus on American Politics. Their academic interests include community journalism, social and environmental justice, and Asian American communities and their history. As a research associate, they are involved in research, data management, and community outreach.
Liz Peng is a PhD student in the Geography Department UW with concentrations in queer and feminist geography, critical GIS, and space, technology & society. Their research focuses on AI and representation in digital space. As a GIS specialist, they are involved in the design and development of the new and updated ArcGIS maps and dashboards.
Eric Johnson is Director of Technical Services and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of History
David Cunningham is a student at the University of Washington intending to major in Accounting with a minor in Korean. As research associate he was involved in research, data management, and community outreach.
Samantha Cutts graduated in 2023 from the University of Washington where she majored in history and international studies. As research associate she was involved in research, data management, and community outreach.
Erin Miller graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Law, Societies, and Justice with a minor in Informatics. As research associate she was involved in research, data management, and community outreach.
Alvin Bui earned his PhD at the University of Washington in 2024 and is currently an Assistant Professor of History at Brooklyn College (CCNY). As project coordinator, Alvin designed the ArcGis maps featured on this site, while helping to manage other aspects of the project.
Jazzlynn Woods is a recent graduate from the University of Washington. She majored in history, and minored in Comparative History of Ideas, and Law, Societies, and Justice. She was the first student to join the project and became Senior Research Associate in 2022, coordinating community engagement and volunteer training as well as data management and research.
Madison Heslop is an assistant professor at the Western Washington University. She served as project coordinator in the initial year of the project.
Dr. Larry Cebula is a public historian. He is a Professor of History at Eastern Washington University and the Assistant Digital Archivist at the Washington State Archives, Digital Archives. His publications include Plateau Indians and the Quest for Spiritual Power (Nebraska, 2003) and Nearby History, Exploring the Past Around You 4th ed. (Rowan and Littlefield, 2020). He is the editor of SpokaneHistorical.org, a website and smartphone app for regional history. Cebula’s doctorate is from the College of William and Mary, where he is the only PhD candidate to have mastered the Kobayashi-Maru scenario.
Tara Kelly is trained as a Sociocultural Anthropologist. While a proud native Washingtonian (BA, Anthropology U. WA), she also had the opportunity to earn her doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of Oxford. Her academic research focused on ethnomedicine and ethnobotany in West Africa (Cameroon). In addition to multiple years of international fieldwork research, Tara has conducted applied research for Seattle and Spokane based nonprofits and consulting firms specializing in equitable and accessible healthcare for diverse and vulnerable communities.
Logan Camporeale is a Historic Preservation Specialist with the city of Spokane’s Historic Preservation Office. He graduated with an MA in History from Eastern Washington University, where he also completed a two-year graduate assistantship at the Washington State Archives’ Digital Archives. Logan previously served as a Historian and Volunteer Coordinator for the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture. Logan spearheaded this important research and project on segregated housing policies in mid-century Spokane.
Josué Q. Estrada is an Assistant Professor of History at Central Washington University. He researches and writes about the Latino/a voting rights movement in the Pacific Northwest. He is a contributor/coordinator with the Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project and the Mapping American Social Movements Project. He earned his PhD from the University of Washington’s Department of History program.
Ulysis Cruz–Antonio is a History graduate student and teaching assistant at Central Washington University (CWU). His field of study is twentieth century U.S. history, with an emphasis on U.S. empire, race, and migration. He previously earned his BA from CWU, where he Majored in History and Minored in Religious Studies.
Rachael Low is a senior History Major at Eastern Washington. Her Historical interests are in World War II History and Asian American History. Rachael is considering a grad degree in Museum Studies and wants to work as a collection manager.
Zachary Welsh is a senior History major at Eastern Washington University. His historical interests center on ancient scientific innovations and technologies. Additionally, Zach is an avid collector of rare 19th century scientific and linguistic books. Zach is considering an MA in History and a career as an archivist.
Colton Schons is an award-winning History major at the University of Washington from Spokane, WA. He has research interests in historiography and philosophy of history, 19th century European and American social and environmental history, and Jewish studies.
We are grateful to the wonderful team at Mapping Prejudice (University of Minnesota). They have generously shared software, advice, and direct assistance as we build our project. Thanks to Kirsten Delgard, Penny Peterson, and Michael Corey. Additional thanks to Justin Schell, Director of the Shapiro Design Lab (University of Michigan) who built, tested, and trained us on the Zooniverse tool we are using to confirm and record documents containing racist restrictions. Zooniverse.org is a citizen science web portal owned and operated by the Citizen Science Alliance. It is home to some of the Internet's largest, most popular and most successful citizen science projects. Millions of volunteers from around the world have helped with projects like ours.
Contact us at wacovenants@gmail.com
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