Racial Restrictive Covenants Project: February 2025 Updates
Upcoming Public Events
On Wednesday, March 5th the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project will join Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park and other local historians for an evening of historical exploration in Issaquah, Washington. This event was rescheduled from early February due to hazardous weather.
This is the first event in the Lakeside Lecture series co-hosted by the Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership (UWRP) and Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park (FLSSP) and will take place from 6 PM - 9 PM at Formula Brewing near downtown Issaquah.
The public is encouraged to attend, and registration is encouraged, but not required. Follow THIS link to register.
Formula Brewing: 1875 NW Poplar Way, Issaquah, WA 98027
On Saturday, March 8th our team will join the Shoreline Historical Museum from 2 PM - 3:30 PM at the Lake Forest Park Library for a lecture on Seattle’s local history of racial segregation, and our current research on racial restrictive covenants. This event is free to attend and no registration is necessary.
Lake Forest Park Library: 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
Recent Presentations
In February the Racial Restrictive Covenants project presented to classes at Everett Community College and Seattle University, and provided Zooniverse training for students interested in getting involved with our research. The team also presented for ARCH (A Regional Coalition for Housing), a partnership that preserves and establishes affordable housing in East King County, Kirkland, Redmond, and Bellvue.
Thank You Zooniverse Volunteers!
The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project has received volunteer support from over 1,900 community members registered on Zooniverse. These volunteers have helped us complete document classifications for counties across Washington State and are an essential part of our ongoing research and outreach efforts. In February alone our volunteers helped classify more than 1,800 new documents. We are incredibly thankful for this support!
Volunteers looking to get involved NOW can help our team classify potential racial restrictions in Franklin County, located in Eastern Washington. To get started, create a profile on Zooniverse HERE, and closely follow the task instructions.
2,000 Additional Restrictions Identified in Snohomish County
Using refined OCR searching techniques, our team identified 2,000 new restricted parcels in Snohomish County. This brings the total number of identified restrictions in the county from 4,200 to nearly 7,000. We are conducting similar searches throughout Western Washington, and anticipate classifying additional restrictions in other countries.
Follow THIS link to explore the updated map of restrictions in Snohomish County.
Short Virtual Presentation Now Available!
To date the project has identified nearly 80,000 restricted properties in hundreds of neighborhoods across Washington state, where racist deed restrictions prevented people of color from owning, renting, or occupying homes. This 23-minute video explains the methods and findings of the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project and discusses the continuing impacts of state-sponsored segregation in King County.
The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project is committed to discovering and teaching about the history of housing discrimination in Washington state. The project conducts outreach events for various organizations from corporations to churches to community groups to schools. To coordinate an event with the project, contact the project via email: wacovenants@gmail.com.
To learn more about the history of racially restrictive covenants in Washington state, check out the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project website, subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram.