As part of The VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL 2018 - May 23-28, we invite you to participate to 

INVISIBLE WALLS: a public crowdsourcing effort to document Restrictive Covenants & Residential Segregation in Portland

In the early to mid-20thcentury restrictive covenants (rules) prevented people of color, particularly African Americans, from buying and owning property in certain Portland neighborhoods.   This racist history is hidden in tens of thousands of title deeds. We need your help unearthing them.

Become a history detective and join a collective effort to uncover Portland's history of housing segregation!

What can you do? Meet Portland State University students at the festival so you can:

• Learn about this history and the long-term effects of housing discrimination.
• Receive guidance to discover if your title deeds have a restrictive covenant
• Bring your title deeds with restrictive covenant so we can digitize them, and add them to the growing database
• Add your own discoveries, questions, and stories to help us amplify this silenced history.

For info: Greta Smith, greta@vanportmosaic.org

This mapping effort is a collaboration between The City of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, the Portland Housing Bureau, Portland State University, and the Vanport Mosaic.