A typed copy of a racial restriction on a deed. The relevant language is highlighted in yellow.
While many people seen as not white were targeted, African Americans were most often singled out for deed restriction discrimination.
When Holly Cho, a homeowner in Madison’s Eastmorland neighborhood and president of the Eastmorland Community Association, learned her house's deed contained discriminatory language, she was inspired to take action.
“I felt kind of excited about the opportunity to redress something myself, " she says. “This is something in my own backyard.”
Cho discovered the language through “Unjust Deeds: The History of Racial Covenants in Dane County and Beyond,” a traveling exhibit featuring 14 informational banners that chronicle the development and impact of racially restrictive covenants, locally and nationwide. Dane County Historical Society first presented “Unjust Deeds” at the Monona Public Library in February 2025. It’s currently at the Sun Prairie Library through June 16.
“Unjust Deeds” got its start in 2022, when Rick Bernstein, executive director of the Dane County Historical Society, came across Prejudice in Places, an initiative led by Dane County Planning and Development to track and record the presence of discriminatory housing deeds.
Those deeds often contained racial covenants, a common tool used through much of the 20th century to racially restrict home sales and segregate residential neighborhoods. Racial covenants would often appear as a single line or two in a land deed, prohibiting the property from being sold to people who were not white. Bernstein, an historian himself, was intrigued by this aspect of the county’s history.
“It really drew me in,” he says. “It's something we have to reckon with. Covenants are no longer legal, but they're still having a tremendous impact in terms of residential racial segregation.”
Dane County Historical Society worked closely with Bridgit Van Belleghem, a senior planner for Dane County, to promote opportunities for residents to take action.
The exhibit has been supported by funding from the Dane County Library Service, the Evjue Foundation and Dane Arts. Additionally, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Wisconsin Real Estate Association, Dane County residents can formally denounce the discriminatory language on their housing deeds by filing a Discharge and Release of Discriminatory Restriction Affecting Real Property through the county, free. Usually, there’s a $30 filing fee. So far, the county has used around $6,500 of that grant money, and around 200 deed denouncements have been filed, Van Belleghem says.
“Anybody who comes to file a denouncement is so pleased that we can do this,” she says. While Van Belleghem acknowledges the action is symbolic, she’s seen firsthand how meaningful the process has been to homeowners across the county.
Van Belleghem has led much of the county’s outreach efforts around the recording of racial covenants, including developing the interactive map that allows residents to see if their property’s deed contains discriminatory language.The county has identified more than 1,000 discriminatory documents that affect around 4,000 properties across Dane County. In these documents, one can find language drafted to exclude non-white residents, often specifically African Americans, from owning properties.
One housing deed for a property near the UW-Madison Arboretum reads, “None of said lots will be conveyed to, used, owned, nor occupied by Negros as owners or tenants.” Another, on Madison’s north side, states “only members of the caucasian race shall use or occupy any dwellings, except in that this shall not prevent occupancy of domestic servants of a different race employed by an owner or tenant.” Deeds in another area, off Irish Lane in Fitchburg, prohibit selling to “any Jew, Italian, Negro or member of the yellow race.”
Filing a denouncement doesn’t redact the original discriminatory language on the deed; it remains after filing. Some historians, including Bernstein, favor keeping the original language on the deeds to preserve the historical record.
“If they had all been expunged, nobody would be able to tell the history of them, or the impact,” Bernstein says. “We can't just make believe it didn't happen.”
Rick Bernstein
The exhibit consists of multiple rectangular posters, floor-mounted, taller than people. Shown here in the City County building.
The exhibit has travelled around Dane County.
When Eastmorland’s Cho learned the “Unjust Deeds” exhibit would be coming to Pinney Library in April, she and the community association organized an event on April 4, during which residents could file denouncements at the library. (Otherwise, a brief appointment in person or virtually with the county is required.) The event, paired with a presentation from Bernstein, drew a robust crowd and Van Belleghem helped 36 attendees file denouncements.
For Cho, seeing her neighbors turn out to file denouncements felt encouraging.
“It's heartening that there are lots of people in this neighborhood who think it's troubling enough to take time out of their day to do that,” she says. “It does matter.”
On June 4, the Dane County Historical Society will host an educational session at the Sun Prairie library, led by Bernstein, on racial covenants. The event will include the opportunity for attendees to file denouncements.
Van Belleghem and Bernstein are also working on bringing the exhibit to the City-County Building for Juneteenth; details are still being confirmed. They aim to organize more community engagement opportunities with county residents to reach more homeowners eligible to file a denouncement.
Any organizations or individuals interested in hosting the “Unjust Deeds” exhibit can contact The Dane County Historical Society at danecountyhistory@gmail.com. Any organizations or individuals interested in hosting a denouncement event can contact Dane County Planning and Development at plandev@danecounty.gov.
