Shelterforce | National Archives
Few people concerned with racial equality and the effects of racism on American cities are not familiar with the maps created by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the late 1930s. In recent years, those maps have been repeatedly singled out as a major, or even the major driving force behind today’s patterns of urban racial inequity, whether measured in terms of housing quality, environmental conditions, or health disparities.