On Thursday, October 30 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm the Sawyer Free Library welcomes Andrew DeFranza, Executive Director, and Nancy Sanchez, Advocacy & Education Manager at Harborlight Homes to discuss their role in the Dirty Deeds Project. 

The Dirty Deeds Project is a collaboration between Harborlight Homes, the NAACP North Shore Branch, and the Mapping Prejudice Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Together, the partners examined property records in Southern Essex County and identified 407 deeds containing racially restrictive covenants, later confirmed as 390 after duplicates were removed.

Racial covenants were once a widespread practice used to exclude people from homeownership based on race, ethnicity, or religion. These clauses were written directly into property deeds and included language such as:

“The granted premises shall not be sold, mortgaged or leased to or occupied by persons of negro blood.” — Marblehead

“Said premises shall not be conveyed to or occupied by a colored person.” — Beverly

“The premises … shall not be owned or occupied by any person of Negro, Jewish, Italian, Greek, Polish or Armenian blood.” — Nahant

Although no longer enforceable, the presence of these covenants in the historical record continues to send a harmful message to those they targeted.

The project not only documents this discriminatory history but also advances solutions. Harborlight Homes and its partners are supporting Senator Lydia Edwards’ bill (HD.4087/SD.720, An Act Providing for the Removal of Void Restrictive Covenants), which seeks to remove such language from property records across Massachusetts.

By uncovering and addressing this history, The Dirty Deeds Project works toward building more inclusive and equitable communities.

Please register for the event at sawyerfreelibrary.org.