Mapping Inequality

Mapping Inequality updates the study of New Deal America, the federal government, housing, and inequality for the twenty-first century. Mapping Inequality brings one of the country's most important archives to the public. HOLC's documents contain a wealth of information about how government officials, lenders, and real estate interests surveyed and ensured the economic health of American cities. It offers unprecedented online access to the national collection of 'security maps' and area descriptions produced between 1935 and 1940 by one of the New Deal's most important agencies, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation or HOLC (pronounced 'holk'). To view the data visualizations of security maps throughout the United States and for more information on New Deal America, HOLC, and redlining practices, visit https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/ Through the collection presented here, project researchers are providing access to some of the digital tools and interactive resources they are using in their own research, in the hope that the public will be able to understand the effects of federal housing policy and local implementation in their own communities. These materials include scans of HOLC security maps (.jpeg); HOLC security maps adjusted to reflect geogrpahic coordinates, called georectified maps here (a bundle of 4-5 files including .tfw, .tif, .tif.aux.xml, .tif.ovr, .tif.xml); digital map materials (a shapefile bundle of 5 files including .cpg, .dbf, .prj, .shp, .shx); and images of area descriptions (.jpeg). Georectified map and Shapefile bundle files are made for use in ArcGIS. The files are organized by city; see the ReadMe file for a detailed outline and description of files included in the data collection.