Trinity College students enrolled in Professor Jack Dougherty’s “Cities, Suburbs & Schools” seminar collaborated with the ConnecticutHistory.org team during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. The students researched the history of housing and education inequalities in the Hartford area. Then, they prepared entries for ConnecticutHistory.org. This involved a series of draft revisions as the students worked to meet our shared criteria for sound historical methodology, clarity of expression, and use of multi-media documentation to engage online audiences. Here’s what some of the 2012-13 authors had to say about how this collaboration enhanced their learning experience.

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In addition to serving as an ever-expanding state history resource, ConnecticutHistory.org, a program of Connecticut Humanities, is a collaborative endeavor dedicated to promoting historical thinking.

Contributions from Our Trinity College Authors

Race Restrictive Covenants in Property Deeds by Mary Daly

“No persons of any race except the white race shall use or occupy any building on any lot… .” Language such as this still appears in Hartford-area housing covenants today.

Connecticut Takes the Wheel on Education Reform: Project Concern by Amanda Gurren

As one of the earliest voluntary busing programs in the US, Project Concern sought to address educational inequalities.

The Effects of “Redlining” on the Hartford Metropolitan Region by Shaun McGann

Historical data reveals long-term patterns of inequality that can be traced back to now-illegal practices adopted by federal and private lenders in the 1930s.

The Debate Over Who Could Occupy World War II Public Housing in West Hartford  by Emily Meehan

In the 1940s, African American war workers eligible for government-funded housing found access restricted to some properties despite vacancies.

Sheff v. O’Neill Settlements Target Educational Segregation In Hartford by Brigit Rioual

This landmark case not only drew attention to inequalities in area school systems, it focused efforts on reform.

Education/Instrucción Combats Housing Discrimination by Savahna Reuben

This group’s bilingual name reflected its educational mission as well as its dedication to unified, multicultural cooperation for the common good.

Five Minutes that Changed Connecticut: Simon Bernstein and the 1965 Connecticut Education Amendment  by Elaina Rollins

“There shall always be free public elementary and secondary schools in the state. The general assembly shall implement this principle by appropriate legislation.”

How Real Estate Practices Influenced the Hartford Region’s Demographic Makeup by Nicole Sagullo

Persistent segregation is the historic legacy of steering and blockbusting, two discriminatory tactics that played a role in shaping suburban neighborhoods.

Hartford’s Great Migration through Charles S. Johnson’s Eyes by Victoria Smith Ellison

During the Great Migration of the early 1900s, African Americans from the rural South relocated to Hartford and other Northern cities in search of better prospects.