Learn the history. Understand the stories.
Transform your community.
Why are communities like Dayton so often racially segregated? How did our neighborhoods form the way they did? And how does this affect employment, education, policing, health care, and other aspects of life?
Undesign the Redline is an important, visually compelling exhibit that traces the tangled roots of governmental policies to the social issues we face today. Undesign the Redline ignites discussion about race, wealth, opportunity, and power, with the goal of transforming the future.
Redlining maps were introduced in the 1930s to show risk areas for federal funding of home ownership programs. These maps showed areas that were prime for investment, and areas where no money would be lent. The neighborhoods where no investment would be made were outlined in red, literally “redlined.”
Race was the primary factor in determining where these zones were drawn. Residents of these areas were often unable to access housing loans, mortgages, and other financial services. Left with fewer housing and employment opportunities, shrinking tax bases in these areas also led to insufficient public services and concentrated poverty.
Meanwhile, investment poured into rapidly expanding, whiter suburbs. Owning property enabled families in these communities to accrue wealth over time, while also accessing better-funded schools, jobs and healthcare.
Redlining is how structural racism was designed into cities - a practice which continued legally into the 1970s, and continues to have ramifications today.
CareSource • Cox First Media
The Dayton Foundation
Dayton Metro Library
Evans Motor Group
Fifth Third Bank
Key Bank
Learn to Earn Dayton
Mathile Family Foundation
Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission
Montgomery County Educational Services Center
PNC • Premier Health
Sinclair Community College
StriveTogether
Trotwood-Madison City School District
University of Dayton
Wright State University
Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services
City of Dayton
Clark County Public Library
Consumer Credit Counseling Center
DATV
Dayton Children’s Hospital
Dayton Human Relations Council
Home Ownership Center
Omega Community Development Corporation
ThinkTV • Wittenberg University
August 6 - September 25,
Dayton Metro Library
October 2021,
University of Dayton
November 2021,
Sinclair Community College
January 2022,
Trotwood-Madison City School District
February 2022,
Wright State University
March 2022,
Dayton Metro Library, West Branch
April 2022,
The HUB powered by PNC at the Dayton Arcade
Programming enhancements at the Library were funded in part by the Friends of the Library, the Dayton Metro Library Foundation, the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) with funds granted through the State Library of Ohio, along with support from The Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District, administered by Culture Works.