Undesign the Redline Exhibit

About the Exhibit

A wide variety of community partners (listed below) collaborated to bring Undesign the Redline to Winston-Salem, an exhibit on our deep local and national history of redlining.

The interactive curriculum explored the history of racism and inequality, reflecting how these concepts were compounded by and reflected in 1938 redlining maps. We also focused in on Winston-Salem's own redlining history and why our own city's physical layout evolved in the way it did.

The term redlining comes from a series of maps that the federal government commissioned for 239 U.S. cities in the 1930s, including one created for Winston-Salem. The color-coded maps show those areas that the government recommended were most prime for investment (green), and other areas where money should not be loaned (red), with blue and yellow areas valued in between.

While the exhibit has now closed, you can watch the opening night remarks and FOX8 segment as well as read this article in The Chronicle. To read a conversation between two staff members who were deeply involved with the exhibit, check out our blog post.

Watch a virtual guided tour and sneak peek below to see what the exhibit was all about.

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RESOURCES FOR CONTINUED LEARNING

• Read Umbrellas Don’t Make it Rain: Why Studying and Working Hard Isn’t Enough for Black Americans
• Read the Undesign the Redline Bibliography
• Read 'Reparations in the housing space.' Plan in Virginia would help families hurt by past housing policy
• Read The Lending Hole at the Bottom of the Homeownership Market, a study from Winston-Salem State University's Center for Social and Economic Mobility
• Watch Segregated by Design to learn more about the history of redlining:

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Community Partners

Many community partners have collaborated to make this exhibit possible. You can learn more about each group below.

• African American Heritage Initiative
  Cultural Heritage & Arts; Housing; Historic Preservation
• Alpha Pi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
  Advocacy & Community Organizing; Cultural Heritage & Arts; Educational Equity; Community Development

• Asset Building Coalition of Forsyth County, Inc.
  Asset Building; Advocacy & Community Organizing; Business Ownership; Economic Development  ‍
• Black Philanthropy Initiative of Winston-Salem
  Educational Equity; Asset Building ‍
• Bookmarks
  Literacy; Cultural Heritage & Arts; Educational Equity ‍
• Delta Art Center
  Cultural Heritage & Arts ‍
• Dignity Justified, LLC
  Cultural Heritage & Arts; Educational Equity  ‍
• Experiment in Self-Reliance
  Housing; Social Services; Economic Development; Asset Building
• Forsyth County Public Library
  Cultural Heritage & Arts; Literacy; Educational Equity; Community Development‍
• Forsyth Futures
  Data & Research; Asset Building; Educational Equity ‍

• HUSTLE Winston-Salem
  Asset Building; Advocacy & Community Organizing; Business Ownership; Economic Development  ‍
• Kate B Reynolds Charitable Trust
  Philanthropy ‍
• MUSE Winston-Salem
  Cultural Heritage & Arts ‍
• Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods
  Advocacy & Community Organizing; Community Development; Asset Building; Cultural Heritage & Arts ‍
• North Carolina Employee Ownership Center
  Asset Building; Business Ownership; Economic Development; Worker Rights ‍
• Partnership for Prosperity
  Asset Building; Housing; Advocacy & Community Organizing; Community Development ‍
• Spatial Justice Studio
  Data & Research; Environmental Justice; Spatial Justice
• The Freedom Tree at IDR
  Community Organizing, Training, and Advocacy

• Triad Cultural Arts, Inc.
  Cultural Heritage & Arts
• Wake Forest University Center for Private Business
  Business Ownership; Economic Development; Community Development

• Winston-Salem African American Archive
  Cultural Heritage & Arts
• Winston-Salem Human Relations Department
  Fair Housing Enforcement; Anti-Discrimination Policy; Civic Engagement