In his critical essay “The Tyranny of the Map: Rethinking Redlining,” historian Robert Gioielli asserted that many people have developed a distorted view of the Residential Security Maps drafted by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC). Gioielli warned that HOLC maps often obscure the role of local actors in drafting and enforcing what are commonly known as “redlining maps.” He argued:
I fear that it’s become too easy to blame the architects of this system from a century ago, putting black hats on hundreds of faceless and nameless bureaucrats…emphasis on the federal sponsorship of the HOLC maps and segregationist residential policy masks how local private actors in every American city fully endorsed, sponsored, and assisted with the design and implementation of redlining policies.
Gioielli’s scholarly concern is certainly appreciated, however his analysis overlooks the fact that bureaucrats and realtors wrote their names on at least four HOLC maps. Additionally, local private actors are identified in the HOLC City Survey Files (Record Group 195) housed in the National Archives.
By examining archival evidence, Gioielli’s concern for telling a more complete story can be addressed. Historians can easily highlight HOLC’s local private partners. Gioielli seems to miss this when he argued: “our popular obsession with the HOLC map lets generations of local real estate agents, “hometown” banks, and property developers in every major American city off the hook.” Letting HOLC’s local partners off the hook is only a risk if scholars ignore the information documented on several maps and detailed in HOLC survey reports.
HOLC Redlining Evidence
While the final drafts of HOLC maps adhered to a standard typewritten format, rough drafts of HOLC maps feature insightful handwritten annotations. For instance, handwriting below the legend on the 1936 Metropolitan Cleveland Residential Security Map states that Ohio HOLC officials Fred W. Klefman (assistant state appraiser) and Irvin J. Glueck (chief district appraiser) prepared the map. HOLC field agent C. C. Boyd supervised and submitted their work.
More federal bureaucrats are revealed on the 1936 Greater Seattle HOLC map. Handwriting below the legend reads: “This map was prepared under supervision of E. G. Wendland, HOLC deputy state appraiser, Seattle, WN, working in conjunction with M. R. Pattison, chief valuator, Federal Housing Administration, Seattle, Washington.”
With regard to local private partners, HOLC detailed their participation in city survey reports. In survey reports for Milwaukee County and the Baltimore Area (shown below), HOLC provided the identities and affiliations of local private actors who helped prepare their Residential Security Maps.