A Redlined Story
BRONZEVILLE
The story of a community destroyed — and rebuilt
Chapter 1
The Arrival
In the early 1900s, Black workers fleeing the Jim Crow South arrived in Milwaukee. By 1940, nearly 21,000 African Americans had settled into a 12-block area known as Bronzeville — constrained not by choice, but by law and custom.
“Nearly 21,000 African Americans settled in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville between 1900–1950.”
“Milwaukee is the most highly segregated city in the United States.”
Chapter 2
Walnut Street
Walnut Street was Milwaukee’s Black Main Street. Willie Jones Billiards, Miss Lulu’s Dry Goods, De Reef & Dorsey Lawyers. Jazz clubs where musicians held court every night. A complete, self-sufficient world — built because the wider city refused entry.
“That was where the Black Jazz, the Black musicians, and the Black audience hung out.”
— Adekola Adedapo
“Walnut Street was Milwaukee’s Black business district with dozens of Black-owned establishments.”
“Jazz served as a cultural bridge between Black and white communities, but urban renewal disrupted this potential.”
“Mapped timelines of Black commercial and cultural development in Bronzeville.”
Chapter 3
Stamped Hazardous
In 1938, federal appraisers arrived and stamped Bronzeville “D” — Hazardous. The appraiser’s description: “This is the Negro and slum area of Milwaukee.” With that grade, an entire community was cut off from federally backed mortgages, the primary engine of American wealth-building.
“Home values, ownership rates, and incomes in non-redlined areas were continuously higher than redlined areas across all four time points: 1950, 1970, 1990, and 2010.”
“Class IV Areas (D-grade HOLC zones) were designated for “substantial clearance and redevelopment” in the 1960s — the grades became a demolition blueprint.”
Chapter 4
The Invisible Wall
The grading didn’t act alone. Racial covenants — legal clauses forbidding sale to non-white buyers — blanketed the county. 32,219 were filed, 71% in the 1920s alone. The National Association of Real Estate Boards’ Code of Ethics directed agents not to introduce “members of any race or nationality” into neighborhoods. Bronzeville wasn’t just marked — it was walled in.
“Restrictive covenants and redlining set the city on a segregated track that is incredibly difficult to break.”
— Rep. Evan Goyke
“The Realtor Code of Ethics (1928–1955) explicitly directed realtors not to introduce ‘members of any race or nationality’ into neighborhoods.”
“The continuation of white neighborhood resistance, racist real estate practices, and federal redlining assured that slums would continue to be created.”
Chapter 5
The Bulldozers
In the 1960s, the city routed Interstate 43 directly through Bronzeville’s heart. Walnut Street’s commercial district was demolished. Thousands of families were displaced. The same D-grade maps that denied mortgages became the blueprint for urban renewal’s bulldozers — Class IV Areas were designated for “substantial clearance and redevelopment.”
“Interstates were routed right down to the African American communities. Tore at the fabric of the community.”
— Paul Geenen
“Urban renewal resulted in the wholesale destruction of black neighborhoods, wiping away important areas of residential, economic and cultural development.”
“Milwaukee used federal urban renewal funds to continue racist policies of neighborhood segregation and containment. More homes were destroyed than rebuilt.”
“Jazz clubs were direct casualties of I-43 highway construction — Jimmy Mack’s Main Event relocated twice before closing in 2002.”
Chapter 6
The Sound of Absence
Jimmy Mack’s Main Event — forced to relocate twice by highway construction before closing in 2002. Jazz wasn’t just entertainment in Bronzeville. It was the sound of community, a bridge between Black and white Milwaukee. Urban renewal didn’t just demolish buildings. It silenced the music.
“The African American community in Milwaukee was in a constant state of reappraisal, adjustment, and ultimately improvisational living.”
— Barbera, 2012
“African American migration, urban renewal, and deindustrialization combined to push jazz out of the Black community.”
“Black male employment in Milwaukee dropped from 73.4% (1970) to 44.7% (2010).”
Chapter 7
What Remains
Since 2005, D-grade zones have lost 7,349 buildings. A-grade zones lost 39. Zone D6 alone: 2,116 demolished — 54 times more than all A-grade zones combined. Population density dropped from 24,430 per square mile in 1940 to 8,300 by 2010. The ghost buildings you see are what absence looks like.
“I-43 highway destroyed Bronzeville, pushing displaced residents into Garfield Park (renamed Harambee).”
“K-3 (predominantly African American) was cleared as a ‘slum’; adjacent Midtown (white) was ‘conserved’ — same federal program, opposite outcomes by race.”
Chapter 8
Still Here
But the community persists. Displaced from Bronzeville, African Americans organized Harambee — Swahili for “let’s pull together” — the quintessential example of Black agency in urban renewal. Today, the 1938 map still predicts outcomes: 2.7× income gap, 73% higher lending discrimination, infant mortality 3× higher. Milwaukee is America’s most segregated metro. The grades were supposed to be temporary. The damage was not.
“African Americans organized community-driven renewal in Harambee — ‘the quintessential example’ of Black agency in urban renewal.”
“Milwaukee has emerged as the epitome of a 21st century racial regime: a metropolis of entrenched segregation and racial inequality.”
“The gap between Grade A and Grade D neighborhoods widened over time, not narrowed, despite civil rights legislation.”
The Lines Remain
2.7×
A-to-D income gap
73%
higher lending discrimination
3×
infant mortality gap
#1
most segregated metro
Sources
Barbera (2012), Chang & Smith (2016), Honer (2015), Lynch et al. (2021), Niemuth (2014), Paulson et al. (2016), Milwaukee African Americans (City of Milwaukee), Hood Design Studio (2024), Black Heritage in Milwaukee.