"Skyline Looking Toward Lake Michigan, Chicago, 1940s" (Newberry Library 1940s)
The World War II era could have been a major turning point for residential segregation in Chicago, as it was marked by the NAACP’s efforts to outlaw restrictive covenants and Black Chicagoans attempts to seek better housing opportunities. While the consequent outlawing of restrictive covenants appeared to break a major barrier in the struggle for better housing for African Americans, it did little to prevent private institutions and organizations from continuing practices of residential segregation through the rest of the 20th century. Resultantly, private institutions became the most influential tool in maintaining the residential segregation that made Chicago one of the most racially segregated cities in the nation.
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