| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Fair Housing Inc. |
| Title: | Fair Housing Inc. Records, Series II |
| Dates: | 1962-1987 |
| Extent: | 1.40 linear feet (3 containers) |
| Abstract: | Fair Housing Inc. was a Cleveland, Ohio, licensed real estate brokerage firm incorporated in 1962 as a for-profit business venture. Its primary aim was to establish the principle of non-discrimination in the Greater Cleveland housing market. It assisted persons who had historically been denied housing because of race, religion, or national origin by offering affordable housing; promoting good community relations as a way to stabilize emerging mixed neighborhoods; and encouraging the dissolution of segregation patterns based on race, ethnicity, or religious background. The founding officers included Karl F. Bruch Jr., Dr. Winston Richie, and Russell Adrine. By 1971, federal and state governments had passed open housing legislation, and Fair Housing Inc. was dissolved. The collection consists of board of directors' and stockholders' records, including articles of incorporation, corporate dissolution records, financial records, agendas, correspondence, directors' information forms, committee rosters, memos, proposals, reports, minutes, broker reports, newsletters, newspaper clippings, loan records, shareholder proxies, reply cards, stock campaign records, shareholders' lists, and subject files. |
| MS Number | MS 4788 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Fair Housing Inc. (1962-1971) was a licensed real estate brokerage firm incorporated in 1962 as a for-profit business venture. Its primary aim was to establish the principle of non-discrimination in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, housing market. As a result, Fair Housing Incorporated (F. H. I.) refused real estate listings on properties in which restrictive covenants (deed clauses barring members of certain religious or racial backgrounds from purchasing property) existed, and it sought only listings that were available to all people regardless of racial, ethnic, religious, or cultural background. F. H .I.'s founding officers included Karl F. Bruch Jr., Dr. Winston Richie, and Russell Adrine. They shared the core belief that a free and democratic society is best served when equal opportunities are available to all people. The most viable neighborhoods, therefore, were those which contained ethnic, cultural and religious diversity.
The primary objectives of F. H. I. were to assist persons who had been historically denied housing because of race, religion or national origin by offering affordable housing; promoting good community relations as a way to stabilize emerging mixed neighborhoods; and encouraging the dissolution of segregation patterns based on race, ethnicity, or religious background.
By 1971 federal and state governments had passed legislation that promoted open housing and made discrimination in the housing industry virtually illegal. Because of the work of F. H. I. many Greater Cleveland neighborhoods began to desegregate voluntarily by this period. Thus, the very success of F. H. I. made its continued services unnecessary. In the same year stockholders voted to dissolve the corporation.
Fair Housing, Inc. Records, Series II, 1962-1987, consist of board of directors and stockholders' records, including articles of incorporation, corporate dissolution records, financial records, agendas, correspondence, directors' information forms, committee lists rosters, memos, proposals, reports, minutes, broker reports, newsletters, newspaper clippings, loan records, shareholder proxies, reply cards, stock campaign records, shareholders' lists and subject files.
This collection is valuable to researchers studying the history of fair housing practices in the United States and particularly in the greater Cleveland, Ohio, area. It documents social engineering in the form of managed integration promoted by a for-profit real estate venture. The collection sheds light on the decade of the 1960s as a critical period in the move toward fair housing practices, and it illustrates F. H. I.'s commitment to the principles of open housing prior to the implementation of state and federal legislation.
The collection also highlights patterns of housing discrimination existing in greater Cleveland neighborhoods during the 1960s and F. H. I.'s action plan to reverse what were believed to be negative housing trends in the African American community.
These records are of interest to researchers examining business hisory, particularly the real estate industry, and social policy history.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 3693 Fair Housing Inc. Records.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4788 Fair Housing Inc. Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Karl F. Bruch Jr., 1995
Processed by Sherlynn V. Allen-Harris in 1998
Series I: Board of Directors 1962-1987 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Articles of incorporation and code of regulations 1962-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Agendas and notices 1963-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence and notes, Karl F. Bruch Jr. 1964-1965 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, board-generated and miscellaneous 1962-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 5-6 | Financial records 1964-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Financial records, interim fund 1965-1967 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Financial records, loans 1965 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Information forms, rosters, and committee lists 1963-1969 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Legal documents, dissolution records 1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Memos, proposals, notes, and reports 1963-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Minutes of Executive Committee and Operations Policy Committee 1963-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Newsletters 1964-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Newspaper clippings 1963-1987 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Publication, Trends in Housing 1963-1970 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Reports (Broker) 1964-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Subject Files, articles, newsletters, newspaper clippings and pamphlets 1965-1984 undated | |||||||||
Series II: Stockholders' Records 1963-1968 undated |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Agenda and notices 1965-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Ballots, annual meetings 1964-1965 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Correspondence 1964-1966 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 21-22 | Lists (shareholders), A-Z 1964 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Minutes 1963 | |||||||||
| 1 | 24-28 | Proxy forms (Shareholders), A-Z 1964-1965 | |||||||||
| 1 | 29-32 | Reply cards (Shareholders), A-Z undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Signatures (shareholders) undated | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 2 | Shareholders certificate cards 1964 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Proxy cards 1966 | ||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 3 | Shareholders proxy cards 1966 | ||||||||||