This map from the 1941 Annual Report of the Detroit Housing Commission was an omen of things to come. Detroit’s black population was forced (racism, segregation, and redlining) to live in areas deemed “slums.” Properties were dilapidated due to negligent landlords and overcrowded as a result of racially restrictive housing.

This map is an important reference point to the “urban renewal” of the 1950s that displaced thousands of Detroit’s black residents. As the “slums” were removed, black residents’ only options were the new housing projects, which today you can watch being torn down.