Transcribe Covenants

We need your help to identify and transcribe details of racially-restrictive covenants within thousands of Washtenaw County property records. This information will allow us to better understand how these covenants were used as racist tools of housing segregation and discrimination, and how we can repair the harms they perpetrated.

We’ve partnered with Mapping Prejudice at the University of Minnesota Library for this project, and we’re using the Zooniverse crowdsourcing platform.

Getting Started in Two Steps

Step 1: Register for a Zooniverse Account

You’ll need a Zooniverse account to participate, so make sure to sign up for one before getting started. Usernames are required for transcriptions to be counted, as they help ensure accurate information to help us better understand and map these documents.

Step 2: Start Transcribing!

Head over to the Mapping Prejudice Zooniverse project and scroll down until you see the Washtenaw County, MI button. Click on that to get started transcribing Washtenaw County property records.

This project is best done on a desktop, laptop, or tablet, as the information can be very hard to read on a smartphone.

You can transcribe at your own pace if you’d like, or join Justice InDeed team members for online and in-person community transcription sessions. Check out our Events page to find one you can join.

If you are a student looking to contribute volunteer hours for service learning or extra credit, please visit this page for details on how you can work with Justice InDeed to do so.

If you’d like to arrange an in-person transcription session with the Justice InDeed team for your organization, neighborhood association, class, or other group, please email justiceindeedmi [at] umich.edu.

The video below walks you step-by-step through the process of transcribing racial covenants and other important information from Washtenaw County property records.