Overview

Scope and Content

Collection consists of forty-eight quarterly reports created by the City of Dallas Housing Department to track the progress of the Walker Consent Decree as well as the court opinion, consent decree booklets, report of accomplishments, and the motion final settlement.

On June 25, 1985, Debra Walker, a resident in Dallas public housing, filed a class action lawsuit against the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for a "separate and unequal housing system" that racially segregated public housing projects.  At the time, "92% of black households in the DHA system were concentrated into black neighborhoods where the poverty rate exceeded 40 percent."  Conditions for these units were considered inferior to those of low-income whites that received HUD assistance.

The case was brought before the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, where federal Judge Jerry Buchmeyer approved a Consent Decree that ordered the DHA to desegregate public housing.  Within twenty days of the decree, a suit was filed against the DHA for violating the agreement when it refused to integrate housing in West Dallas.  On September 24, 1990, the US District Court for the Northern District approved an agreement negotiated between the city and plaintiffs in the lawsuit Walker et al. vs. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.  This deal set out a series of programs and activities to be implemented by the City of Dallas over an eight-year period at an approximate cost of $188 million.  Remedies were implemented between 1990 and 2003, and a final judgment ending the case was granted by Judge Buchmeyer on August 12, 2003.

Organization

The collection is arranged first by subject then by date.

Access

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives.  All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.  The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Citation

Walker et al. vs. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, et al. Records, 1990-2003 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Materials

Collection 1995-014—Citizens Surveys [Housing], 1980 and 1983
Collection 1992-023—Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, 1991-1996
Collection 1991-070—Fairland Annex Segregated Housing Materials, 1920
Collection 1995-011—Report on the Task Force on Public Housing, 1983

Index Terms

Dallas -- Texas -- History
Dallas (Tex.). Housing Dept.
Housing -- Texas -- Dallas

Container List