In the 1930s, an attractive promotional booklet entitled “A Trip Through Meadowbrook” described a young and growing neighborhood. This is a must-read! Click any of the images below to get started, or click here to download the booklet in PDF format (2.5 MB).

While this promotional booklet speaks loudly to the pride of ownership that has been a hallmark of Meadowbrook since its first families moved in during the 1930s, it also provides several not-so-subtle call-backs to the restrictive racial covenant that encumbers every deed in the original Meadowbrook tract. Whenever you read a phrase such as “Restricted owner list, desirable neighbors,” you’re seeing a lightly-coded reference to the carefully-baked-in racism that is not only part of Rochester’s past but which continues to drive our segregated housing patterns to this day.

To learn more about the role that deed covenants such as these played in the segregation of Rochester, click here:
Meadowbrook and Rochester: Segregated by Design