Desegregation of Community Clubs

In 1965, Paul Sullivan rented a house to Theodore R. Freeman Jr. and transferred a Little Hunting Park (LHP) membership as part of the lease. The LHP board denied the transfer in part because the Freeman family was African American. After Sullivan mounted a vigorous campaign of protest, the board also revoked his membership. Both families filed a lawsuit in 1966 and lost several appeals. In Dec. 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sullivan v. LHP that the exclusion of African Americans was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and thus constituted illegal housing discrimination. This case, along with the Fair Housing Act of 1968, desegregated recreational associations across the U.S.

Department of Historic Resources, 2023