Basic Information
- Type of Place
- Suburb
- Metro Area
- N. Chicago
- Politics c. 1860?
- Unions, Organized Labor?
Sundown Town Status
- Sundown Town in the Past?
- Surely
- Was there an ordinance?
- Yes, Strong Oral Tradition
- Sign?
- Yes, Strong Oral Tradition
- Year of Greatest Interest
- Still Sundown?
Census Information
| Total | White | Black | Asian | Native | Hispanic | Other | BHshld | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | ||||||||
| 1870 | ||||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| 1890 | ||||||||
| 1900 | ||||||||
| 1910 | ||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1930 | ||||||||
| 1940 | ||||||||
| 1950 | 3286 | 1 | ||||||
| 1960 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 5313 | 26 | 4 | |||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1990 | ||||||||
| 2000 | 18420 | 61 | 18 | |||||
| 2010 | 18040 | 94 | 34 | |||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Violent Expulsion
- Threat of Violence
- Violence Towards Newcomers
- Private Bad Behavior
- Reputation
Main Ethnic Group(s)
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967); Dec.5, 1959; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Chicago Defender pg.1
Deerfield Integration Furor Puts Town on Map by Jim Foree
%u201DDeerfield Welcomes You,%u201D a sign posted at the eastern entrance to the north shore village, apparently does not have reference to Negroes, judging from the uproar which has greeted plans to build an integrated housing subdivisions in Deerfield.
Although most of the residents do not come out and say they oppose the plan because it includes Negroes, it is implied. Most of the say they fear a lost in property values and what they consider the manner in which the developers move into Deerfield.
N.J. Firm
An announcement two weeks ago by the Progress Development corporation, a subsidiary of the Modern Community Developers of Princeton, N.J. that it planned to build an interracial subdivision in Deerfield touched off the controversy….
***
“Arson. Vandalism. Firebombs. A charred wooden cross on a front lawn.”
“This was Deerfield, 1959. An integrated subdivision had been proposed, and violence erupted.” Deerfield went to the courts, turned the subdivision site into a park. “Deerfield became a symbol of Northern racial outrage, and homes became difficult to sell because few persons were interested in buying into an area of possible racial conflict.
***
The book But Not Next Door provides a detailed account of the condemnation of land where an integrated neighborhood was being built. The book shows that many residents in Deerfield felt that Blacks in the town would lower housing values. It also cites racist comments made at village board meetings.
Rosen, Harry M., and David H. Rosen. But Not next Door. New York: I. Obolensky, 1962.