[Ads-l] Antedating of "Redline" (Housing Discrimination)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

In the 1960 citation below the phrase "red line neighborhoods" appears
with the insurance-restriction sense in a Boston newspaper.

Date: June 13, 1960
Newspaper: The Boston Globe
Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Article: Six Roxbury Families Homeless As Fire Sweeps 6 Tenements
Quote Page 1, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/image/433307330/?match=1&terms=%22red%20line%20

[Begin excerpt]
The fire, which hit one of Boston's biggest "red line"
neighborhoods-districts where insurance is difficult or impossible to
obtain because of fire hazards-will be discussed by Collins and Atty.
Gen. McCormick when they appear today before the recessed Legislative
Commission on Insurance.
[End excerpt]

In the 1960 citation below "red line" appears as a verb with the
insurance-restriction sense in a Boston newspaper. The OED has an
entry for "red line" as a verb with citations beginning in 1973. In
this citation "red line" also appears in the phrases "Red Line Bill"
and "red line districts".

[Begin OED excerpt]
redline verb
1.c. transitive. Of a bank, etc.: to refuse to grant a loan or
insurance to (an area considered to be a significant financial risk,
or to a person living in or moving to such an area) or to offer these
services at prohibitively high rates.
[End OED excerpt]

Date: June 14, 1960
Newspaper: The Boston Globe
Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Article: House Rejects Red Line Bill For Insurance
Quote Page 52, Column 8
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-redline/190099175/

[Begin excerpt]
A bill to establish a state Division of Fire Insurance to provide
insurance covering for residents in "red line" districts was killed by
the House this afternoon. Yesterday the fire insurance companies
issued a statement that they will no longer red line any district and
bar property owners in wholesale lots from fire insurance protection.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 5:41 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> redline (OED, 1.c., 1973)
>
> 1967 Boston Globe 27 May 2 (ProQuest)
>
> Untold numbers of home-owners in blighted Boston areas like Roxbury face hardship because of the reluctance of Boston banks and insurance firms to make loans for home repairs or to insure dwellings, the President's National Commission on Urban Problems was told Friday . ... Douglas and commission members earlier seemed to be intrigued with the phrase "red line" used locally to describe a poor insurance risk area.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org