Carl M. Freeman

Carl M. Freeman (December 17, 1910 – July 2, 1998) was an American real estate developer and manager in the Greater Washington region. During his career, Freeman built over 20,000 houses and apartment units in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs. He also built Sea Colony at the Delaware beach.

Early life Freeman was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family. His family's original surname was Freedman. He attended Northeastern University.

Prior to the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, Freeman used racial covenants to exclude African-Americans from housing. During the 1960s, Freeman was picketed by protesters who opposed the "whites-only" policy at his Americana apartment project in Maryland. The Action Coordinating Committee to End Segregation (ACCESS) was one of the groups that picketed Freeman. After several years of being picketed and shortly before the passage of civil rights legislation in 1968, Freeman began renting all apartment units regardless of race.