March 6, 1952: 72 years ago, Mar 6 1952, a group of volunteers organized by the Communist [...]

72 years ago, Mar 6 1952, a group of volunteers organized by the Communist Party’s East Bay Civil Rights Congress confronted a racist mob in Rollingwood, Contra Costa County, which was attempting to drive a Black family called the Garys out of the otherwise all-white neighborhood

Wilbur Gary, Vice-Commander of the local American Legion, had moved his family into a house in the then-segregated area near Richmond. On the night of March 3rd, a cross was burned on the Garys’ front lawn. The windows of the realtor who negotiated the sale were also smashed

The Garys refused to move. On March 6th, a white mob assembled in front of their home, demanding they leave the neighborhood. Organizers Buddy Green and Decca Treuhaft (Jessica Mitford), both communists, raced to Rollingwood, where they joined the Garys in their barricaded house

As the mob hurled stones at the windows, the East Bay Civil Rights Congress hurriedly organized “a dozen car loads of black and white volunteers” to protect the house. Over the following days some 800 people took turns guarding the family from their racist neighbors

Trade unions such as the Warehouseman’s Local 6 and Marine Cooks & Stewards sent members to the house, as did the local NAACP (in this picture, Treuhaft and the NAACP’s L.L. Fowler inspect damage on the house). The Garys held firm and kept their home