The California Fair Housing Act [The Rumford Act] (1963-1968)

The California Fair Housing Act of 1963, better known as the Rumford Act (AB 1240) because of its sponsor, Assemblyman William Byron Rumford, was one of the most significant and sweeping laws protecting the rights of blacks and other people of color to purchase housing … Read MoreThe California Fair Housing Act [The Rumford Act] (1963-1968)

Edwin C. “Bill” Berry (1910-1987)

Civil rights activist Edwin C. “Bill” Berry was affiliated with the Urban League for over 30 years and served as executive director of the Chicago Urban League from 1956 to 1970. When he arrived in Chicago he denounced the city’s segregationist practices and drove anti-discrimination … Read MoreEdwin C. “Bill” Berry (1910-1987)

(1874) John Mercer Langston, “Equality Before the Law”

John Mercer Langston, a prominent abolitionist and civil rights activist, was one of the earliest African American officeholders in the United States when in 1855 he was elected town clerk of Brownhelm, Township, Ohio.  During the Civil War he recruited soldiers for the Massachusetts 54th … Read More(1874) John Mercer Langston, “Equality Before the Law”