Berkeley, a Look Back: New Black neighbors contend with racist backlash
A century ago, on July 19, 1923, an African American family met with racist threats and intimidation after they moved into a Berkeley home at 1508 Sonoma Ave.
Sonoma Avenue runs through North Berkeley and Albany. Today, that address appears located a few blocks from the Berkeley border, in Albany. J.A. Clark, “a railroad man” found a “huge poster” written on wrapping paper, “tacked on the front of Clark’s house,” the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported.
“On it was crudely printed: “If you don’t move — beware. It will be the best for you if you move. You are not wanted. Get busy; it’s your move — think less of your equity — more of moving. We work while you sleep.”
The next day Clark and a friend, E.B. Gray, went to the Berkeley police and asked for an officer to be stationed near the house.
“When told that would be impossible, Gray asked if it would be legal for Clark to take steps to protect himself and property. He was told that it would.”
Clark told the police that “a delegation of white residents … visited him and demanded that he dispose of his house and leave or ‘suffer the consequences.’ Clark said he refused, and the next night there was a mass meeting of citizens held. ‘I bought the property in a legitimate deal, and I intend to stay,” said Clark. “I’m an American citizen and obey the laws, and I expect protection from the police.’ ”
“Sale of the property to Clark caused the Berkeley Realty Board to inaugurate a plan of having a color zone established,” the article concluded.
Berkeley history walk: There are still tickets available for my guided walk on behalf of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association through the history of Berkeley’s Civic Center, from the 19th century through the present day and future, including buildings old and new. It’s from 2 to 4 p.m. this coming Sunday.
Tickets are $20 per person. To reserve a space, please email BAHA at BAHA@berkeleyheritage.com. The ticket fee can be paid by cash or check when you arrive for the walk.
City vision: Charles Keeler, then the managing director of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, debuted his own ‘City Beautiful’ plan for Berkeley in a report to the Chamber on July 25, 1923.
He proposed creating a three-block square civic plaza with its northeast corner at University Avenue and Milvia Street and extending south to Berkeley High School. Broad boulevards would radiate out from its corners, cutting diagonally across the city and reminiscent of Washington, D.C.
“The city is (currently) a composite of unrelated real estate plotting surrounding an original plan for a small university village made long before automobiles had been imagined,” Keeler said.
Numerous other streets would be cut through Berkeley blocks, with parks added, including an “aquatic park” along part of the Berkeley waterfront. This was years before the Eastshore Highway was planned and built, and the current Aquatic Park created in the same area. A huge central park along Sacramento Street was also proposed.
Cycle death: Carlo Carbone, 19, the son of a noted Berkeley nurseryman and orchid grower, was fatally injured in a motorcycle crash in the hills behind Berkeley on the night of July 20, 1923.
He and a friend, Earl A. Putzker, “were riding on the San Pablo Dam Road when a cow suddenly walked across the road in front of them. The impact threw Carbone several feet and fractured his skull. Putzker was severely bruised and cut.” Carbone died four days later at a Point Richmond hospital where Richmond police had taken him.
Bay Area native and Berkeley community historian Steven Finacom holds this column’s copyright.